Research and dialogue: Strategy for the electrification of road freight transportation

The pressure to decarbonize road freight transport continues to increase. However, with a few exceptions, this has not yet been reflected in practice in a change in the use of technologies that goes beyond pilot and practical projects.

Existing analyses of the electrification of road freight transport focus either on long-distance transport or on local and regional transport. So far, there has been no comprehensive analysis of the electrification of road freight transport with a comparable level of detail. In addition, the heterogeneity of the freight transport market and the requirements of the players are only represented in a very rudimentary way in previous analyses and practical players are only integrated to a limited extent.

The StratES project aims to improve and expand the analyses of the potential of alternative drive systems in road freight transport, taking into account the market as a whole.

In addition to long-distance transport, special consideration will also be given to local and regional transport. In addition, the number of technology variants and vehicle classes considered is to be expanded. This will be achieved by identifying concrete, practical implementation paths for the use of alternative drive systems in (long-distance) road haulage beyond the niche and by naming the specific requirements for action on the part of the automotive industry on the basis of case studies with associated corporate partners. Thus, an improvement and extension of the market ramp-up modeling of alternative drives succeeds, taking into account the practical examples as well as the results of an empirically based analysis of the freight transport market regarding the requirements for vehicle deployment.

The result is an identification of the main factors influencing the comprehensive electrification of road freight transport and recommendations for the design of framework conditions that take greater account of the actual conditions on the freight transport market.