Supermarket chain Lidl is testing an autonomous driving vehicle in Sweden. By deploying the autonomous truck T-pod, Lidl wants to take a step towards emission-free transport.
Einride's T-pod will start driving around Halmstad in Sweden from the third quarter of 2018. The trial follows the introduction of a directive allowing the Swedish Transport Agency to issue licences for self-driving vehicles on public roads. Lidl and Einride will apply for such a licence this month.
The supermarket chain sees it as a logical step. Johannes Fieber, ceo of Lidl Sweden: "Food retail is now heavily dependent on transport, which means that a lot of emissions are released as long as you use fossil fuels. In fiscal 2016/2017, we switched completely to alternative fuels such as electricity, gas and biodiesel, which has already reduced the environmental impact by 25 per cent. With the next step, switching completely to electric transport, we aim to expand that to 100 per cent. Einride's T-pod can offer us this step towards emission-free transport."
The T-pod has a length of seven metres and a total weight of twenty tonnes. It fits up to 15 europallets. The battery capacity is 200 kWh, the range is 200 km. Einride aims for the T-Pod to account for 40 per cent of Swedish road transport by 2035. "The cooperation with Lidl is an important step in that direction," the company says.
