We live in very interesting times – challenging times, but very interesting. As past hardships don’t show signs of slowing down and we start a new year, it is imperative that we visualize what lies ahead and understand our roles in allowing humankind to continue to push forward. How does my work impact the world? What innovations could we leverage to break old structures? Every industry has a responsibility to the future, and I believe transportation has strong potential to come together and lead the change.

We’re on the verge of a moment of truth. But not the kind that accommodates a simple makeover. In one sense, we are facing a fundamental shift. We need to let go of obsolete ideas and start building the infrastructure to support a new generation. It’s a matter of a complete remodeling of the industry.

Freight, or transportation for that matter, hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years. If we look at companies that came up in the past 15 years, we’ll find that they continue to use an old infrastructure, the same one as the forefathers of transportation. And there are evident reasons for it. 

These so-called legacy systems have a way of stalling change. The status quo will fight to keep things as they are – always – while taking advantage of new narratives to maintain its ground. The result is a society that continues to rely on inefficient diesel-based road freight even as we face a climate crisis and the harmful effects that could hinder our survival as a species. 

In front of us are all the signs of a paradigm shift. First, the model that was deemed ideal does not fit anymore. Then comes the crisis – or several of them, as we have witnessed. Now is the time to act and, in true Thomas S. Kuhn fashion, unravel the future. 

You simply can’t go electric without shifting how the game is played. It is fundamentally different from diesel. By rethinking how the world moves goods, we set out to build an entirely new category to solve several crises at once: climate change, supply chain bottlenecks and driver shortage. Freight mobility combines software intelligence, electric fleets, charging infrastructure and connectivity networks to form a resilient and cost-effective ecosystem. We’re talking about turning crisis into opportunity with the potential to curb 8% of global CO2 emissions. We have proven that, by introducing electric and autonomous grids, it is possible to reduce CO2 emissions by 90% at a cost-competitive rate.

Technology has the power to solve problems. But to reach its full potential, we need leaders who dare navigate complex and challenging situations with unfaltering values. Their ambition must be to create the conditions for a new generation to thrive. The good thing is the tools that enable us to future-proof transportation already exist. 

Let 2023 be the year we put them to work and prioritize the kinds of ideas and businesses that will bear the future of society – one that acts according to its values and sees no boundaries to what innovation can do.

Linnéa Kornehed Falck

CMO, Deputy CEO and Founder at Einride