Swedish manufacturer Einride has launched a range of zero emission Autonomous Electric Transport (AET) vehicles, with the first deliveries set to start next year.

This series of AET vehicles, ranging from AET 1 to AET 4 – and notable for their lack of a traditional driver’s cab – has been designed and developed for SAE level 4 self-driving and will enable businesses to reduce transport costs by up to 60% and CO2 emissions by 90%, according to Einride.

The AET’s architecture and intelligent routing software allows for safe operations without a driver, with additional proprietary remote operations technology to enable scaling of operators per vehicle.

Available for pre-order, AET 1 and 2 are suitable for closed fenced facilities, harbours and public roads.

The AET 1 and 2 both come as rigid 6x2s with a gross vehicle weight of 26 tonnes. They have payloads of 16 tonnes and both have a capacity for 15 pallets. Their speed is limited to 30kph or less, and have a range of between 130 and 180km.

However, the AET 3 and 4, which has high speed functionality suited to long-distance highways and larger warehouses, won’t be available until 2023. The AET 3 will be able to travel at speeds up to 45kph, while the AET 4 will be able to run at up to 85kph.

Einride’s founder, Robert Falck, said: “We can already see a strong traction from the market to start using autonomous and electric transport. The benefits are clear and we want to be the player in the market that can help our customers to make the transition to a better future of transport happen.”

The vehicles are equipped with cameras, lidars and radars, which means they have 360-degree awareness of their surroundings, removing the need for a driver and resulting in no blind spots or dead angles.

This means the vehicles can operate independently, do not require platooning and are able to pull into and connect to charging stations along the routes on their own, the company says.