I didn’t think it could be done, but here we are. It’s 2018, and a Swedish company has found a way to greenwash deforestation by removing the two most wasteful elements on the trucking side of the logging industry: the diesel engine, and the human driver.
When Einride first showed its trucking concepts last year, they were aimed more towards commercial goods shipping that logging. Back then, the company claimed it would have its first completed truck available to customers in the fall– that came and went, obviously. Still, it’s worth noting that the progress being made on Sweden’s “unlimited range” electric highway system should make Einride’s pitch and product development a bit easier to put into practice.
“Such roads will allow (electric vehicles) to move long distances without big, costly and heavy batteries,” said Markus Fischer, a spokesperson for state-owned energy company Vattenfall. “The investment cost per km is estimated to be less than that of using overhead lines, as is the impact on the landscape.”
Einride believes its concept will actually cut costs, too– and not just the cost of paying the driver. “The driver’s cab is what makes trucks expensive to produce,” Einride’s CEO is quoted as saying. “And having a driver in the cab is what makes them expensive to operate in. It eliminates the cab and replaces the driver with an operator who can monitor and control several vehicles. at the same time and the costs can be significantly reduced.”
Lower costs, better efficiency, and cleaner emissions? I mean, if we’re going to be clearing the forests, anyway, then these are probably positive steps. Aren’t they? Check out Einride’s promotional video, below, then let us know what you think of their autonomous truck concept in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Einride T/Log Autonomous Truck Concept