Charging and refuelling infrastructure is often cited as the main obstacle for an obligation on truck manufacturers to ramp-up zero emissions truck and bus sales more quickly. However, analysis by Transport & Environment (T&E) of public charging infrastructure targets recently agreed under the new EU Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), as well as the additional deployment plans in Germany, and comparison of public charging availability with the projected energy demand of the zero emission heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) fleet in 2030, suggests that there will be more than enough infrastructure to meet current European Union (EU) electric truck targets for 2030.

Indeed, the study found that AFIR will provide sufficient public charging infrastructure EU-wide to reduce CO₂ emissions from new HDVs by 65%, and will be more than enough for the 45% reduction target proposed under the HDV CO₂ standards by the European Commission (EC).

As a result, T&E is calling on lawmakers to mandate a 65% cut in truck CO₂ emissions in 2030, going further than the EC’s proposed standards and in line with the bloc’s climate commitments.

According to the study, by 2030 Europe will have 13.79 TWh of charging energy per year for HDVs. That would supply 97% of the energy needs of the electric trucks and coaches on the road if the EU set the higher target for truckmakers. A recently agreed EU law obliges member states to install at least one truck charging hub every 60–100 km along major motorways.

Fabian Sperka, Vehicles Policy Manager at T&E, comments: ‘Truck-maker scaremongering that there won’t be enough public charging does not stand up to scrutiny. Charging is not an obstacle to more ambitious truck climate targets. Not only will the EU’s new infrastructure law provide enough charging for the proposed 2030 CO₂ standards, it enables lawmakers to go further.’

The truck-makers’ lobby group ACEA is demanding four times the public charging capacity that is needed to meet the EC’s truck CO₂ targets in 2030, says T&E. ‘This would result in charge points being used for just over 30 minutes a day, on average,’ it claims. Increasing the 2030 truck CO₂ standard to 65% would result in public chargers being used four hours a day, according to the analysis.

Sperka continues: ‘Claims that EU public charging targets are insufficient ignore the fact that electric trucks will be mostly plugged in at private chargers. Overbuilding the network would leave public chargers underutilised and require massive subsidies. Higher CO₂ standards will expand the zero emissions truck fleets in line with EU climate goals while guaranteeing that public chargers are optimally used.’

MEPs and EU governments are expected to agree new truck CO₂ standards by the end of the legislative term in 2024. Trucks account for just 2% of the vehicles on the road but are responsible for more than a quarter of EU road transport CO₂ emissions, reports T&E.

To find out more about how the heavy road freight sector in the UK and Europe is gearing up to switch from diesel to predominantly battery electric trucks, read this week’s features article on ‘Speeding ahead: truck sector gears up for net zero’. Meanwhile, click here to read more about EV charging developments globally, and here to find out more about EV charging and the UK’s wider fuel retail sector.