Lidl and Einride Put Driverless Truck into Daily Service in Germany
Lidl has put Einride’s cab-less Level 4 electric truck into daily service between a logistics centre and a store in Germany, under a first-of-its-kind permit from the federal transport authority. The route appears to be less than a mile, and the permit is national, so it does not travel across European borders.
Lidl has achieved what Einride called a milestone: putting a cab-less autonomous truck into commercial operations on German public roads. Einride built the vehicle, and the federal transport authority granted a permit that allows for Level 4 operations. This is a significant achievement given that Germany rewritten its Road Traffic Act in 2021 and followed it with an ordinance permitting driverless vehicles within defined operational areas.
The truck, which carries nine cameras, six radars, and four lidars, operates one shift per day, five days a week, transporting about 45 pallets between a distribution centre and a store in Edermunde, Hesse.
Einride's CEO, Roozbeh Charli, emphasizes the difficulty of receiving German clearance, stating it is “among the toughest in the world”. While no other European country has an equivalent national route for daily autonomous goods transport, Berlin views these projects as showcasing Germany’s advancement in mobility technology.
This success comes with limitations; Einride faces a lengthy process to gain similar permissions in every country they enter. Despite a $1.35 billion valuation on the Nasdaq (down from a previously discussed $5 billion), securing these regional permits remains their top priority.