Government needs to address ‘chicken and egg’ HGV electrification

A paper published by ChargeUK revealed the barriers still holding up HGV electrification.
The government needs to take steps to address the ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma inhibiting HGV electrification, according to ChargeUK. This advice comes as HGVs make up only 1% of vehicles on the roads, but are responsible for 16% of UK domestic transport emissions.

Electrification of HGVs is ongoing as the industry rallies to decarbonise and reduce its carbon emissions, but the challenges are sizeable. These include a lack of suitable charging facilities for HGVs and the time taken to gain a grid connection.

Approximately 1,000 electric HGVs are registered in the UK, but growth is behind the trajectory needed to meet the UK government’s 2040 cut off point for the sale of new diesel HGVs.

ChargeUK’s paper ‘Electrifying freight: A roadmap for electric HGV charging’ outlines the circularity of the challenge, as fleets and manufacturers are reluctant to transition without the charging infrastructure being in place. The paper puts forward three recommendations: unlock infrastructure investment by creating a dedicated HGV infrastructure fund and fast-tracking grid connections for charging sites; providing a clear regulatory framework and aligning with the European market; and closing the cost gap for fleets by enabling electricity crediting.

Stephanie Haszczyn, Senior Policy Manager at Logistics UK, said: “According to our research published in our Powering Change report, 80% of survey respondents signalled they are not confident that the phase-out dates for diesel vans and HGVs will be met.

“The industry is working hard to decarbonise, but there remain barriers that dissuade operators from making the transition and adopting electric HGVs.

“Over 85% of respondents said they had low confidence in the availability of public charging. Without dedicated chargepoints in place that can service large vehicles, the decarbonisation transition will be significantly held back.”

Logistics UK’s research, ‘Powering change: building a credible plan for decarbonising road logistics’ can be found here.

Related content: From on-street to depots: What on-street charging taught me about electrifying HGVs