Berlin, July 14, 2022 – The TRATON GROUP welcomes the German government’s plan to build a high-performance charging network for battery electric long-haul trucks in Germany. “Germany’s plans to build a high-performance charging network for e-trucks are turning it into the global spearhead in enabling heavy-duty battery electric long-haul trucks. The first 100,000 of these vehicles have the potential to save 10 million tons of CO2 a year. What we need to realize this potential, however, is faster implementation with concrete agreements. To give you an example, tendering for the charging network for trucks will not begin until the end of 2023. This means that we are planning to deliver our vehicles way before the corresponding infrastructure is ready. And yet without this infrastructure, these trucks will not succeed,” said TRATON GROUP CEO Christian Levin.
Building a high-performance charging network for battery electric trucks in Germany is part of the Charging Infrastructure Master Plan presented by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport and the country’s National Centre for Charging Infrastructure. It is also included in the draft bill on the Immediate Action Programme for Climate Protection. In addition, the plan entails a call for tenders from private companies for the charging network at the end of 2023 and takes into account the space needed to meet the trucks’ charging requirements. “This news will accelerate the transition towards significant CO2 reductions for sustainable transportation of goods by road,” Christian Levin explained. At the same time, the TRATON GROUP CEO urged for the charging network to be specifically included in the Immediate Action Programme for Climate Protection of the German government in the form of 1,200 high-performance charging points in Germany alone by 2025. “Right from the start, this would make by far the biggest difference in cutting CO2 emissions for the entire transportation sector,” said Levin.
As part of its joint venture with Daimler Truck and the Volvo Group, the TRATON GROUP is making a down payment on the establishment of a public charging network for battery electric heavy-duty trucks and coaches. The plan is to install at least 1,700 high-performance green energy charging points across Europe in the next five years. Together, the three partners intend to invest €500 million to make this a reality. To the companies’ knowledge, this is by far the largest charging infrastructure investment in the European heavy-duty truck industry to date.
SOURCE: Traton
