Three truck manufacturers jointly develop European charging network for electric HGVs
In spite of being competitors, three European leading truck manufacturers Daimler Truck, Traton Group and Volvo Group have joined forces to shift the industry to electric heavy goods vehicles. The partners will establish a joint venture to install and operate 1,700 high-performance charging points within a five-year period.
Daimler Truck, Traton Group and Volvo Group intend to establish the European network of high-performance public charging points. To this end, three manufacturers signed a non-binding agreement that provides for the incorporation of a dedicated joint venture in 2022. According to the document, the new entity, which will be equally owned by the three parties, will be based in Amsterdam. Besides the joint venture, three manufacturers will continue to be competitors in all other areas.
European network
The main business of the planned company will be the installation and operation of high-performance public charging points close to highways as well as at logistic and destination points. Within five years following the incorporation of the joint venture, the partners intend to invest 500 million euros to install at least 1,700 charging points that will be open and accessible to all commercial vehicles in Europe, regardless of brand. The operators of the electric HGVs will be able to leverage both fast charging tailored to the 45-minute mandatory rest period and also charge overnight.
Demand for charging points
Volvo Group, Daimler Truck and Traton Group will found the future enterprise to act as catalyst and enabler for realising the European Union’s Green Deal for carbon-neutral freight transportation by 2050. Meanwhile, the road haulage sector needs much more charging points for shifting to electric HGVs. In its recent report published in May, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (Association des Constructeurs Européens d’Automobiles, ACEA) called for up to 15,000 high-performance public and destination charging points no later than 2025, and up to 50,000 high-performance charging points no later than 2030. Therefore, all the parties concerned must speed up their activities in this area.