A new study concludes that, by 2035, 99.8 per cent of new electric freight trucks will be cheaper to run than diesel trucks carrying the same weight of goods over the same distance and taking the same journey time.
The report was commissioned by European clean transport campaign group Transport & Environment and carried out by independent logistics researcher TNO.
According to Fedor Unterlohner, clean freight manager at T&E, EU policymakers can therefore set a 2035 deadline for zero emissions sales ‘with confidence that electric rigs will beat diesel trucks every time’. This, he added ‘will cut costs for hauliers and clean up trucking, while allowing European truckmakers to retain their global leadership’.
The organisation called for the EU to increase its CO2 targets for truck manufacturers to a reduction of 65 per cent by 2030, to set the scene for the 100 per cent target in 2035.
But T&E said the EU should increase its CO2 target for truckmakers to 65 per cent in 2030 if zero-emissions freight trucks are to reach 100 per cent of sales five years later. ‘Already today, most zero-emissions trucks in the urban delivery segment beat diesel on cost and capabilities, but weak targets for truckmakers result in them not being supplied to hauliers,’ it said.
The European Commission is expected to propose stricter climate targets for heavy goods vehicles in the near future.
More information on the T&E report is available here.
