First Einride Smartcharger Station Opens, Paving the Way for Electric Road Freight
Opening in Sweden, Einride’s first Smartcharger Station is part of a collaboration with infrastructure developer and investor, Polar Structure, and a larger initiative to deploy charging infrastructure across additional international markets. With a focus on sustainability and the driver experience, the Einride Smartcharger Station is built with locally sourced materials and provides an environment tailored to the schedules and needs of truck drivers.
November 15, 2023 - Einride, a freight mobility company that provides digital, electric and autonomous technology,
announced today the opening of its first Einride Smartcharger Station in Rosersberg, Sweden. The investment is made in collaboration with infrastructure developer and investor Polar Structure, and marks the start of Einride’s deployment of charging infrastructure for heavy duty freight globally.
“This Smartcharger Station opening is an important part of the transformation program we offer customers to enable a quick, easy and cost-effective switch to digital, electric heavy duty road freight. We are proud to make this investment together with Polar Structure to ensure a strong network of charging infrastructure is in place for our fleets as well as the public,” says Robert Falck, CEO and Founder of Einride.
"We're very excited about the opening of Sweden's first Einride Smartcharger Station as this is more than just a charging site – this marks an important step towards expediting the shift towards an electrified transportation system. Together with Einride, we're making it possible to establish sustainable infrastructure that will cut down on emissions, particularly in major urban areas," says Tobias Emanuelsson, CEO and Founder of Polar Structure.
Driver experience focused with sustainable design choices
The Einride Smartcharger Station is designed with a clear focus on the driver's experience and needs. With a total of nine charging points available at launch, all with dynamic charging capacity, eight trucks are able to charge at the same time. The charging station is divided into two areas – five charging points at "Charge & Go" for fast charging and four charging points at "Charge & Park" for slow charging overnight. Interactive lighting has been integrated to guide drivers, alerting them where available chargers are at the site as well as illustrating a vehicle’s charging status. The site’s driver’s lounge not only offers amenities such as restrooms, showers and a pantry but also serves as a place that drivers can easily stay up-to-date on charge status, remaining time, power output and performance through the screens inside the lounge or the smartphone app.
Design elements throughout the charging station have been implemented to showcase both functionality and durability, brought to life through locally sourced materials. Bohus granite, from the west coast of Sweden, makes up the protection barriers between the charging points and the roof consists of wood sourced from Sweden. The ability to disassemble and reconstruct the site at another location has been taken into account when developing the site, ensuring minimal waste and a smooth transition, should the site need to be relocated in the future. Initially the site will depend on wind power, with a planned shift to hydropower in the upcoming months. Enhanced integration with the Einride Saga platform will also take place over the course of the first operational months, enabling more advanced energy predictions and promoting more efficient, sustainable power consumption.
Continued rollout in 2024
Additional Smartcharger Stations are under construction to meet the increasing demand for charging needs for heavy duty transport throughout Sweden. Smaller stations have already been established in Borås, Markaryd and Ljungby and the next full-scale Einride Smartcharger Station will open in Varberg in 2024. This station will serve as a pivotal enabler for the Nordic Link grid, which connects the Nordics with the European mainland. In the US, the first Einride Smartcharger Station will open in Los Angeles, with 65 charging points making it possible to serve up to 200 vehicles a day transporting goods in and out of the Port of LA.
The development of Einride Smartcharger Stations is partially funded by Klimatklivet and NextGenerationEU.
About Einride
Einride designs, develops and deploys freight mobility technologies to accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation. Its platform includes connected electric and autonomous heavy duty vehicles, charging infrastructure and an intelligent freight operating system. Founded in 2016, Einride became the world’s first company to operate an autonomous, electric vehicle on a public road in 2019. Today, Einride operates one of the largest fleets of heavy duty electric trucks servicing Global Fortune 500 companies across eight markets. For more information, please visit einride.tech.
About Polar Structure AB
Polar Structure AB is a privately owned Swedish infrastructure developer and evergreen investor. The company offers municipalities, governments, and the private sector a way to develop, manage, and finance necessary investments to accelerate the green transition. At Polar Structure, we envision transforming cities and communities – such as infrastructure from ports to end customers or connected cities – to make them sustainable and more efficient. Polar Structure takes the initiative to develop new infrastructure assets through partnerships with private and public stakeholders. The company is active in railways, logistics, energy storage, charging infrastructure, digitization, and renewable energy. For more information, please visit polarstructure.se
Media contact
Einride
press@einride.tech
Polar Structure
filip@polarstructure.se
Einride’s offering includes an ecosystem of products coming together to unlock efficiency. These products include Einride Saga, the Einride autonomous vehicle (Gen 2), the Einride connected electric truck and Einride Charging (including chargers and Einride Smartcharger Stations).
