Einride, the Swedish startup that wants to electrify the autonomous freight industry, will begin operating its purpose-built, self-driving pods on public roads in the U.S. this year as part of an existing partnership with General Electric Appliances (GEA).

Einride's pods are built without a front cabin for a human safety operator, which the company says required approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) in order to operate on public roads.

"Other companies are retrofitting existing trucks to become autonomous, but we are doing the opposite," Robert Falck, CEO and founder at Einride, told TechCrunch. "We are building a brand new way to do autonomous shipping from the ground up which results in this new type of vehicle design and functionality."

While there are a number of autonomous trucking companies running freight in the U.S. today, it's true that all of them are currently based on existing trucks, and almost none of them are electric.

Einride says this milestone marks the first time a purpose-built autonomous electric truck has received permission to operate on public roads, however, it is reminiscent of autonomous vehicle company Nuro's 2020 request for a temporary exemption from certain low-speed vehicle standard requirements. Nuro's vehicles, which deliver food and groceries using public roads, are also built without space for a driver or passengers. The company therefore needed NHTSA approval to use a new type of vehicle that isn't built with certain human-centered features, like mirrors or a windshield. Presumably, Einride's approval is similar in nature, but the company would not confirm with TechCrunch. NHTSA also was unable to confirm this to TechCrunch, despite multiple attempts to reach out.

Einride did say that the approval is conditional upon the company adhering to a set location and timing – Einride's pod will be operating on a mixed traffic, mile-long stretch of road between a GEA factory and a warehouse in Selmer, Tennessee beginning in the third quarter of 2022. Einride has been piloting its pods with GEA since November 2021 at the company's fenced warehouse in Louisville, during which time Einride tested the metal of its technology in a closed facility with predetermined routes and a controlled environment.