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EU prepares to throw weight behind electric trucks

Electric cars as the best lower carbon replacement for the internal combustion engine is a done deal for many, but how to decarbonise the haulage sector is an ongoing debate. Increasingly, policy makers and truck manufacturers in Europe seem ready to embrace electric solutions for trucks as well as smaller vehicles

Until now, it has been current practice to assume low-carbon liquid fuels such as biofuels and e-fuels are vital to decarbonise heavy duty vehicles, but more recent discussions indicate battery electric trucks could be an equally valid, if not better, solution

BIG EMITTER
Trucks emit nearly a quarter of carbon dioxide emissions from road transport and that proportion is forecast to grow as battery powered cars steadily replace those propelled by internal combustion engines

ELECTRIC ADVANTAGES
Electric trucks and charging infrastructure are in short supply and they remain expensive compared to their fossil fuel counterparts, but they have the advantage of already existing, unlike other potential solutions to decarbonise the haulage sector

KEY QUOTE
Electric trucks are competitive with their diesel equivalents because of 60-80% savings on repair and maintenance Road transport remains a thorn in the side of EU climate policymakers and trucks are a big part of the problem: they emit nearly a quarter of the sector’s carbon dioxide and that share is forecast to grow.

One oft-repeated solution is the idea of a modal shift” or the transfer of freight from roads to rail and inland waterways. The European Green Deal, which aims for the region to be carbon neutral by 2050, reiterates the importance of a substantial” move in this direction, highlighting that three-quarters of inland freight in the EU is transported by road. But for many this approach will not be enough. Modal shift is an important but limited option” out to 2030, said Anita Breyer, head of emissions, safety and transport at the German environment ministry, at an event hosted by NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) in February 2019. Three-quarters of freight will still be on roads in ten years time, she said, hence the importance of decarbonising it. Until now, it has been current practice to assume low-carbon liquid fuels such as biofuels and e-fuels are vital to decarbonise heavy duty vehicles, but more recent discussions indicate battery electric trucks could be an equally valid, if not better, solution. The future of short haul freight is electric and electric-plus-hydrogen for long haul, truck makers Volvo and Daimler and logistics giants Deutsche Post DHL and Schenker told participants at the T&E conference. Electric trucks are already available today, they underlined. T&E estimates half the total distance driven by trucks in the EU could be covered by battery electric models already coming to market. Meanwhile, the European Commission, the EU executive, is considering mandating the roll-out of electric charging infrastructure for trucks as part of an upcoming revision of the EUs Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Directive (AFID), a 2014 law requiring member states to develop alternatives to diesel and petrol and corresponding refuelling or recharging infrastructure. Germany will prepare a concept” for charging infrastructure for trucks by summer 2020 and a support programme by the end of the year, Breyer said. T&E wants the Commission to set national targets for public truck chargers in key cities, distribution centres and on highways. It also stresses the importance of EU support — so far non-existent — for the roll-out of a private charging infrastructure. Researchers expect four-fifths of truck charging to initially take place in private depots, mainly because this is cheapest. In the US, California offers financial incentives to utilities to help them install chargers for logistics operators.

RADICAL POLICY CHANGE
Any EU support for electric trucks would be a radical change. Under the AFID, only natural gas is promoted as an alternative fuel for trucks. Herald Ruijters, who is in charge of the directive’s revision, was categorical the limitation will change. Moreover, the Commission will get more specific about how much of which alternative fuels are required where, rather than making general recommendations about their availability, he told the T&E event. The directive may also become a regulation, Ruijters added, meaning the same law would enter into force in every member state on a set date, rather than countries deciding how to transpose them into national law. The result of the AFID being a directive means implementation has been heterogeneous”, he said. The Commission intends to issue proposals for a new AFID in early 2021. In parallel, it will revisit the trans-European transport network regulation, known as TEN-T, which determines the transport infrastructure projects eligible for fast permitting and potentially EU funds. In line with a general principle to get the most out of public funds, the Commission plans a shift away from grants to loans, via the European Investment Bank for example, as part of the TEN-T revision. In future, grants will be limited to pre-commercial projects, Ruijters said, but suggested ultra-fast chargers for trucks and green hydrogen could still benefit from this kind of support. The biggest fight the Commission has on its hands is gas. Ruijters was clear it will need to be decarbonised or phased out”. Ruling out gas would please NGOs like T&E and truck makers like Daimler, the world’s largest, and Schenker, which also say they see no future in natural gas. But representatives from the International Road Transport Union and brewer AB InBev have warned the EU against phasing out gas too fast, arguing that electric trucks remain expensive and limited in supply. Electric trucks are competitive with their diesel equivalents, insisted Michael Lohmeier, vice-president for e-mobility at Deutsche Post DHL, because of 60-80% savings on repair and maintenance. SUPPLY SQUEEZE For Schenker, AB InBev and Deutsche Post DHL the supply of zero emission vehicles is the biggest challenge. Deutsche Post DHL has resorted to building its own trucks and wants to use these to go fully electric by 2025. Schenker is exploring the same possibility. The advantage of taking matters into their own hands, these operators say, is that they can customise their vehicles to maximise payload (goods carried). All key European truck makers will produce electric trucks in the early 2020s, but they have yet to announce details of how many and with what ranges. Henrik Engdahl, chief engineer for charging at the Volvo Group, told the T&E conference that Volvo already has small models in production. Regional trucks, with a range of up to 300 kilometres (km), are coming” in the next few years. Longhaul journeys are also a candidate for battery electric, Engdahl added, because EU law requires drivers to rest every four and a half hours. This means that driving at 80 kilometres an hour, a truck would need a charge for 360 km at most. Autonomous driving will reshape this rationale, he acknowledged. Engdahl’s views were largely shared by Manfred Schuckert, head of emissions and safety at Daimler. The company is leading the charge on electric trucks and is the only truck maker that aims to make its whole commercial fleet carbon neutral by 2039. Like Engdahl, Schuckert believes hydrogen is part of long haul’s future too, but that the technology is lagging battery electric development. Neither Volvo nor Daimler believe in so-called electric road systems (ERSs) or overhead lines to charge onboard batteries. Germany, France and Sweden are exploring such options, but the Commission, too, sees very limited potential for now” with costs still far too high”. The call for clarity is widespread over where EU policy makers want to take trucks in the medium term — battery electric, ERSs, hydrogen, synthetic fuels or LNG — and what type of infrastructure the EU will support. The next milestone for the future of trucks in Europe will be the AFID and TEN-T revisions. After that, the EUs first-ever truck CO2 standards — agreed in 2019 — will be up for review again in 2022. In the meantime, all the zero-emission solutions out there ultimately depend on green electricity, so whichever fuel option(s) the EU goes for, decarbonising the power sector remains top priority.

TEXT Sonja van Renssen