Mercedes aims to usher in era of battery-powered trucks

DW (English)

Mercedes Trucks says it has a long-haul battery-powered truck ready to go.But a lack of charging infrastructure and long charging times still have many in the industry wonder if hydrogen trucks aren't a better way.

Transcript

00:00At IAA Transportation in Hanover, all eyes are on the E-Actra 600, Mercedes' new all-electric

00:08long-haul truck.

00:10With a range of 500 kilometers, it's been tested across Europe.

00:14Yet green trucking has made little headway, as charging infrastructure is lacking.

00:19Daimler Trucks' Andreas Gorbach says the government must act.

00:23It will really only work if everyone, politicians and industry pull together.

00:29There is a legislative model, AFIR, the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation, but it's

00:35not binding, unlike CO2 legislation for trucks.

00:40The industry is also investing its own money.

00:42Daimler, Volvo and MAN are part of a joint venture, Milans.

00:47By 2027, Milans plans to build 1,700 charging stations across Europe.

00:52It's a start, but way short of the roughly 30,000 that experts say are needed.

01:00We're thinking along routes.

01:01We know which highways have the most traffic.

01:04The charging stations we're planning will manage to cover that network, so that a truck

01:08can really drive from the north to the south of Europe.

01:14German automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhofer is skeptical.

01:17He thinks E-trucks aren't suited for long-haul transport.

01:23They all need to recharge from time to time, every three, four, five hundred kilometers.

01:29Look at highway rest stops today and you'll see how many trucks are underway.

01:33If you have 20 or 30 trucks lined up, all wanting to charge, the grid can't handle it.

01:39That's why hydrogen is very important, why it's coming.

01:44A hydrogen-powered truck can travel around 1,000 kilometers on a full tank and fill up

01:49just as quickly as with diesel.

01:52Volvo Trucks is currently developing hydrogen models.

01:55President Roger Alm believes they'll serve as different needs than battery electric trucks.

02:00If you're driving city distribution, for example, or radial haul, you will go with a battery

02:06electric truck, which is the largest volume that we believe that will come.

02:10If you will have longer distance, you go for a fuel cell or a hydrogen truck in the combustion

02:16engine, and also in heavier applications.

02:20To date, less than two percent of the trucks on Europe's roads are powered by alternative

02:25driving systems.

02:26High prices have made haulage companies holding back.

02:29A green truck costs two to three times as much as a diesel-powered model, so many are

02:34waiting for the government to offer incentives.

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