Shell Gomez |
Madrid (EFE).- The introduction of the electric truck is progressing very slowly (in the first quarter of this year only 84 were registered), something that is not only due to the fact that it is not the ideal means for all types of journeys, but also to its price, much higher than that of diesel, and the lack of chargers for these vehicles.
In the first quarter of 2023, the registration of electric industrial vehicles only represented 2.5% of the total, and more than half corresponded to buses and not trucks.
Specifically, in the first quarter, 114 electric buses were registered, compared to 84 trucks and tractor-trailers using this technology.
Of all of them, 16 were tractor trucks, 28 light trucks, 14 medium and 26 rigid.
These vehicles currently face barriers to achieving greater penetration, including the fact that their price is very high compared to the cost of diesel.
An electric truck is priced at around 350,000 euros, and its cost is double or more than that of a diesel vehicle.
In addition, as explained to EFE by the president of the Faconauto industrial vehicle division, Pilar Fernández, there is a “lack of clarity” regarding the subsidies for the purchase by the Administration, which has been reduced.
Fernández points out that the electric truck is a tested product, but the problem is that it is very new and “it is not for everyone or for all routes”, since it is not suitable for long distances.
However, it can contribute to reducing noise pollution and CO2 emissions for other types of movements, such as the transfer of goods between facilities in industrial estates and between logistics areas that are not too distant.
Pilar Fernández explains that the electric truck is a product that “is on the street, but it is not being sold” and that, although the price of these vehicles is higher than that of diesel trucks, “the numbers come out” for their amortization in certain applications.
The handicap of the lack of chargers
In addition, he says that to develop the electrification of transport, the foundations must first be laid, and yet, at the moment, the recharging infrastructure for heavy transport is practically nil.
Chargers for electric trucks have a higher cost than those used to recharge smaller vehicles, whose price is double or more.
In addition, according to Fernández, the installation of truck chargers will still take some time to develop, since not in all cases there is enough power to place them.
If there is not enough power, the user must ask the corresponding electricity distributor to provide enough power to charge the truck or trucks in direct current, which requires a work.
In the case of electric recharging for heavy transport, there are already community provisions for its development, such as the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR, for its acronym in English).
This, in addition to obliging the EU member states to present their national plan to meet the infrastructure objectives before 2024, indicates that charging stations for heavy vehicles should be installed every 60 kilometers along the basic network of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and every 100 kilometers in the global TEN-T network from 2025.
Full network coverage should be achieved by 2030, and two charging stations should be installed in safe and secure parking areas for overnight charging by the end of 2027, as well as in urban nodes for delivery vehicles.
Lack of charging infrastructure
In Spain, some steps have been taken to increase recharging infrastructures for heavy transport.
Iberdrola and the transport company Disfrimur announced last March the inauguration of specific recharging points for trucks at the Disfrimur logistics bases in Sangonera la Seca (Murcia) and San Isidro (Alicante), in what they want to be a first step for electrify the Mediterranean corridor for the transport of goods by road.
The two Disfrimur bases, located next to the A-7, have two 180 kilowatt (Kw) power chargers at each facility, which are for public use and are also available for trucks and vans from other companies, as well as for light vehicles.
The project contemplates in a second phase, planned for 2024, adding a 1,200 Kw Megawatt Charging System (MCS) charger to each of the bases.
According to Iberdrola, these powers will enable the long haul, since during the mandatory 45-minute tachograph stop that a truck has to make, more than the energy consumed during the four and a half hours that it is allowed to circulate continuously is recharged. (about 400 kilometers).
In addition, the electric company has an ultra-fast charging station in Elche (Alicante), at kilometer 25 of the A-70 motorway, which has specific spaces for trucks, with powers of 400 and 200 kW.
The idea that the promoters of this initiative have is that there be a 100% electric Mediterranean corridor for road transport, which would run between Puerto Lumbreras (Murcia) and Vinaròs (Castellón), through more than 450 kilometres.
Iberdrola is also considering being able to extend this project to the rest of the corridors in Spain in the coming years.