“If the infrastructure is not ready, customers will not buy.” Electric truck manufacturers are ready to sell them, but they have nowhere to charge them. And there are millions of euros at stake in fines.

As almost all the new products presented by manufacturers are electric or electrified, zero-emission cars are the majority at the few motor shows that are still being held. Well, this is not something exclusive to the automotive sector: in the trucks something similar is happening.

These days one of the most important events of the year for the road transport sector is taking place, the IAA de Hannoverin Germany, and electric trucks are more prominent than ever at this fair. Manufacturers assure that electric trucks are already available for purchase, but that a suitable infrastructure is needed for these models to start to become popular.

For electric trucks to be sold, there must be a charging network in good condition.

While some manufacturers are developing hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks because they believe this technology could be the future of road freight transport, others are already selling battery electric trucks.

At this year’s IAA in Hannover, it is becoming clear that more and more brands are betting on this technology, however, it is still very difficult to see electric trucks on the roads. Taking advantage of the IAA in Hannover, manufacturers have assured that they have already done the work they had to do, that is, develop and put these models on sale, but they claim that Much more is needed to make these trucks popular.

According to the account ReutersChristian Levin, the head of Tratonthe truck subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group that includes brands such as Scania, MAN and Navistar, has said that the European Union’s current goal is to reduce CO₂ emissions from trucks by 2030.

“It’s not just about costs, it’s also about charging infrastructure, permitting, green electricity, green electricity supply and of course pricing. All of that needs to come together,” Levin told Reuters in an interview.

For her part, the CEO of Daimler TrucksKarin Radstroem told the same outlet that “Electric trucks are ready and now it’s the infrastructure’s turn. If the infrastructure is not ready, customers won’t buy and when our customers don’t buy, we will have to delay the Green Deal,” referring to the goal set by the European Union.

This objective involves reducing CO₂ emissions from trucks by 45% by 2030 compared to emissions recorded in 2020. To achieve this, 40% of new trucks sold in 2030 should be electric and manufacturers who fail to meet the target will face heavy fines. Right now, only 2% of new trucks are electric.

What truck manufacturers are demanding is that the weight of the EU’s objectives does not fall solely on them and that the institutions do their job in developing the necessary infrastructure so that customers are willing to buy electric trucks.

According to the consulting firm PwC, it is necessary invest 35 billion euros by 2035 to create a charging infrastructure that can meet the demand of the logistics industry. Another of the manufacturers’ demands is that the European Union’s objectives be reviewed each year based on the progress of this investment.

“In the past, someone had to build highways so that trucks could drive on them. The highway of the future is the charging infrastructure“Now is the time to change gear, otherwise it becomes unrealistic,” said Andreas Gorbach, Chief Technology Officer of Daimler Truck, at the IAA in Hanover.