The automotive sector is undergoing a period of incredible transformation, with new technologies being brought to market every day and new opportunities and challenges that come with this.
A mass rollout of electric vehicles brings with it the need for infrastructure that can support these vehicles, and for commercial vehicles specifically, this means supporting heavier payload and distances. The scale of the task is compounded by the current lack of a clear technology path for heavier commercial vehicles.
If we separate out the battery electric vehicle (BEV), as an example, a recent YouGov poll estimates that we will need to deploy 11,000 charging points for electric trucks across the EU by 2025, rising to 42,000 by 2030. As the current number is close to zero truck-specific charging stations in operation, these targets are ambitious, to say the least.
With trucks’ greater physical size and power demands, installing any refuelling or recharging point is not just about rolling out the technology but also about changes to the built environment involving for example, prosaic but critical issues around planning permission.
For professional transport operators to make the swift transition to zero-emission vehicles and meet the targets we have been set by policy makers, these issues must be address – and soon.
