• Einride, a Swedish tech developer for autonomous and electric trucks, has received approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) to operate its electric autonomous trucks called “Pods” without a safety driver on US roads.

<ul><li>The trucks will be deployed to deliver goods on behalf of US home appliance manufacturer GE Appliances (GEA)—as a part of their existing partnership. The two companies first collaborated last October and have been piloting the trucks at a GEA facility in Louisville, Kentucky since November.</ul>

• Einride intends to begin the pilot next quarter, transporting goods between a GEA factory and a warehouse in Selmer, Tennessee. The trucks will be remotely controlled and monitored by a remote Pod operator.

• As per the limits of the permit received today, the trucks will be deployed only during the daytime on weekdays and will avoid unfavorable weather and road conditions.

<ul><li> Analyst QuickTake: Depending on the success of the pilot, the company might deploy more trucks without a safety driver in Texas next, in addition to GEA pilot locations if expanded— judging by the plans the company announced earlier this month. Several peer startups including TuSimple and Gatik have already commenced fully autonomous truck pilots in the US. Other peer companies Aurora Innovation and Embark Technology are also progressing with their plans to begin driverless operations by 2023.</ul>