Lorenz has announced that four fully electric transport vehicles will handle central traffic at the Neunburg vorm Wald plant. The company aims to “[combine] the development of future-proof plant logistics with the aim of sustainably reducing CO₂ emissions from internal transport.” The fleet is complemented by two conventional electric trucks as a backup solution.
The Lorenz headquarters are located in the district of Schwandorf in the Upper Palatinate region of Bavaria. The family business employs around 3,000 people and is a major player in the European snacks market. Its product range includes potato chips, peanut puffs, salt bars, crackers and nuts. The company’s well-known brands include Crunchips, Saltletts and NicNac’s.
Together with the Swedish logistics technology company Einride, the snack manufacturer is now venturing into the field of autonomous electric transport solutions. The five-year project is described as “a key component of Lorenz’s logistics strategy.” Einride provides the vehicles without cables, while its Saga software platform coordinates and manages the processes, planning and synchronizing autonomous transport operations. The company explained that a backup solution is also integrated: “Two conventional electric trucks complement the fleet as a backup, ensuring uninterrupted operations if an autonomous vehicle is temporarily unavailable. This allows Lorenz to integrate autonomous transportation technology permanently into its plant operations.” By the way, in October the company received the German Logistics Award 2026 for the underlying logistics concept.
“With this project we bring into industrial practice a technology that is still widely discussed as a future scenario,” commented Stefan Bender, director of Logistics in Germany at Lorenz. “For us, it is not about innovation per se, but about making our logistics operations more digital and lower emissions, step by step. “We are not only testing autonomous mobility; “We are making it an integral and long-term part of our plant logistics.”
The deployed prototypes, which Einride has recently referred to as eBot and previously presented as Gen 2 Rigid Large, have a loading capacity of 15 euro pallets. The exact specifications of the solo truck are unknown, but it is clear that the vehicle is completely “purpose built” and comes without a steering wheel or accelerator pedal. On average, autonomous vehicles are expected to move up to 1,200 pallets per day, with the transport volume potentially being much higher during peak hours, the initiators underline. A single route is expected to take approximately 30 to 45 minutes, depending on operational workflows. The vehicles are charged on site with electricity from the photovoltaic system at the Lorenz plant. It is important to highlight that the operation of autonomous vehicles is accompanied and monitored by remote and local operators, allowing authorized personnel to intervene remotely if necessary.
“The partnership with Lorenz demonstrates how electric and autonomous transportation solutions can already be effectively integrated into industrial operations today,” highlights Henrik Green, Chief Technology Officer at Einride. “Together, we are showing the potential this technology has for efficient, future-proof plant logistics. Germany has some of the highest safety and reliability standards in the world, and the successful implementation of the technology under these conditions is the strongest evidence that it is ready to scale.”
According to the partners, the project is not designed as a short-term test but as a permanent operational solution. “It is based on a transport services agreement according to which the vehicles remain the property of Einride, which also operates and manages them,” explained Lorenz.
For Einride, this collaboration is not the first of its kind in Germany. In mid-September, the Swedish company announced its intention to test an autonomous electric truck of its own development on the public roads of Hesse, specifically in collaboration with Lidl of the Schwarz group. In this pilot project, the autonomous electric truck is allowed to travel at a maximum speed of 25 km/h, although it is likely capable of much more.
globonewswire.com
