Solving the 鈥榗hicken and egg鈥 scenario: How OEMs and energy suppliers can collaborate to drive the future of electric trucking
Head of Public eMobility & Power for Shell Commercial Road Transport
Senior Product Manager for Depot-Charging Solutions at MAN
Europe needs its commercial road transport (CRT) fleets to invest in electrification. And, to make the case for investment, fleet managers need to know they can continue to operate their existing routes as cost competitively as possible with electric vehicles (EVs). They need to know that reliable charging infrastructure is in place along those routes 鈥 and at the depot 鈥 to make that possible.
However, this is where they often come up against a 鈥榗hicken and egg鈥 scenario:
- EV trucks are available, but customers are reluctant to invest because the charging infrastructure needed to support them is not fully in place yet at scale.
- Energy suppliers are hesitant to invest in the charging infrastructure required because there are not yet enough EV trucks in use to make it commercially viable.
So, how do we resolve this? We talked to Aleid van der Wiel, Head of Public eMobility & Power for Shell Commercial Road Transport, and Matthias Schlagenhauser, Senior Product Manager for Depot-Charging Solutions at MAN, about how OEMs and energy suppliers can (and do) work together to drive the widespread adoption of electric trucks across Europe.
How has the electrification landscape for the commercial road transport sector changed in recent years?
Aleid van der Wiel: One of the biggest changes is increased regulation. Only last year, the EU set tighter CO2 emissions targets for heavy-duty vehicles.1 And a lot of these standards are focused on the OEMs, which means they鈥檙e thinking about charging infrastructure and how it underpins their aims. Overall, there鈥檚 a sense of momentum in the market. It鈥檚 a case of scaling Europe鈥檚 charging network to encourage adoption among fleets so we can increase the number of electric trucks on the road and reduce emissions.
Matthias Schlagenhauser: There鈥檚 a lot happening on the technology side too. We鈥檙e taking what we鈥檝e learnt from developing electric buses and a smaller series of electric trucks into the heavy-duty space. Based on the work we鈥檝e done in our battery factory in Nuremberg, Germany, it鈥檚 now possible to charge our electric trucks up to 375 kilowatts (kw) through the Combined Charging System (CCS). We鈥檝e also developed electric trucks with megawatt (MW) charging capabilities, speeding up the charging process further so fleets can drive the efficiency of their operations.
How important is strategic charging infrastructure for the adoption of EV trucks?
AW: The initial upfront cost of investing in EV trucks is considered high. But having the right strategic infrastructure in place can help fleets to reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) by increasing efficiency and managing energy usage (enabling them to charge at times when electricity prices are lower).
In 2023, Shell opened its first heavy-duty public truck charging site at Eindhoven Acht in the Netherlands. Giving fleets access to 300 kW charging bays, parking facilities and the ability to book guaranteed charger availability, the site aimed to show how fleets can operate their routes efficiently using EV trucks. This is in addition to developing our public charging network. By 2024, we aim to have 25 EV truck charging stations in place across Europe 鈥 and we鈥檙e working with our depot charging customers to open their sites up to the public.
MS: Having a robust on-the-go charging network across Europe is essential for replicating the range and flexibility that diesel-powered trucks currently have. With the right charging infrastructure in place, we鈥檒l see customers be able to maximise the efficiency of their EV fleets. This will be key in helping fleets to lower their TCO and strengthen their business case for investment in electrification.
Hybrid Energy Hub, Eindhoven Acht, Netherlands
What are the challenges preventing the acceleration of electrification?
AW: The current lack of charging infrastructure is a barrier. Our research highlights that nearly two-thirds (64%) of CRT fleets believe the energy infrastructure needed for emissions reduction is currently not robust or reliable enough to support their operations.2 This undermines the business case for electric truck adoption while making it more difficult to justify the investment in charging infrastructure at scale.
Grid capacity is another hurdle. Currently, there isn鈥檛 the capacity for widespread electric adoption across Europe, but we鈥檙e working to overcome this with solutions like microgrids that offer self-contained energy solutions. We鈥檙e also working with customers to use the infrastructure and grid capacity they do have as efficiently as possible 鈥 combining fleet planning with fluctuations in energy markets to encourage charging in the periods where grid capacity is highest and/or the electricity is cheapest.
There鈥檚 also a growing need for real estate, especially as countries across the EU look to meet the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR). This means providing high-speed heavy-duty charging locations like our Eindhoven Acht station at regular intervals along highways, which will require large amounts of available and accessible real estate. For fleets, it鈥檚 important for EU member states to be as transparent as possible in how they plan to adopt this regulation so fleet managers can plot their routes against the growing charging network.
MS: The biggest challenge we see currently is the cost of electric truck adoption 鈥 not only for the truck but for the charging infrastructure needed to power it. That cost is the focal point for customers. So, it鈥檚 important to educate them about the longer-term benefits of adoption 鈥 from the growing use of tenders that require zero-emission vehicles to the potential for cost efficiency with the right charging processes in place.
Fleet managers are also concerned about the risk of investing in the wrong technology. Fleet managers want to act now, but they also want to know that they鈥檙e investing in solutions for the future. I think projects like the Megawatt Charging System (MCS) dual charger developed at the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam (ETCA) show that electrification is here to stay.
How important is collaboration between OEMs and energy suppliers?
AW: It鈥檚 hugely important for us to collaborate with OEMs to drive the adoption of electric trucks. In terms of developing charging solutions, we鈥檙e working closely with OEMs to make sure our customers have the best user experience at the charge site.
For example, we鈥檙e collaborating to make sure our hardware connects seamlessly, allowing customers to recharge quickly, reliably and at the expected power levels so they can keep to their schedules. This includes investing in charge point technology designed to deliver interoperability and quality, as we have done through our acquisition of SBRS in 2022. It also includes testing the connection between charge points and trucks at our Hamburg lab to help us and OEMs develop better solutions.
MS: It鈥檚 essential to work with energy suppliers. As an OEM, we鈥檙e naturally focused on the vehicles, but we understand the importance of the charging side of the equation as well.
As Aleid mentions, finding solutions to elements like the connectivity between the charging hardware and the vehicles has been vital. Drivers just want to continue with their journey, so they need these elements to work first time, and every time. Ultimately, everything needs to be easy for our fleet customers.
What is your vision for the future of CRT electrification?
First Megawatt (MW) dual charger at the Energy Transition Campus, Amsterdam (ETCA)
AW: We see high-quality, high-speed and flexible charging as the future. But that鈥檚 not all about the infrastructure or the hardware. To make sure fleet TCO remains low, businesses need to integrate those elements with fleet and energy management to drive efficient and cost-effective operations. Software (including AI systems) has a crucial role to play in this, linking fleet schedules to energy markets to help fleet managers develop routes that provide the cheapest and most reliable charging options 鈥 out on the roads or back at the depot.
Part of this is showing fleets what this level of integration looks like. That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e developed the first Megawatt (MW) dual charger for commercial road transport and marine applications as a proof of concept at the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam (ETCA). The aim is to show both industries how a fully integrated system for sustainable energy management (featuring its own microgrid and standardised connectors) can support their decarbonisation ambitions while helping businesses to remain cost competitive by operating efficiently.
MS: As much as it鈥檚 not easy for customers to say yes to the investment now, we鈥檙e likely to see electrification cover a large part of the heavy-duty vehicle market. To support that, I think we鈥檒l see a much wider availability of MCS chargers 鈥 giving fleets access to flexible, high-speed charging. The aim is this will then help them to operate their existing routes more efficiently while opening new route possibilities for their electric trucks.
Disclaimers
1 Council of the EU. 鈥溾 2024.
2 Shell. Internal research: Decarbonisation in Transport. June 2024 - Based on a quantitative survey of 377 businesses across APAC, EMEA and the Americas. A report by research provider, B2B International, for Shell Downstream and Renewables.
