HAMBURG — Four and a half hours at the wheel. A 45-minute break. And another four-and-a-half-hour drive. That’s how much a trucker can drive in a day according to the (German) law. This schedule is ideal for battery-powered trucks, says Tobias Wagner. He knows the drill because he has been driving electric trucks himself since the beginning of July. On his YouTube channel, Wagner calls himself an electric trucker. After several weeks, he is convinced that this type of vehicle is the future for heavy commercial vehicles. Not hydrogen. Not synthetic diesel. Not the overhead line.
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Wagner was employed by Nanno Janssen, who owns a transport company based in Leer, in the northwestern region of Lower Saxony, and can count on 60 tractor units, six of which are electric. “I’ve ordered 30 more,” says Janssen. More than the environment, what’s driving the change is the hunt for cost savings in an industry with historically low-profit margins. And Janssen is certain the investments will pay off in three to four years, especially with the initial help he’s getting from the public sector.
A government subsidy paid for 80% of the cost of ten charging stations at his depot, each with two charging points, and for the first six trucks. The future vehicles will be privately financed, costing between 280,000 and 300,000 euros each, well above the 130,000 price tag a diesel would.
It’s about fuel and toll
The reason why this makes sense financially in the longer term lies in the cost of fuel. Truck diesel costs around 1.60 euros per liter, including taxes. That’s no less than 54 euros () for 100 kilometers (62 miles). While it’s true that the price of electricity can fluctuate more, it is currently only around 35 cents per kilowatt hour. Multiplied by a consumption of around 100 kilowatt hours, this amounts to 35 euros () per 100 kilometers — a saving of almost 20 euros. And the cost would shrink even more with the installation of solar panels.
Everything we could need has already been invented and is already available.
In addition to that, electric trucks will be exempted from paying tolls until the end of 2025. After that, the toll will be around ten cents per kilometer. For non-electric vehicles, it is around 40 cents. Driving electric pays off.
Janssen found an expert in the field when he hired Wagner, the founder of ChargeX, a start-up building multiple sockets for electric cars. As of now, he only works as a partner at the start-up. In search of a new job, he switched careers and got his truck driver’s license.
That’s why he is so experienced when it comes to estimating ranges or calculating how long a charging stop really takes. The car industry has paved the way for e-trucks, says Wagner. “Everything we could need has already been invented and is already available,” he said. “Electric trucks are surprisingly reliable. All that’s left to do is to make the switch”.
Ready for mass production?
The reality, however, is that there is still a lot of work to do. Mercedes has launched an extensive advertising campaign for the e-Actros with 625 kilowatt hours of energy. This should enable you to drive around 600 kilometers in one go. A heavy-duty truck is only allowed to reach a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour on the freeway, which means the e-Actros can cover 360 kilometers (217 miles) in 4.5 hours — then a break is mandatory anyway. However, the delivery of the e-Actros is proving slow, and will not take place until 2025. Other manufacturers are facing similar problems.
In addition, the construction of charging stations for trucks is still in its early stages. There are many experimental projects such as the Rhine-Alpine corridor from Aral Pulse. Yet, as of today, most electric truck drivers have to rely on charging stations that were designed not for trucks, but for cars. Not only does this take space away from electric cars, but it can also be impractical: The driver often has to disconnect the tractor unit from its trailer to make charging possible, and car chargers usually take longer.
Falling battery prices help electric trucks
Everyone seemingly agrees on what a good truck charging network should look like. It would mostly rely on the depots, where diesel pumps are commonly installed today. To enhance long-distance travel, the National Control Center for Charging Infrastructure (which belongs to a company owned by the Federal Ministry of Transport) has identified 350 crucial locations that need intervention. For this study, they were able to access what is probably the most reliable source to measure truck flow: toll data.
In these 350 locations, more than 4,000 charging points need to be installed, and 100 of these locations will be simple parking lots, with no gas stations or restaurants. According to the analysis of the National Charging Infrastructure Control Center, less than half of these need a Megawatt Charging System, with charging points delivering over 1,000 kilowatts of energy instead of the more common 300 or 400 kilowatts.
The new EU CO₂ requirements and the steadily falling battery prices tip the scales on the side of the electric truck.
In addition to the many established charging station operators, a newly founded joint venture called Milence is having a significant impact on the industry. It has already opened Megawatt charging stations in France and the Netherlands. Germany will follow shortly with charging parks on the A9 highway between Leipzig and Berlin and on a big interchange (Hermsdorfer Kreuz) between the A9 and the A4 in Thuringia.
Just a few years ago, it would have been hard to predict that electric trucks would overtake traditional heavy-duty vehicles. Today, the new European Union’s CO₂ requirements and the steadily falling battery prices tip the scales on the side of the electric truck. The battery cell installed in the Mercedes e-Actros, for example, is currently trading on the Chinese market for around 50 euros per kilowatt hour. Two years ago such a battery cell would have cost twice as much. Having said that, such a reduction in the cost of a battery cell does not match the variation in prices for a tractor-truck unit. Nevertheless, the price gap between diesel and electric vehicles will narrow in the medium term.
Associations remain skeptical
While the test track for overhead line trucks between Hamburg and Lübeck is being closed and hydrogen trucks are still only being used in field tests, logistics companies are decisively going electric. DSV from Denmark has ordered 300 battery-electric Volvo tractors, which are to be delivered by 2026. Aldi Süd is installing special charging stations at its locations. Kaufland will soon also be supplying various locations in Lower Saxony with electric Renaults and Mercedes, as it did with many of its locations in Baden-Württemberg. Almost all major logistics companies across the country are planning to buy electric trucks.
Skepticism could also be a strategy to secure state support.
While individual freight companies are already counting on the industry eventually going electric, skepticism prevails among interest groups. The Federal Association of Freight Forwarders and Logistics, for example, points to synthetic, climate-neutral fuels for combustion engines. The Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics, and Disposal says that medium-sized transport companies “will not be able to cope with the transformation process by 2030 without strong state subsidies for vehicle purchases and the development of operational charging infrastructure.” Skepticism could therefore also be a strategy to secure state support.
And let’s not forget the environmental payoff. The potential cut on CO₂ emissions that would come with the shift towards electric is huge: Around a third of emissions in the transport sector are caused by commercial vehicles. And unlike cars, which are on the road for 15 or more years before they are replaced, a tractor trailer unit for a 42-ton semi-trailer is replaced after seven or eight years. This is why, although cars were the pioneers in the drive system transition, trucks could soon pass them on the Autobahn.
