At the UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed – an event for historic racing cars, Swedish tech start-up Einride revealed its latest product: The T-log, an autonomous, all-electric logging truck. Source: Timberbiz
More powerful than the T-pod – the all-electric, autonomous truck Einride revealed last year – the T-log incorporates some off-road capabilities and is designed to navigate forest roads.
“Einride is constantly pushing the boundaries of autonomous and all-electric vehicles in our ambition to lead the transition to a sustainable transportation system. With the T-log, we’ve created a vehicle that can withstand the rigours of a demanding environment. It is uncharted territory for us, but also an enormous market for battery-powered AVs,” Robert Falck, CEO of Einride, said.
Powered by the Nvidia Drive self-driving platform, the T-log is capable of SEA level 4 self-driving. It has no driver’s cab but can be remote-controlled by a human operator from hundreds of miles away using Phantom Auto teleoperation safety technology designed to provide robust, minimal latency telecommunications even with 4G.
No driver’s cab enables a smaller vehicle, increased loading capacity, greater flexibility, lower production costs, lower operating costs and optimized energy consumption, allowing the T-log to run solely on batteries, even in difficult environments.
Connected to an intelligent routing software providing it with real-time traffic data, the T-log can adjust its route to avoid congestion miles ahead. A fleet of T-logs will be coordinated by an intelligent routing system, optimizing delivery time, battery life and energy consumption, making the transport as efficient as possible.
“The driver’s cab is what makes trucks expensive to produce, and having a driver in the cabin is what makes them expensive to operate. Remove the cabin and replace the driver with an operator who can monitor and remote-control several vehicles at once and costs can be reduced significantly. In addition, operating a vehicle from a distance allows for a much better working environment, as has already been demonstrated in industries like mining,” Mr Falck said.
Emitting no greenhouse gases or toxic nitrogen oxides, the T-log is an environmentally and health friendly alternative to diesel powered trucks.
Equipped with cameras, lidars and radars, it has 360-degree awareness of its surroundings – no blind spots, no dead angles.
“Heavy road transport is responsible for a substantial part of global CO2 emissions. Add to that the tens of thousands of people who die every year from NOx pollution – effectively poisoned by diesel fumes – and you have every reason to look for a more sustainable alternative,” Mr Falck said.
“The T-log eliminates those emissions entirely, by replacing diesel with electricity. Technology has progressed to make it happen. And because it can be done, it must be done.”
Einride hopes to introduce the T-log to public roads by 2020. The company has already registered interest from several major global companies.
T-log specifications
- Battery capacity: 300 kWh
- Carrying capacity: 16 ton
- Distance travelled on one charge: 120 miles
- Width: 2,552 m
- Height: 3,563 m
- Length: 7,338 m
