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Autonomous-electric trucking tech firm Einride's de-SPAC deal with Legato Merger Corp. III on Wednesday was motivated by speed and efficiency, CEO Roozbeh Charli tells Axios Pro.  

Zoom out: The deal values the Stockholm-based company at $1.8 billion and follows de-SPACs by driverless trucking rivals Kodiak and Aurora.

What we're watching: Einride is pursuing another $100 million in PIPE capital following a $100 million raise this year from EQT Ventures, NordicNinja and a West Coast global asset management firm.

This Expert Voices interview was edited for length and style.

Axios: Why are autonomous trucking firms taking the SPAC route?

Charli: "It's a quicker and more efficient way of getting to public markets, and having found a SPAC partner with a track record and history of helping companies like us, we found that it was good timing for us."

What most differentiates Einride from its competitors? The EV component?

"The early commercialization strategy of an autonomous technology company that actually has a scalable go-to-market strategy and the customer relationships and customer base, with the electric and our technology platform.

If you stack up our customer base and our commercial traction, we stack up pretty good against those other players."

About 200 Einride trucks are currently in operation. How many will be deployed following this deal, and in what type of operations?

"We look forward to continue to grow into those $800 million of ARR that we have in our business plans.

The initial step that we take with all our customers is look at their data and set a plan for how we're going to transition into electric and autonomous. We choose those routes and those lanes based on where we see the best business case for that specific customer.

Fast-moving consumer goods, the food and retail sector, industrial and, to some extent, transportation in and around the ports will continue to be key industries for us."

How have the worst U.S. freight market in recent memory and a tough electrification landscape affected appetite for Einride's EV-AV trucks? 

"There are current challenges in terms of electric in the U.S. On the other hand, you see quite a big sort of push on the autonomous side, with demand increasing.

Despite the challenges in the overall market, we're still able to grow quite significantly with our customers in the U.S., because ultimately, it's about taking down the freight costs and showing the path of how we're going to do that."

"Good timing": Einride enters autonomous truck tech SPAC fray

The deal values the Stockholm-based company at $1.8 billion and follows de-SPACs by driverless trucking rivals Kodiak and Aurora.

Photo illustration of Roozbeh Charli next to colorful rectangles and a photo of a Einride self-driving truck.

Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photos: Courtesy of Einride

Autonomous-electric trucking tech firm Einride&#x27;s de-SPAC deal with Legato Merger Corp. III on Wednesday was motivated by speed and efficiency, CEO Roozbeh Charli tells Axios Pro. Zoom out: The deal values the Stockholm-based company at $1.8 billion and follows de-SPACs by driverless trucking rivals <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Kodiak" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/supply-chain-deals/2025/09/25/kodiak-spac-ceo-capital" data-vars-content-id="b659c6f2-0af2-4c9b-b0a2-804efcec19b4" data-vars-headline="&quot;Good timing&quot;: Einride enters autonomous truck tech SPAC fray" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/supply-chain-deals/2025/09/25/kodiak-spac-ceo-capital" target="_self">Kodiak</a> and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Aurora" data-vars-click-url="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/4/22763180/aurora-av-spac-merger-nasdaq-publicly-traded-urmson" data-vars-content-id="b659c6f2-0af2-4c9b-b0a2-804efcec19b4" data-vars-headline="&quot;Good timing&quot;: Einride enters autonomous truck tech SPAC fray" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/4/22763180/aurora-av-spac-merger-nasdaq-publicly-traded-urmson" target="_blank">Aurora</a>.

"Good timing": Einride enters autonomous truck tech SPAC fray

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