An efficient, safe, and sustainable transport system requires autonomous vehicles that are truly driverless. This transition adds to the complexity of creating operationally and functionally safe vehicles. However, leveraging simulation enables much easier development and validation of self-driving software, lowering complexity and mitigating safety concerns by lessening the dependency on hardware and actual vehicle testing over time. We'll cover why electric-and-autonomous is a perfect technology match for freight applications, designing a software architecture to leverage the current AV ecosystem, and utilizing simulation to minimize friction in the development process, while meeting safety requirements.