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Self-driving test buses in Sweden to go faster

Testing of self-driving buses in Stockholm is set to be expanded.

Published: 1 April 2018 15:29 CEST
Self-driving test buses in Sweden to go faster
Photo: Marko Säävälä/TT

The driverless vehicles, which are being tested in the Kista tech and business district, will drive at speeds of 20 kilometres per hour, reports SVT.

Previous high speeds for the tests were restricted to 12 kilometres per hour.

Since January, two electric self-driving buses have plied a one-and-a-half kilometre stretch of road between the Kista Galleria shopping mall and the Scandic Victoria Tower hotel. That number will be increased in the summer, according to SVT's report.

A designated driver has been on board the buses during the test operation in case of emergency, as is required under current legislation in Sweden.

“We have tested at a difficult time of year with a lot of snow and it has exceeded expectations,” Peter Hafmar, CEO of operating company Nobina Technology, said to SVT.

Surveys conducted by researchers from Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology have shown passenger responses to the driverless buses to be mostly positive, according to the broadcaster’s report.

A fatal accident earlier this month involving a self-driving Uber vehicle in Arizona, United States is not reported to have had a negative affected on responses.

A further trial of the buses is also expected to be rolled out in Gothenburg in the near future.

READ ALSO: IN PICTURES: Sweden's first driverless buses hit the streets

AMAZON

Is Amazon coming to Sweden? Rumours suggest it’s on its way

Is Amazon about to roll out a Swedish site? Several experts have told Swedish media that it may happen sooner than you think.

Published: 28 July 2020 07:41 CEST
Is Amazon coming to Sweden? Rumours suggest it's on its way
An employee in one of Amazon's distribution centres in Germany. Photo: AP Photo/Jens Meyer

Speculation has been rife for years that the world's largest e-commerce business is about to set up shop in Sweden – after all, it does already own three data centres as well as a key Swedish domain name.

HUI research, a retail market researcher owned by the Swedish Trade Federation – you may know it best from its role in guessing, with varying degrees of success, the Christmas present of the year every winter – has now stuck its neck out and predicted that Amazon will roll out its Swedish site this autumn.

“We have had signals from players in the field that they are about to launch a Swedish site. We can't be 100 percent sure. They will do it at their own pace,” HUI Research's deputy CEO Emma Hernell told Swedish newswire TT on Tuesday, after newspaper DN first reported on the Amazon rumours.

“We think that they're going to keep delivering from their central warehouse in Germany. That means not rolling out the full package, such as fast deliveries. But perhaps they would also start with a small warehouse in Sweden,” added Hernell.

HUI Research believes that Amazon would launch in Sweden ahead of Black Friday at the end of November, the day Christmas sales usually kick off, based on how it has acted in other markets.

Retail consultant Markus Varsikko, who helps Nordic companies sell their products via Amazon, also tells DN that Amazon could be here by autumn, but says it could happen as early as September or October.

“Only Amazon knows for sure, but millions of details would have to work at a launch, not even Amazon would risk launching during Black Friday when the pressure is so great,” he said.

We know what you're thinking: would Amazon confirm all of this? Well, no.

“Unfortunately, we cannot comment on rumours and speculation,” Amazon press officer Bruce McLachlan told DN.

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