Lorenz has announced that four fully electric transport vehicles will take over central in-plant traffic at its Neunburg vorm Wald facility. The company aims to “[combine] the development of future-ready plant logistics with the goal of sustainably reducing CO₂ emissions from internal transport.” The fleet is supplemented by two conventional electric trucks as a backup solution.
Lorenz’s headquarters are located in the Schwandorf district of the Upper Palatinate region in Bavaria. The family-owned company employs around 3,000 people and is a major player in the European snack market. Its product range includes chips, peanut puffs, salt sticks, crackers and nuts. Well-known brands under the company 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 in Lorenz’s logistics strategy.” Einride provides the cabless vehicles, while its Saga software platform coordinates and manages the processes, planning and synchronising 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 transport technology permanently into its plant operations.” Incidentally, the firm was awarded the German Logistics Prize 2026 in October for the underlying logistics concept.
“With this project, we’re bringing a technology into industrial practice that is still widely discussed as a future scenario,” commented Stefan Bender, Head of Logistics Germany at Lorenz. “For us, this isn’t about innovation for its own sake, but about making our logistics operations more digital and lower-emission, step by step. “We’re not just testing autonomous mobility; we’re making it an integral, long-term part of our plant logistics.”
The prototypes deployed, which Einride has most recently referred to as eBot and previously introduced as the Gen 2 Rigid Large, have a loading capacity of 15 Euro pallets. The exact specifications of the solo truck are not known, but it is clear that the vehicle is completely ‘purpose-built’ and comes without a steering wheel or accelerator pedal. On average, the autonomous vehicles are expected to move up to 1,200 pallets daily, with the transport volume potentially being significantly higher during peak times, the initiators emphasise. A single route is expected to take approximately 30 to 45 minutes, depending on operational workflows. The vehicles are charged on-site using electricity from the Lorenz plant’s photovoltaic system. Importantly, the operation of the autonomous vehicles is accompanied and monitored by remote and local operators, allowing authorised personnel to intervene from a distance if necessary.
“The partnership with Lorenz demonstrates how autonomous and electric transport solutions can already be effectively integrated into industrial operations today,” emphasises Henrik Green, Chief Technology Officer at Einride. “Together, we are showing the potential this technology holds for efficient, future-ready plant logistics. Germany has some of the highest safety and reliability standards in the world, and deploying the technology successfully under these conditions is the strongest proof 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 transportation service agreement under 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 plans to test a self-developed autonomous electric truck on public roads in Hesse, specifically in cooperation with Lidl from the Schwarz Group. In this pilot project, the autonomous electric truck is permitted to travel at a maximum speed of 25 km/h – though it is likely capable of much more.
