Transport: A final roar

Es brummt, das Geschäft mit alternativen Antrieben für die Transportlogistik. Besser: es surrt. Schließlich sind klimaneutrale Nutzfahrzeuge dank elektrischem Antrieb deutlich leiser unterwegs als klassische Diesel. Elektro-Lkw, sei es per Batterie oder mit Wasserstoff angetrieben, nehmen derzeit spürbar Fahrt auf. Die Einsicht von Herstellern wie auch Nutzern, dass ein „Weiter so“ aus Klimasicht nicht mehr vertretbar ist, ist da. Befeuert wird der Prozess von immer schärferen EU-Regeln für einen klimafreundlicheren Transportverkehr. Laut EU-Verordnung müssen die CO2-Emissionen von schweren Nutzfahrzeugen bis 2025 im Vergleich zu 2019 im Schnitt um 15 Prozent sinken – bis 2030 plant die EU-Kommission mit dem Gesetzespaket „Fit for 55“ eine Verringerung um 45 Prozent.

„Wir sehen, dass sich in der urbanen Logistik der batterieelektrische Antrieb durchsetzen dürfte“, sagt Dr. Ralf Petri, Leiter Mobility beim VDE. „Doch je schwerer die Fahrzeuge und je weiter die Strecken, also zum Beispiel bei Lkw, die quer durch Europa fahren, könnte die Wasserstoff-Brennstoffzelle eine Chance haben.“ Petri nutzt bewusst den Begriff „Chance“, wie er ergänzt, da die Entwicklung von Batterien derzeit sehr dynamisch erfolge und noch große Technologiesprünge in Aussicht seien. „Da ist noch sehr viel Potenzial nach oben“, sagt Petri. Am Ende entscheide gerade im kostensensiblen Straßengüterverkehr die Wirtschaftlichkeit darüber, welche Technologie sich durchsetzt. In der VDE Studie „Antriebsportfolio der Zukunft“ erklärten gut 30 Meinungsführer aus Politik und Wirtschaft ebenfalls, dass sie im Lkw-Bereich mit einem Antriebsmix rechnen: Mit der Batterie für Kurzstrecken, die Stadt sowie leichtere Nutzfahrzeugklassen und womöglich auch der Brennstoffzelle für Langstrecken und schwerere Fahrzeugklassen. Synthetische Kraftstoffe, auch E-Fuels genannt, könnten theoretisch ebenfalls dazu beitragen, den Schwerlastverkehr klimafreundlicher zu gestalten. Allerdings gilt diese Option in der Praxis nach aktueller Sachlage als unwahrscheinlich.

"It's absolutely clear that it's going to be electric,” says Dr. Katharina Göckeler, senior researcher in resources and mobility at the Öko-Institut. In the summer, she and her team published the study “Scenarios for the Electrification of Road Freight Traffic”, which was produced in the context of the three-year research project StratES. “Our scenarios for the year 2030 even showed that battery-driven electric trucks could well be the preferable choice for long distances as well because they offer such a strong advantage in terms of cost,” Dr. Göckeler reports. “We therefore assume that the majority of truck traffic will run on electric batteries in the future.” As for the question of whether trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells will have a chance, it's impossible to say for certain at present. “The main source of uncertainty there is the price of hydrogen,” Dr. Göckeler explains. “Our study shows that to arrive at the price necessary to make fuel-cell trucks competitive in terms of cost compared to battery-powered trucks, you'd have to make some extremely optimistic assumptions.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Göckeler and Dr. Petri are in agreement that the effort to develop a comprehensive charging infrastructure for electric trucks needs to begin right away. “It's going to require action on the part of many different stakeholders,” Dr. Petri states. “The politicians need to create the right general conditions with laws and regulations; the manufacturers need to develop vehicles and charging concepts; and those of us at VDE naturally also need to take action in defining the relevant standards.” At present, the lack of available charging options for electric trucks still represents a bottleneck – one that has to be eliminated as quickly as possible, with manufacturers rapidly ramping up the range of their vehicles and their production of electric trucks.

Electric transporters for the last mile, which are particularly popular in delivering packages, have become a familiar part of everyday street life. More and more heavier electric trucks are also humming along our roads these days. The mass-produced MAN eTruck, for instance, is being launched in the coming year – over a year earlier than originally planned, as the manufacturer is keen to point out. It features a useful battery capacity of up to 500 kWh, which makes a daily range of about 800 km entirely realistic when you factor in a brief charging stop. Battery versions for higher daily ranges of up to 1,000 km are also planned. In the future, MAN will install the battery packs for its electric trucks itself at its site in Nuremberg, and it plans to gradually expand its production capacity to more than 100,000 battery systems per year.

Other manufacturers are also expanding their range of electric trucks. Daimler Truck & Buses has already been selling the eActros (which has a range of up to 400 km) since the start of 2022, and the 40-ton long-range version, eActros LongHaul, will follow this fall with over 500 km of range per battery charge. Since about 60 percent of all truck journeys cover less than 500 km, this heavy-duty electric truck would probably not need to charge on such routes. This would allow for charging at depots, which would be cheaper than charging at public stations on the road. Logistics experts in particular are keen to get ahold of the eActros LongHaul: Just four companies – Dachser, Hegelmann, Schenker and Tevex Logistics – have already ordered over 250 of them, or have reserved them based on their intent to buy.

Several other manufacturers have also reported positive results with electric trucks: Volvo and Renault, for instance, delivered nearly 1,500 electric trucks in the first half of 2023 alone (an increase of over 250 percent compared to the same period of the previous year), and new orders for just as many vehicles have also been received. Although Iveco recently split with its joint-venture partner Nikola, which aims to focus on its US business in fuel-cell trucks, the former is continuing to pursue its electric strategy: Its recently presented electric truck – the Heavy Duty BEV – is expected to have a range of up to 530 kilometers. A fuel-cell truck from Iveco is also planned: The Heavy Duty FCEV was presented recently at Bosch Tech Day 2023.

Meanwhile, Volta Trucks is a relatively unknown manufacturer that has developed a 12- or 16-tonner specifically for urban delivery and distribution traffic. The contract manufacturer Steyr has been assembling this electric truck – called the Volta Zero – for several months in Austria. Volta’s profile is expected to improve dramatically soon: Schenker alone has already reserved 1,500 Volta Zeros.

As the technology is fully matured but still relatively new, there are still occasionally hiccups in practical operations. For instance, the considerable weight of the batteries presents disadvantages in terms of payload. The EU Commission is therefore planning to increase the maximum permitted weight for trucks with zero-emission drives.

Quickly addressing problems in everyday operations

In the near future, the crucial factor will be whether the development of the charging infrastructure will be quick enough (see page 5). The general tone in the industry is that the potential chicken-and-egg situation has to be nipped in the bud. “What we now need really quickly is a public charging network,” declares Katharina Göckeler from the Öko-Institut. “After all, battery trucks are coming. With all the other types of drives, there's still a degree of uncertainty.” Even the manufacturers are making the necessary investments in advance and developing charging infrastructure on their own in some cases. However, they also point out that truck parking lots at freeway rest stops are already scarce. In many locations, it will be extremely difficult to make space for parking lots for electric trucks as well. To create additional parking, rest stops would have to be converted or rebuilt. On top of that, there are the additional power requirements of energy-hungry heavy-duty transporters, which should be factored in by the local grid operator when planning the grid connection of a rest stop – but simply aren't in many places.

Michael Neißendorfer is a freelance journalist in Munich who specializes in sustainable mobility and electric vehicles.