Einride Presses The Pedal On Autonomous Delivery

The (delivery) robots are coming fast, and seem poised to take over the world.

OK, that might take some time, or it might not even happen — nothing against a bit of hyperbole to attract your interest, right? But recent news and trends strongly indicate that our eventual mechanical overlords — as evil and merciless as they may or may not turn out to be — will at least deliver our packages in a timely, cost-efficient fashion.

That’s the imaginative thought sparked by the latest move from the autonomous delivery world. Sweden-based Einride, which makes autonomous delivery vehicles, has raised $25 million in fresh capital. The company’s products have no cabs, which makes the vehicles lighter and less costly to fuel than trucks that require drivers. The company works in partnership with fleet managers to deploy those vehicles, or sells them outright, and has clients such as supermarket chain Lidl.

Scant information was immediately available from Einride, which appears poised to use that capital to expand internationally and otherwise continue development of its electric Einride Pods. The company is operating in an increasingly crowded area of retail and logistics technology, and all the participants are striving hard to raise funds and gain an edge as the autonomous era looms — an era that all but certainly will start with delivery before moving to personal cars and vehicles, at least according to the emerging consensus, one documented in full by PYMNTS.

Grocery Battleground

Indeed, grocery is emerging as a main battleground for these early attempts at autonomous delivery.

For instance, Udelv, a California-based firm, a few months ago reportedly “signed yet another partner to launch a new pilot of its self-driving goods delivery service: Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. The pilot will provide service to customers in Olmos Park, just outside of downtown San Antonio where the grocery retailer is based,” according to TechCrunch. That report goes on to say that Udelv “will provide H-E-B with one of its Newton second-generation autonomous delivery vehicles, which are already in service in trials in the Bay Area, Arizona and Houston, providing deliveries on behalf of some of Udelv’s other clients, which include Walmart, among others.”

The move is only the latest effort to up the grocery delivery game via the use of autonomous delivery. For instance, Kroger Co., the grocery retailer, and Nuro, the SoftBank-backed robotics company, announced in March the launch of their autonomous grocery delivery service in Houston.

In a press release, the companies said the service will be available through two Houston Kroger stores, reaching customers residing in four local ZIP codes.

“We’ve seen firsthand in Arizona how enthusiastic customers are about getting their Kroger groceries delivered by a Nuro self-driving vehicle,” said Nuro Co-Founder Dave Ferguson in the press release. “Texas has been a leader in encouraging self-driving innovation, and we’re excited to help deliver that future for Houston — a dynamic, diverse and welcoming metropolitan city that we’re excited to soon explore and serve with this autonomous delivery service.”

Freight Play

Fright, too, is a big part of the emerging autonomous delivery play.

Earlier this year, for instance, TuSimple, a driverless truck startup in California, achieved unicorn status — a valuation of $1 billion— after a series D funding round that brought in $95 million, according to a report by CNBC.

The money was earmarked to help the San Diego-based company grow its fleet from 12 vehicles to 50 vehicles. The money will also go toward helping the company develop partnerships and joint production operations with manufacturers. Currently, the company is working with two unnamed tractor-trailer makers.

“By the end of 2020 or early 2021 we think we think we can take the driver out of the cab on trucks,” said Chuck Price, chief product officer of TuSimple.

The company wants to have trucks that can operate Class 8 tractor-trailers and get rid of drivers — the biggest expense for trucking companies.

Shipping companies, on average, spend $2 a mile transporting goods from one place to another, and TuSimple believes it can help trucking companies reduce that expense by 30 percent by eliminating the need for drivers.

Freight trucking is an $800 billion industry, and there are close to 3.5 million trucks on the road across the U.S. TuSimple thinks there’s plenty of room for growth.

Expect more disruption and innovation in this area as the tech improves and the use cases become even more obvious.