Einride AB and DAF Trucks have announced a new joint initiative to integrate Einride’s autonomous driving system, Einride Driver, into DAF’s premium vehicle platform.
The new collaboration marks a key milestone towards the large-scale commercialisation of SAE Level 4 autonomous electric freight transportation in response to industry challenges, such as driver shortages and rising operating costs.
Initially, Einride and DAF, alongside experts from the Dutch independent research institute for applied science and innovation, TNO, will seek to collaborate on defining and testing the integration of Einride’s autonomous drive system within DAF’s electric truck platform, including establishment of any and all required interfaces to enable safe and scalable autonomous operations.
TNO, Einride and DAF are working closely with type approval authorities to ensure that the platform remains compliant for future expansion onto public roads, with initial tests and validation of key interfaces set to be conducted during 2026, followed in 2027 by the integration and commissioning of Einride’s autonomous driving software, with all subsequent interface validation and functional testing performed on a DAF truck.
Jeroen van den Oetelaar, DAF Trucks’ Chief Engineer and Member of the Board, said:This collaboration is a testament to DAF's commitment to innovation and future-proofing the logistics sector.
By combining our premium truck platform with leading autonomous technology, we are actively shaping a more efficient, safer, and sustainable freight ecosystem.
This latest initiative aims to build on PACCAR’s automated driving activities, which has thus far provided key data through the North American Autonomous Vehicle Platform (AVP) programme. Meanwhile, PACCAR is working to advance developments within the broader autonomous trucking ecosystem in collaboration with emerging full stack technology providers, reflecting the potential evolution of scalable, software defined autonomy solutions for heavy duty transport.
All insights from these programmes will be used in an effort to provide additional opportunities to accelerate the development of autonomous capabilities within the DAF platform.
Henkrik Green, Chief Technology Officer at Einride said:By leveraging DAF’s decades of manufacturing excellence and market strength, we can expedite the global scale-up of Einride's autonomous technology.
This collaboration validates our vehicle-agnostic approach to autonomy and brings us one step closer to deploying safe, scalable Level 4 autonomy at commercial scale.
