Einride Portraits: Philip, Software engineer

Philip Hassel likes to keep pace, whether it’s in his day-to-day work as a software engineer, in the wider context of his work as an Einride employee, or when traversing the outdoors in a pair of running shoes in his spare time. With a degree of nostalgia, the back-end specialist from Skara, Sweden, reflects on how much change and evolution he has experienced in just two years of working at Einride.

What is your role at Einride?

I am a software engineer at Einride, and I joined the company in early 2021. I am one of many sets of hands working to bring Einride’s intelligent freight mobility platform, Einride Saga, to the world. More specifically, I work on the tools that enable the electric fleet to be managed effectively and efficiently. Since my focus is more on the back end, this involves writing the services that manage all the logic needed to achieve certain outcomes. 

At Einride, there is some flexibility to be a specialist or more of a generalist. I would fall somewhere in the middle – but whichever direction you go, you’re encouraged to have a broad lens. There are opportunities to expand your knowledge in front end, back end, data pipelines, optimization, data fusion, real-world simulations for vehicles, and more! 

What is your career background?

Prior to joining Einride, I spent 3 years working at Klarna. This was the job that moved me from Linköping, where I’m had been living, to Stockholm. It also marked a bit of a mini career transition, because prior to this, I was more in the world of embedded engineering – doing much more hardwear-near software engineering, you could say. But moving to Stockholm, the focus has been switched to working with cloud services – which is quite a different type of engineering. 

Why did you come to Einride?

I had a great experience in my past roles. However, I felt that some of the main challenges had already been solved. Of course, there are always new opportunities and challenges to come, but I felt like the big barriers that needed to be overcome had – by that point – been conquered. 

At the same time, I guess you could say that I wanted to join a company that was going up against a bigger challenge – not just the technical challenges, but global challenges. And when I looked at Einride, I saw a company with an ambitious mission – and a necessary one. It feels important, what Einride is trying to do. And I wanted to be part of shaping that solution.

“The way we come together as a team makes me feel like we are making a real impact in this space.“

Einride brings solutions that will help businesses become more sustainable. It's about aligning with the battle against climate change – something that no one company, organization or government can tackle alone. But Einride is carving out a solution that the world really needs, and it makes me feel like we are writing an important chapter. This is one way in which I can contribute using the skills that I have learned so far – and in a meaningful way.

Why is digital intelligence key when it comes to the future of freight?

At Einride, we’re helping businesses with goods to ship – shippers – transition into this new world of intelligent electric freight. The huge benefit for them is that there are no tailpipe emissions when they’re shipping with electric trucks. But the challenge is that it’s a completely new way of handling your business. Electric vehicles cost much more than diesel vehicles. Batteries take more time to charge compared to refueling a conventional truck. The battery will experience a longer lifetime if it’s charged and used in a certain way – while this naturally isn’t a consideration for diesel trucks. Even the weather has a bearing on the electric vehicle’s range.

So there is all this additional complexity. And this is the reason why, at Einride, we tell people that you can’t go electric without going digital. If you don’t go digital, sure, you might be able to get electric trucks on the road – but you won’t unlock the efficiency of an intuitive and powerfully coordinated shipping network. Without digital intelligence, your electric shipping operation will not be cost-effective.

What makes Einride Saga unique?

If you are able to harness the right digital intelligence, you can – for example – ensure the vehicles and chargers are highly utilized. This is a real game-changer when it comes to running electric trucks in a cost-effective way. And you can make it easy for drivers to know how much they should charge and when, so as to get the vehicle to where it needs to go, while also ensuring you’re maximizing the life of the battery – which again, saves on shipping costs over time. There are countless more examples.

Ultimately, you need one system that can manage electric transportation intelligently – both the transition to electric and the operations of the electric fleet. Einride Saga is the digital brain that enables exactly that!

How important is data when it comes to Einride Saga?

Data is incredibly important. And at Einride, we have access to a lot of it because we operate some of the largest fleets of electric trucks in Europe and North America. But just as important as data is knowing what to do with it. I’m happy to say that we have that part covered!

We are able to paint a picture of how a vehicle of a certain make and model behaves – in terms of its charging, its range, its energy consumption patterns, and much more. Einride Saga is able to dig into this data and pick up some golden nuggets which then form part of how it coordinates and optimizes the charging and movement of those vehicles going forward.

What do you love about working at Einride?

The ambition and the vision – what the company is trying to do. I love that we’re pushing forward. I imagine in some jobs it might just feel like you’re writing code. But here, the way we come together as a team makes me feel like we are making a real impact in this space. 

“At Einride, there is some flexibility to be a specialist or more of a generalist. But whichever direction you go, you’re encouraged to have a broad lens.“

In fact, I’ve come to discover that a lot of people started at this company for similar or the same reasons as me. It feels like we’re joining forces, focused on a shared goal that we’re passionate about. A collective mindset but many different skill sets.

It’s a special feeling working in this kind of environment. It’s very solution-oriented and forward-focused. It’s great people, aligned to an important cause.

What can you look back on and be proud of?

I love the way the company has grown in such a short time, but it’s also amazing to look back and see how far we’ve come. I’ve also noticed that people who joined just a year ago have commented on how quickly we’ve grown. So I think there’s a real magic being on this journey together.

Back in our previous office, there was one Friday after-work hangout – just a run-of-the-mill office social gathering. For some reason, it stands out as a fond memory. Possibly because we were much more of a startup compared to where we are today, so there’s a degree of nostalgia. Now, we’re hundreds of people across Europe and the US. But who knows, maybe one day we’ll look back on these days and think of how small we were!

The other thing I’ve loved and have been proud of is our speed of execution. There have been instances where very small teams have been able to come together and build applications from scratch. Within a matter of weeks, we’ve turned sketches into apps that our colleagues and clients are using.

What are some of your hobbies and interests, outside of work?

I like to run! I did the Gothenburg Half Marathon. And I have some goals this summer: one is my long-standing ambition to run 5 kilometers in under 20 minutes. I’ve been so close many times, once achieving 20 minutes and 20 seconds. So I need to shave off 20 seconds. Another goal, which I hope to tick off soon, is to run a full marathon.

I must also say that I don’t always run. I also love walking. My partner and I once walked from Hässelby in Stockholm to Sigtuna, which is a distance of 44 kilometers. With occasional stops, it took us 11 hours. My phone tells me that’s 64 thousand steps – my longest walk to date! 

--------

Want to join Philip in writing the next important chapter? We are always on the lookout for spirited and ambitious people who can bring relevant expertise to our team. Check out the Einride careers page to see our open positions.

See our job openings →

‍