The Pulse
Lidl Puts a Level 4 Truck on German Public Roads
Lidl and Einride have begun operating a cab-less electric truck on German public roads, using it for regular store deliveries near Kassel under a permit from the Federal Motor Transport Authority.
AI.info Team ·
Lidl Moves Beyond the Test Track
Lidl and Einride began operating a cab-less electric truck on German public roads on September 15, putting the vehicle into regular store-delivery service near Kassel. The truck runs in Edermünde, Hesse, between Lidl’s local administrative and distribution center and a nearby store under an official permit from Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority, known as the KBA.
Lidl describes the deployment as the first use by a German food retailer of a cab-less electric truck with autonomous driving capability in live operations on public roads. The vehicle operates at SAE Level 4 within designated areas. The source describes the truck as cab-less but does not state that a safety operator is absent.
Lidl announced the project in a company statement published on September 15. The route is limited and defined rather than an unrestricted autonomous freight service, but it places an autonomous heavy vehicle into a working retail supply chain.
Three Runs a Day, 15 Pallets at a Time
The truck has space for 15 Euro pallets and can make up to three trips each day. Lidl says it handles the complete dry-goods delivery volume on the selected route, giving the project an operating role rather than a short demonstration run.
The four-month project could move more than 3,000 pallets, according to Lidl. That figure makes the trial a practical measurement of how an autonomous truck performs against a repeatable store-replenishment schedule, with the same distribution point, destination and delivery task repeated over time.
Fresh and chilled products are not identified as part of the route in Lidl’s announcement. The stated operation covers the dry assortment, which allows the companies to begin with a defined cargo category while they assess the vehicle’s performance in daily logistics.
Einride Secures a KBA-Approved Route
Germany’s approval is central to the deployment. Lidl says the KBA authorized the Level 4 operation, allowing the truck to travel on public roads along the specified service area. Lidl presents the deployment as the first use of this type of vehicle by a food retailer in Germany.
Roozbeh Charli, chief executive officer of Einride, said the company already conducts autonomous deliveries with real freight volumes and fixed schedules for customers in the United States and Europe.
„Einride führt bereits heute autonome Lieferungen mit realen Volumina nach festen Zeitplänen für Kunden in den USA und Europa durch. Deutschland ist einer der Schlüsselmärkte für Einride. Wir freuen uns sehr, diese Technologie nun im größten europäischen Markt für den Straßengüterverkehr auf öffentliche Straßen zu bringen und ihren Nutzen gemeinsam mit Lidl in Deutschland und dem breiten Ökosystem der Schwarz Gruppe unter Beweis zu stellen“
— Roozbeh Charli, Chief Executive Officer of Einride
Charli also described the German approval process as one of the strictest in the world and said receiving permission creates a basis for scaling the operation. Lidl’s statement does not disclose the truck’s speed, battery capacity, sensor configuration or the exact length of the approved route.
A Narrow Deployment With a Larger Target
The first route connects one distribution operation with one store. After successful validation of that route, Lidl and its partners plan a second phase that would gradually expand the service into a multi-stop “milk run” at another site. Such a change would test whether the system can maintain reliable delivery timing across multiple loading and unloading points rather than repeating a single end-to-end trip.
The announcement does not specify the additional site or its planned stops. The immediate project remains centered on Edermünde and its four-month operating window.
Christian Hirte, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Transport, called the project evidence that autonomous and emissions-free driving is moving onto German roads. For Lidl, the concrete measure is already set: a cab-less electric truck is making up to three daily trips and carrying store inventory on a defined route.