Electric heavy goods vehicles – or eHGVs for short – is the next area of transport to undergo an electric revolution.
While cars travel thousands of miles more than electric trucks, the heavy goods sector accounts for just under 20% of the UK’s transport CO2 emissions.
That’s because big heavy trucks powered by huge diesel engines pump out much more nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter than the comparatively smaller and lighter vehicles.
To put it into perspective, if the half a million HGVs on UK roads today were switched to electric, the potential saving is around 20 Mt CO2e – the same as powering two million homes for a year.
The future of electric HGVs
This potential positive environmental impact of replacing diesel trucks with battery electric trucks has not gone unnoticed by UK lawmakers.
By 2040, all new heavy-duty trucks will be zero emission with smaller trucks weighing less than 26 tonnes being phased out from 2035 onwards.
For now, the transition is slow. Just 1% of new heavy goods vehicles sold are zero emission – but it’s a growing market and one government is keen to support with financial incentives.
Hauliers wishing to go green can take advantage of the Plug-in Truck Grant in the UK, which gives a discount of up to £25,000 for the largest commercial vehicles.
Alongside this is the £200 million Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme, which has an ambition to deploy around 350 of the heaviest battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on UK roads. The fund will also support over 70 public and depot-based infrastructure installations by 2030.
One of the projects funded by ZEHID is the Electric Freightway. Led by GRIDSERVE, it will see eHGV charging hubs installed at motorway service stations and truck stops alongside the rollout of commercial depot charging locations. Nissan has just opened the first of these charging depots at its Sunderland factory.
Benefits of battery electric trucks
We’ve already discussed the environmental impact of switching heavy duty trucks to electric power but reduced emissions also mean businesses can save when it comes to any costs associated with ultra-low emissions zones (ULEZ) or clean air zones (CAZ).
Further benefits for commercial vehicle fleets include lower running costs (plugging in at an on-site workplace charging depot is cheaper than filling up with diesel) plus there are fewer moving parts in an eHGV, which means less to go wrong and therefore reduced upkeep bills.
Truck drivers also love eHGVs as they’re much smoother and quieter to drive. This is both good for local environments which have trucks thundering past but also for the fatigue levels and mental wellbeing of drivers. All of that is great for your company image – people prefer to do business with brands operating sustainably.
Challenges facing eHGVs
The two biggest challenges facing electric trucks are intrinsically linked: the range limitations and charging infrastructure.
Heavy goods vehicles are required to drive long distances filled to the brim with heavy loads. Add in the weight of battery packs and you start to see some of the challenges around real world electric driving range.
That said, with rules governing how long truck drivers can legally drive before taking a mandated stop, the life of a truck is actually ripe for switching to electric, so long as there’s a fleet management system in place and a charging network to support it.
And so, onto charging infrastructure. In order to drive these large commercial vehicles carrying heavy payloads, the battery capacity must be big… and that means it takes a while to recharge if you’re plugging into the existing rapid and fast charging infrastructure of up to 360kW that’s being installed for smaller battery electric vehicles.
That’s a reasonably short-term issue, though, as megawatt charging is on its way which will slash the amount of time an eHGV takes to charge. That said, to deploy this sort of charging requires increased power availability and it’s therefore vital that Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) are involved in conversations now so they can understand where the load demands will be to factor these into future energy strategies.
In addition, and not to state the obvious but trucks are also quite big, which means any public charging infrastructure requires space and a specific charging station layout that supports the size safely. That’s something that GRIDSERVE is working on as part of the eHGV charging hub rollout in the Electric Freightway programme.
The final consideration is upfront costs. We’ve addressed the fact that government support exists for new eHGVs but any fleet renewal is expensive. It’s something that will be done slowly over time rather than a large-scale overhaul. Part of the Electric Freightway programme involves data capture to build a picture of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), with modelling that can support investment business cases for future eHGV deployments.
None of these challenges are insurmountable and many are already on their way to being solved. Regardless, the environmental and social benefits of eHGVs far outweigh the reasons for not overcoming them.
Best new eHGVS on sale in the UK and electric truck ranges
There are a growing number of electric HGVs on the market in the UK with many mainstream manufacturers in the light commercial vehicles sector and heavy goods market providing electric options.
The most popular choice is the Volvo FH Electric, with a 44-tonne payload and 300 miles of range, it can also be topped up in a little over two hours when DC fast charging.
The Mercedes-Benz eActros is another offering with similar range, payload and charging capabilities.
DAF has several electric models including the DAF XB Electric, DAF XD Electric, and DAF XF Electric, each offering a different mix of payloads, range and charging. The same can be said for Renault Trucks, which offers the E-Tech T and D Wide Z.E.
The MAN eTGM and MAN eTGX have short wheelbases and high battery capacity, while UK-based manufacturer, Tevva, specialises in medium-duty electric and hydrogen-electric trucks.
Finally, BYD, which has taken the electric vehicle world by storm by rivalling Tesla, is expanding its electric truck range in Europe, including models like the ETM6.
As we move to 2035 and beyond and the number of customers for electric trucks increases, there will be plenty more new HGVs powered by electric on the market with bigger payloads, higher ranges and larger, more efficient batteries.
It is undoubtedly the time for logistics companies and hauliers to prepare for a cleaner, more sustainable future with electric HGVs.
