- Supermarket giant Lidl has partnered with Einride to deploy an autonomous, cab-less truck for daily deliveries.
- The driverless truck got a first-of-its-kind permit from Germany’s strict transport regulator to drive on public roads.
- Einride claims Germany’s approval process is among the toughest in the world, and getting it is like a badge of honor.
Lidl, the German supermarket chain that sells everything from fresh fruit to Arnold Schwarzenegger-endorsed power tools, has deployed Germany’s first cab-less SAE Level 4 autonomous truck in daily operations on public roads.
The truck, engineered and built by Einride, got a first-of-its-kind permit from the country’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), which is known for its strictness. It’s a big win for the Swedish startup, which also operates a fleet of about 200 electric trucks rented to companies like Heineken and PepsiCo.
Einride boasts that achieving a Level 4 approval in Germany “sets a new benchmark for what is already possible in autonomous logistics globally,” and that the permit confirms that the driverless truck can operate reliably and safely under real-world conditions on public roads.
“Germany's approval process is among the toughest in the world, and obtaining clearance there gives us a foundation to scale with confidence,” said Roozbeh Charli, Chief Executive Officer at Einride.
According to the truck maker, Lidl’s new autonomous pod is currently transporting goods between a logistics center and a store in Edermunde. It drives one shift a day, five days a week, and carries approximately 45 pallets per shift.
All this being said, there is an undisclosed asterisk here. After reviewing the video embedded above and comparing it to Google Street View imagery, it looks like the autonomous truck's route is less than a mile long, as the store is right next to the warehouse. The company said that the next step is to expand the route to include multiple stops in a so-called “milkrun” model.
Besides getting some bragging rights, Einride and Lidl said that the deployment also addresses the growing issue of commercial driver shortages, as well as securing the flow of goods from warehouses to stores.
With the first cab-less electric truck making deliveries in Germany, the Swedish company is already in talks with Swarz Group, Lidl’s parent company, to explore the possibility of deploying more autonomous trucks.
Einride’s pod-like electric truck doesn’t have a driver or a safety monitor, but its movements are remotely monitored by a human operator. However, the company makes it clear that the remote operator doesn’t drive the vehicle; they can, however, perform low-speed maneuvering at up to 4 miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) to handle edge cases or facilitate docking operations.
The autonomous truck, which is built by a contract manufacturer in the Netherlands, features a comprehensive sensor suite, including nine outdoor cameras, six radars, and four Lidars.
