It was an initiative of the Dutch delegation last November. Step by step, all trucks and buses will be replaced by electric variants. By 2040, all new trucks should be electric, and by 2050, all trucks that still run on petrol or diesel should also be replaced by more sustainable trucks.
Secretary of State Van Weyenberg for Infrastructure and Water Management called it a good start last year and hoped several countries would unite. This has also happened: countries such as Uruguay, Turkey, Finland and the United Kingdom have joined. But until now things have not been going very well in our country.
Despite the fact that there are still very few electric trucks, Auke Hoekstra, a researcher in electric mobility at Eindhoven University of Technology, believes the goals set are realistic. “According to my calculations, from 2025, electric trucks will be 80% cheaper than diesel. This will play an important role and will be a turning point, I expect.”
Hoekstra doesn’t find it surprising that the number is still very low. “Passenger cars are a lot more on the road, so it’s easier to recover costs. This is, for example, why Tesla started with cars and not trucks. They have only done this recently. The trucks are a bit bumpy afterwards, but they’ll get there. “
Lack of charging stations
At the same time, there are still many obstacles. Perhaps the biggest problem is the lack of sufficient charging stations for trucks. For example, Fastned, a party that operates many charging stations in the Netherlands, has 142 fast charging stations for passenger cars in the Netherlands, but none for trucks. Charging stations like those in many residential areas are also too slow for a truck.
And those car fast charging stations aren’t suitable for trucks for several reasons. For example, the dimensions of the charging stations are often too small.
Mathijs Vrijbloed is currently one of the few truck drivers who (in part) transport their goods on electric trucks. His family business, Vrijbloed Transport, has 10 electric trucks. They bought them because they wanted to work more sustainably and efficiently.
Regulations
Vrijbloed notes that it is still not easy to get started as an electric truck transport company. ” You run into many problems, such as regulations. You have to model the process differently. And drivers also need to think more about how to use energy as efficiently as possible. Not everyone wants to do it right now. “
It’s also a financial challenge, says Vrijbloed. He had to invest a lot for it and he couldn’t do it alone. “For the first trucks, we sought the support of our customers so that we could transport it together.”
Hoekstra therefore sees sufficient challenges, especially in the short term. According to him, the government should take more control. “Now they just notice that it doesn’t work yet, but they are too inactive to see how it can be done.”
From 2025 the researcher will be much more positive. At first glance it seemed like a very big ambition. But in the end it works. Suddenly it will pass very quickly, at which point you will be a thief of your wallet if you choose diesel. “
