founder: Robert Falck (CEO), Linnéa Kornehed-Falck, Filip Lilja
roll out: 2016
Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden
funds: $652.3 million
Valuation: not applicable
Key technologies: Artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, machine learning
industry: car
Previous appearances on the Disruptor 50 list: 1 (No. 13 in 2023)
The consumer EV market’s recent woes have been most notable in the United States, where adoption has been slower than expected and major automakers have withdrawn their initial EV investment targets. People don’t often discuss electric trucks, or when they do, it’s to poke fun at Elon Musk’s Cybertruck or point to the Ford F-150 Lightning as an example of the electric vehicle market not living up to the hype. But often overlooked in the story is the freight market, and electric vehicles are a big part of the future.
Today, up to 90% of world trade is completed on roads, equivalent to 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and accounting for more than 7% of global annual emissions. In Europe and the United States, nearly three-quarters of bulk cargo is transported by truckers and their heavy-duty vehicles, which typically account for only 20% of freight capacity.
Some of the oldest players in the trucking market, such as Mack Trucks, founded in 1900, are taking electric vehicles seriously. Transformation also requires a new business model. Einride is leading the adoption of electric vehicle technology through the deployment of electric and autonomous heavy-duty vehicles and its smart freight operating system Einride Saga. It operates one of the largest fleets of heavy-duty electric trucks, serving global Fortune 500 companies in eight markets.
The company makes money by charging shippers a monthly fee that includes Einride’s software solutions, access to electric and autonomous vehicles, operational support and charging infrastructure, a key part of the company’s recent expansion into electric vehicles Infrastructure sector.
In November 2023, Einride opened its first smart charging station in Rothersburg, Sweden, in partnership with infrastructure developer and investor Polar Structure. It’s a collaborative model designed to make charging affordable, and Einride is currently piloting it in the U.S., opening an EV charging station near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in March, making it one of the largest heavy-duty freight charging stations in North America.
Einride’s partnerships with shippers include PepsiCo’s UK operations, global logistics company Wallenius Wilhelmsen at the Port of Savannah, a 300-vehicle electric fleet with Mars and cross-border operations with Heineken. In May last year, it also signed a preliminary agreement with the United Arab Emirates to deploy the Einride ecosystem, including 2,000 electric vehicles, 200 autonomous vehicles and eight charging stations. Last November, Einride partnered with GE Appliances to launch full-time operations of its autonomous vehicles.
The Biden administration wants 100% of new medium- and heavy-duty truck sales to be electric by 2040. New emission standards for trucks Incentives to move faster are being added. But the large drilling machine market still has a long way to go. Last year, just 100,000 new zero-emission heavy-duty electric vehicles were produced.
Einride CEO and founder Robert Falck told CNBC last year that as much as 50% of today’s $4 trillion freight market could cost-effectively transition to electric trucks. Other experts say it will take at least a few years for the economy to develop. Einride’s Swedish home market DNB Markets analyst Mattias Holmberg recently told CNBC that two key factors, battery technology and charging infrastructure, will be key. “I would say we’re still a few years away from reaching a break-even point where it makes complete economic sense to pivot,” Holmberg said.
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