Transportation companies across the globe have increased their focus on sustainability in recent years. This eco-friendly push can largely be attributed to emerging government regulations and growing consumer concerns.
In an effort to clean up their acts, many fleet owners have become laser focused on moving away from diesel fuel, which accounts for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the sector. Heavy-duty electric trucks are poised to be one of the primary solutions to this issue.
Fleet owners working toward electrification do continue to face barriers — including vehicle cost, infrastructure deficits and power requirements. At the same time, the ongoing freight recession has made fleet owners wary of expensive experimentation, instead focusing their efforts on cutting costs.
While these headwinds make electrification challenging, solutions exist to help fleet owners overcome obstacles and take advantage of opportunities.
Electric truck costs
Currently, electric Class 8 trucks are prohibitively expensive without the help of grants and tax incentives. While electric vehicles offer savings over time — as well as a plethora of other benefits — the upfront cost of a new diesel truck pales in comparison to even the most basic electric trucks on the market. While a brand new diesel truck may cost around $150,000, electric heavy-duty trucks typically exceed $400,000.
The price of heavy-duty electric trucks is expected to shrink significantly in the near-term future, however. The International Council on Clean Transportation recently commissioned a study by Ricardo Strategic Consulting to examine this trend further.
The battery pack and the electric propulsion system account for the majority of the cost disparity between electric trucks and diesel trucks. Both of these components are expected to experience serious cost reductions, according to the study — leading to estimated heavy-duty electric truck price reductions of 23% in 2025 and 40% in 2030.
Charging infrastructure limitations and opportunities
Even as the cost to own electric trucks shrinks, a lack of accessible charging infrastructure across the U.S. has also made some fleet owners delay their electrification efforts.
California has been leading the pack when it comes to fleet electrification — but even there, experts say the state will need 160,000 charging stations to power all heavy-duty vehicles.
Some fleets, like Schneider’s or PepsiCo’s, have started building charging infrastructure themselves.
These behind the fence infrastructure solutions complement the work of third-party infrastructure providers, which can build flexible solutions for fleets that don’t want to invest large amounts of capex into finding land and power or dealing with permitting, development and operations.
TeraWatt Infrastructure, for example, provides convenient, reliable charging infrastructure that keeps fleets running safely and at the right cost. They own, develop, operate and maintain charging sites and software solutions that form the backbone of commercial EV transport in the U.S.
“Fleets need to accelerate their transition to ZEVs — yet building a network of large-scale EV charging infrastructure is complex, expensive, time-consuming and often unreliable,” according to the TearWatt website. “TeraWatt provides modular solutions that enable you to pick and choose what fits with your needs — both now and into the future.”
TeraWatt partners with fleets to help them build reliable charging infrastructure behind their fences, helping them accelerate EV adoption without having to risk large amounts of capex.
“By handling the permitting, development, construction, as well as live operations and maintenance, TeraWatt enables fleets to enjoy reliable EV charging in their own backyards and only pay a fixed monthly fee.”
TeraWatt also offers a shared, multi-tenant charging infrastructure option for fleets that cannot go all-in on building their own stations. This offering helps fleets gain access to the power they need without having to rely on spotty — or nonexistent — public offerings.
“Fleets may not always have the space, power or capital to erect their own infrastructure. That’s where we come in,” according to the TeraWatt website. “We own, build and operate megawatt-scale sites that are shared across multiple fleet customers and equipped with high-speed DC Fast Chargers.”
As fleets begin to take delivery of their first EV trucks, TeraWatt is ready to support.