Bridgestone is teaming up with Einride, a Sweden-based company developing electric and autonomous vehicles, to use its smart-sensing tires on Einride vehicles and bring them to the U.S.

Einride will be able to collect new layers of safety and efficiency-related data from Bridgestone’s smart-sensing tires, and Bridgestone will integrate its advanced mobility technologies into Einride’s onboard vehicle platforms.

Bridgestone will become an official U.S. launch partner of Einride and the exclusive tire supplier for Einride in the U.S. market. In turn, Einride will supply connected electric trucks and digital services under a subscription agreement to Bridgestone for its U.S. shipping logistics network, with the aim of electrifying the majority of Bridgestone’s landside transport needs by 2025. 

E-truck deployment in Bridgestone’s fleet is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022. For autonomous trucks, co-development and autonomous pilots will start in 2021 and early 2022, the company told HDT in an email.

“We have an ambitious business plan for electric and autonomous transportation in the U.S.,” said Niklas Reinedahl, general manager of Einride North America, in a news release, “as well as innovative plans to improve our capabilities by leveraging tire-as-a-sensor technology and insights derived from the tire telematics data.”

As for Bridgestone, the deal will help “advance the transformation of Bridgestone into a sustainable solutions company,” said Nizar Trigui, chief technology officer and group president, solutions businesses, Bridgestone Americas, in a release. “There is a very high ceiling for innovation within this relationship, including the use of vehicle and tire data and advanced analytics to drive efficiency, safety and low-carbon fleet mobility.”

Bridgestone’s global environmental goals include a 50% reduction of its carbon footprint by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2050, as well as tires made from 100% renewable materials by 2050.

Einride isn’t the only autonomous-truck-tech company Bridgestone is working with. It recently bought a minority investment in Kodiak Robotics as part of a plan to integrate Bridgestone’s smart-sensing tire technologies and fleet solutions into Kodiak’s Level 4 autonomous trucks. The companies will also pilot future autonomous and smart tire technologies.