Catenary trucks still stand chance in race to decarbonise road freight – researcher

Interview A catenary truck. Image by Siemens Battery-electric trucks will hit Europe’s roads in large numbers soon, but catenary systems could also play an important role in the decarbonisation of heavy-duty freight transport if governments now push the technology by building large-scale infrastructure projects, says mobility researcher Florian Hacker from German sustainability think tank Oeko-Institut. In contrast, fuel cell technology will have a hard time catching up with battery-electric trucks, because these are already well ahead and will get an additional boost from spill-over effects from the passenger car market, says Hacker, who has recently spoken to many truckmakers. Whereas mobility researcher Auke Hoekstra looked at low-emission trucks from the freight companies’ point of view in our recent interview , Hacker provides insights into the truckmakers’ thinking in this interview. Clean Energy Wire: Do you think the efforts to decarbonise transport are finally about to trigger serious change in heavy duty freight transport? Florian Hacker: The EU’s new emission regulation for heavy duty vehicles has finally fired the starting shot for the decarbonisation of trucks. It has triggered a race among truckmakers to get low-emission vehicles market-ready. Before this regulation, the truckmakers didn’t take this issue very seriously, and […]

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