Electric trucks in the northwest: expensive but urgently needed!

Electric trucks in the northwest: expensive but urgently needed!

Electromobility in freight transport is only gaining momentum slowly in northwest Germany. In Lower Saxony and Bremen, the number of registered electric trucks with over 12 tons is almost marginal. There are currently only three such heavy-duty vehicles on the road in Bremen, which accounts for just 0.8% of the entire fleet of over 490 trucks. The situation looks even bleaker in Lower Saxony: only 27 electric trucks, or 0.2% of over 12,500 vehicles, are registered there. How tageblatt.de reports, companies like Hellmann Logistik from Osnabrück are pioneers in this area, but have had to struggle with high acquisition costs of 220,000 to 230,000 euros in recent years.

The high prices are a disincentive. Christian Richter from GVN explains that the electric trucks are at least twice as expensive as their conventional counterparts, which prevents many trucking companies from investing in electromobility. Despite this challenge, Hellmann Logistik, which purchased 6 electric trucks, made a number of efforts to make the switch possible. The fleet consists of two 40-ton trucks and four 16-ton trucks, which represents about 5% of the company's total trucks. These electric trucks are used between Osnabrück, Bremen and the Dutch border.

Challenges and solutions

A central problem is the charging infrastructure. There are currently only five charging stations for electric trucks in Lower Saxony and one in Bremen, which are hardly used. Among other things, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Transport is planning to expand to 539 fast charging points in the coming years and announced 36 future locations for electric trucks. The Senator for Economic Affairs is also optimistic in Bremen and emphasizes that more public charging stations should be provided by 2029. But apart from the infrastructure, electricity supply is also a hot topic: the local electricity companies do not seem to be able to provide the electricity required.

With regard to the promotion of electric trucks, there is support at the federal level. The funding program for electromobility in freight transport provides subsidies to make it easier to purchase commercial vehicles with alternative drives. Applications can be submitted via the eService portal. It should also be noted that decisions regarding funding are at the discretion of the Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility and are based on the resources available. How balm.bund.de informed, not only should the purchase costs be reduced, but the necessary refueling and charging infrastructure for pure battery electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles should also be promoted.

The way into the future

The call to companies is clear: switching to climate-friendly drives is essential to reduce CO2 emissions and achieve climate goals. The Federal Ministry of Transport underlines the importance of electric trucks and is also planning financial support for the expansion of the charging infrastructure. But the undeniable difficulties and the reluctance of many companies show that there is still a lot of work to be done to advance electromobility in heavy freight transport.

So the chances are good that we will see more electric trucks on the roads in the future, but this will require courage, support and a rapid expansion of the charging infrastructure. Information about the current funding programs can also be found at emovy.de.