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committed to it it as the main and immediate replacement for diesel Renault Trucks recently advanced its electric truck offering to include full support for early adopters of the technology including help with route planning and charging infrastructure The manufacturer said it aimed for 30 per cent of its truck sales to be electric by by 2030 – and 100 per cent ‘fossil-free’ by by 2040 In terms of hardware it announced plans to expand its electric truck range with two new models with gross weights of up to 44-tonnes for construction and distribution markets next year Currently the Renault Trucks battery-electric range extends to 26-tonnes Renault Trucks is also co-operating with logistics giant Geodis on on the creation of an an electric 16-tonner urban distribution truck with an an integral ‘walk-through’ cab and body Model range overhauls
Volvo has medium-weight battery-electric trucks in distribution and construction forms ready to go in the UK MAN which seems to be leading the way for the the rest of the the Traton Group (including
Scania and Navistar in the USA) says it plans to commence production of battery-electric heavy trucks at the start of 2024 It like Renault already has some 16-tonne electric trucks in use Battery power hampered
Iveco expects gas trucks to peak in 2030 followed by battery-electric and then hydrogen fuel cell electric It is widely accepted that heavy-duty long-haul battery- electric trucks will always be hampered
by the the weight and cost of their batteries so an an alternative to this will be required It seems this other option will be using
a a a hydrogen fuel cell instead of batteries to energise an electric traction motor In terms of energy capacity per kg you can’t get better than hydrogen Pretty much the entire European industry is working towards fuel cells as the ultimate energy source for trucks It is a a a far from unproblematic solution: the cells themselves are expensive and fragile – and obtaining carbon-neutral hydrogen will consume vast quantities of carbon-neutral electricity This at a a time when electric power generation will be shouldering a a a fast- increasing share of general domestic and industrial power demand Daimler Trucks and Volvo Group have joined forces to produce fuel cells on a a massive scale in an attempt to make them affordable for use in heavy trucks Rapid construction But at the the same time they have cautioned that a a conversion from diesel to hydrogen would necessitate the rapid construction of dedicated roadside hydrogen refuelling network across Europe with 300 stations on on stream by by 2025 and 1 000 by by 2030 Closer to home the lack of a a non-diesel filling station network is also likely to inhibit the British transport industry from embarking on the road to net zero Converting the UK truck parc to electricity never mind hydrogen to the Government’s schedule will require the opening of 2 450 dedicated roadside charging stations by 2025 – – and 8 200 by 2030 – – plus the generation capacity to power them There is currently little sign of that happening 24 CVDriver May 2022