Electric Freight Trucks Cheaper, Going Longer Distances, & More Powerful Can Easily Meet 2035 Goals
With CO2 emissions from new cars in Europe plummeting as the share of zero- and low-emission cars has tripled, plans and research support that the final transition is closing in. The EU is set to solely permit the sale of zero-emissions cars from 2035. One question is, will electric freight trucks become commercial long-haul trucks soon enough to meet that necessary transition as well?
Truck pollution and the resultant greenhouse gases make the case for stopping those bigger polluters as swiftly as possible. Can they adapt to this date? On that topic, Transport & Environment and Agora Verkehrswende, a think tank for climate-neutral mobility based in Berlin, commissioned a new study that explores how to get to 100% zero-emission truck sales.
The report clearly established that running an electric freight truck was the cheaper option economically. By 2035, that includes long-haul trucking. The report is proof to quell doubts over whether electric trucks can match diesel trucks. The report showed they will.
“The TNO report compares the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of diesel, BEVs and FCEVs and assesses when zero-emission alternatives become cheaper to own and run. Operational requirements — such as sufficient driving range, no additional time losses due to recharging or refuelling, and similar payload capabilities — are also important conditions for hauliers when switching to zero-emission trucks, and were included in the analysis.”
In fact, by 2035, T&E concludes that 99.8% of new electric freight trucks will be cheaper to own and run than diesel trucks. The study explains that this is while carrying the same weight of goods over the same distance and journey time. In fact, in nearly all cases, electric trucks will outcompete their diesel competitors in total cost of ownership sooner than that. Regarding that last 0.2%, don’t fret. “The tiny gap to 100% can be easily bridged by a handful of trucks making an extra stop, beyond what is legally required, to charge. Even with that additional stop, they would still be cheaper to buy and run.”
Fedor Unterlohner, clean freight manager at T&E, said: “Cheaper, stronger, further. EU lawmakers can set a 2035 deadline to reach zero emissions sales with confidence that electric rigs will beat diesel trucks every time. This will cut costs for hauliers and clean up trucking while allowing European truckmakers to retain their global leadership.”
Wiebke Zimmer, Deputy Director of Agora Verkehrswende, said: “Progress towards climate neutrality in transport is not as fast as it needs to be. This makes it all the more important to fully exploit the technical and economic potential for emission-free road freight transport right from the start. In addition to ambitious CO2 standards for trucks, this also requires further measures such as purchase subsidies and CO2-based tolling.”
T&E notes that “the European Commission will make a proposal to tighten climate targets, including targets for heavy-duty vehicles in the coming months.” It seems that any such proposal should include a timeline for phasing out fossil-fueled freight trucks similar to the timeline for phasing out fossil-fueled light-duty vehicle sales.
Read a full briefing on this topic or the entire study.
Related stories:
- California Could Ban Diesel Trucks By 2040
- California Governor Orders End Of Gasoline & Diesel Car Sales By 2035
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
