Companies that can offer integrated charging infrastructure solutions backed by expertise in trucking, power sourcing, financing offerings, hardware deployment and implementation stand to gain significant first-mover advantage and tap into a profit pool expected to surpass EUR40 billion by 2030.

It is encouraging that local factors are currently more influential on fleet decisions than grid readiness, offering hope for increased EV adoption in the near future.

Electrification of Local and Regional Trips

At first, truck electrification involves electrified trucks traveling on local, regional and short-haul trips. Depot charging and destination charging at logistic centers should become key elements for fleets as they transition to electric trucks; such chargers should also be integrated into logistics processes to ensure efficient charge management for both the vehicle and depot.

Miles Archer, Ryder’s senior manager of EV infrastructure and partnerships advised fleets to work closely with utility providers from an early stage in order to determine what utilities best suit their particular operation, especially as different utilities offer different rates and availability options. This is essential since different providers may charge different rates or offer limited availability options, said Archer.

Fleets should consider options beyond wired charging, including battery swapping–an established technology in China–electric road systems and others. Furthermore, discussions regarding these alternatives with their truck manufacturer should take place; often their relationship will enable them to plan for the future with powertrain suppliers who supply powertrains directly; these discussions should include consideration for duty cycles and route patterns of each individual truck.

Electrification of Mid-Haul Trips

Electric vehicles (EVs) have long been used to make short local trips, but the next step will be electrifying medium and heavy-duty trucks (MHDEVs) for regional and long-haul journeys. To be effective at this task, an eTruck fleet must have the capability of charging in mid-trip or destination locations without disrupting its schedule.

There are various solutions to support longer routes, including depot charging which offers power levels between 25-150 kW with four to ten hour charging windows for fleets with regular overnight stops; public fast charging (350 kW to 1.5 MW capacity) allows quick top-ups during driver rest breaks or scheduled delivery stops;

Battery swapping and overhead catenary charging could provide another means for fleets looking to reduce costs by decreasing upfront truck purchases and investments in batteries, however their deployment requires collaboration among utilities, governments, fleets and municipalities in order to ensure all the necessary infrastructure exists in all locations.

Electrification of Long-Distance Trips

Long-haul trips offer great potential for the transition to electric trucking, yet this stage can be extremely difficult due to the amount of energy necessary for charging them along their journey.

Reorganization of energy grids and deployment of fast charging networks that provide necessary power can also be challenging during rapid transition periods due to investment risks being high and shortages in public fast charging points.

One solution for long-haul EV charging is pantograph charging, which utilizes an extendable arm similar to those found on railway tracks. Capable of providing up to 600kW, pantograph charging may become the go-to method when energy demands spike during trips with high energy consumption – becoming the main form of long-haul charging alongside overnight depot charging and other methods.

Electrification of Destination Trips

As part of its significant EV truck deployment plans, providing an adequate charging infrastructure ecosystem remains the final barrier. This includes vehicle, duty cycle, chargers and electric utilities all working in concert to charge electric trucks efficiently and reliably.

At present, one of the greatest needs is providing charging capacity for trucks on destination trips, both overnight at truck depots or warehouse destinations, and on highways during their travel. Fleets should integrate charge management into their logistic processes and public charging infrastructures (up to 500kW capacity at urban nodes) should also be made available.

Electric trucks require an interoperable reservation system – something which has proven difficult for passenger charging but will become even more vital with freight transport. Resolving these issues will necessitate collaboration among electric utilities, transport authorities and fleet operators; such an alliance will play an integral part in combatting global climate change by drastically decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation sectors and significantly cutting global warming-causing greenhouse gas emissions from transport sector operations.