Electric trucks could significantly contribute to the reduction of air pollution in European cities. Two flagship European projects, in which FIER Automotive is actively accelerating the switch to sustainable transport solutions, show e-trucks are getting ready to take over from diesel-powered trucks.
Harm Weken, Managing Partner
Edwin Bestebreurtje, Senior Consultant
Rob Kroon, Project Manager
By 2030 all forms of mobility in major urban centres in Europe have to be essentially CO2-free, according to the European White Paper for Transport (2011). Because Electric Freight Vehicles (EFV) are expected to make a major contribution to this, the European Union flagship project FREVUE was launched.
During FREVUE, in which FIER Automotive was responsible for the total cost of ownership (TCO) calculations of the vehicles in Rotterdam and Milan, seventy electric trucks of 9-18 ton started operations. Eight major cities across Europe participated in the project.
Last Mile
electric Green Last Mile (eGLM) started in 2017 and introduces the production and implementation of 40 to 50 ton electric trucks to be used for ‘Last Mile’ transportation. eGLM is a EU-funded INTERREG-project and brings together logistics companies from the Dutch province of Limburg and the neighbouring German state North Rhine-Westphalia.
The project, of which FIER Automotive was one of the initiators, puts eight to ten full electric trucks on the road. It is supported by the involved regional governments, the European Union and lead-partner LIOF, a Dutch investment and development company.
Frontrunners
As a driver of future mobility solutions, FIER Automotive was proud to be able to help both transport companies and truck manufacturers to bring electric trucks to the road by bridging the TCO-gap. This enabled our clients to become frontrunners in the process of switching from diesel to electric trucks.
Transport companies must be able to experiment with e-trucks, which still have to be tailor made. This first phase is very important for the adaptation of the technology, because it enables transport companies for example to negotiate with local governments about the time window they can use to deliver the goods. To avoid rush-hour and day-time traffic, they could enter the city during the night. This can be done with an e-truck because it is silent, while diesel trucks are usually not allowed to enter city centres at night because they make too much noise.
e-Truck Sharing
Savings on fuel, electricity is cheaper than diesel, make electric trucks more cost efficient. Taking this as a starting point, FIER Automotive made the operation and development costs of the e-trucks for the eGLM-project economical by maximising the mileage of the e-trucks.
To further optimise the mileage, FIER Automotive introduced e-truck sharing, quite a revolution in the logistics industry where sharing equipment is a relatively new concept. The introduction of the sharing programme is due for 2019.
For more information, please send us an email and we will send you our paper ‘Electric heavy duty trucks in Europe more and more upcoming’, presented during the EVS30 Symposium from 9 until 11 October 2017 in Stuttgart.