“ Many of our vehicles operate in confined spaces during the hours of darkness so it makes perfect sense to fit a lighting system which ensures our drivers can see and be seen at all times - especially when reversing. ”
- Jeremy Harrison, M GROUP SERVICES
If the massive IAA Show in Germany was notable for one thing when it returned after Covid two years ago, it was the foregrounding of battery-electric drivelines front and centre of every European truck manufacturer’s stand.
Well, what a difference two years makes: this year leading industry figures were openly fuming that, having invested millions of Euros in developing battery-electric heavy trucks in response to governmental and societal demands, very little or nothing had been done to facilitate the construction of a charging infrastructure to support them. And that’s very bad news for all concerned. Without anything to plug the trucks into, no one is going to buy them, yet the EU and individual state governments are still sticking by fleet carbon reduction targets including 15% by 2025 and 45% by 2030 measured from 2019 baselines. If manufacturers can’t find sufficient customers for low and no emissions vehicles, then they will be heavily fined.
So, having invested millions in producing trucks to suit the zero emissions mandates, they will then be left with these as sunk assets on their books, while paying fines for selling customers trucks that they can actually use.
Will the EU legislators be sympathetic?
Doubtful, given the tainted image the
automotive sector has after the major manufacturers have been penalised for emissions fraud in passenger cars and price fixing in commercial vehicles.
And it gets worse. There is the looming presence of China. In the world of buses, British manufacturer Alexander Dennis has said it is already laying off 160 out of 1950 employees because it is being faced with electric competition from China. The fun will really start when the Chinese come to Europe with electric trucks.
China’s domestic market for zero-emissions heavy-duty trucks (110,000 in 2022) is 81 per cent of the global total, and met entirely by its ‘big five’ indigenous manufacturers. And the Chinese are now grasping a nettle that has so far been ignored in Europe: cost. While Chinese battery trucks are still far more expensive than their diesel equivalents, the price of the vehicles themselves isn’t the biggest barrier to their introduction: infrastructure is. It will cost millions to equip a large truck depot or truck stop with enough highspeed chargers to keep fleets on the road. Nevertheless, this is Europe’s chosen path, even though the profit margins in European haulage are so low that this investment can never come from the industry itself.
Not so in China, where truck manufacturers now use a single battery type from CATL
and design their trucks so the entire pack can be swapped in five minutes. The number of truck battery swap stations in China went from 555 in 2020 to 3567 in 2023, and will exceed 37,000 next year. The swap stations are situated where customers require them, and the batteries themselves can be charged at times and locations where plenty of surplus current is available, then taken to where they are needed.
And it gets better (or worse, depending upon where you are standing). The truck operator only pays for battery use, not the battery itself, reducing the capital cost of the vehicle by leaving its most expensive component out of the equation.
The trucks themselves will also be more efficient, as smaller batteries will be suitable, increasing payload.
As our European and UK governments have so far failed to do very much about installing truck-friendly charging infrastructure, surely it’s time for Europe’s truck manufacturers to realise that it’s not going to happen, and they need to adopt the advanced battery swap technology from China, or face being wiped out by Chinese truck manufacturers.
Matthew Eisenegger, Publisher
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If you are not going to
Everything you need to know from the last two months
Europe’s leading truck manufacturers have finally admitted that plans meet EU CO2 targets by making 40 per cent of new European truck sales zero-emissions by 2030 are beyond reach, saying their electric trucks will not sell in that kind of volume until suitable infrastructure is provided.
Significantly, OEMs at this September’s IAA Show were pushing a variety of driveline technologies including improved diesel engines, in contrast to the 2022 IAA Show where diesel was a distinctly dirty word. Major manufactures including Traton (Scania and MAN) and Daimler (Mercedes-Benz and Fuso) told Reuters news-agency that they were ready to produce electric trucks but customers would not buy them unless they could see massive investment in charging infrastructure.
Tier One suppliers were also pushing technology such as hybrid drives intended to make diesels more economical rather than replace them entirely.
Traton CEO Christian Levin told Reuters: “It’s not just about cost, it’s also about charging infrastructure, permissions, green electricity, supply of green electricity, and of course pricing. All of that needs to come together.”
Daimler Truck’s incoming CEO Karin Rådström had a similar message: “The trucks are ready and now infrastructure must follow.
“When the infrastructure is not ready, clients won’t buy and when our clients are not buying, we’ll need to delay the Green Deal.”
EU rules say manufacturers have to reduce the CO2 emissions of new heavy trucks by 45 per cent by 2030, compared to the 2020 levels,
or face fines on non-compliant vehicle sales. A study by consultants McKinsey showed that the EU’s carbon emissions targets for the sector could only be met by increasing the market-share of zero-emissions trucks to 40 per cent (they are currently two per cent across the EU). Furthermore, McKinsey said the price of zero-emissions trucks would have to halve before they could be considered viable alternatives to diesels.
A separate study by accountants PwC found that a spend of almost €35 billion by 2035 would be required to meet the demands for electricity from the European logistics sector.
Daimler Truck’s technology chief Andreas Gorbach said the EU targets should be coupled with the pace of infrastructure development and revisited every year depending on progress.
“In the past, somebody had to build the highways to have trucks on them... and the highway of the future is the charging infrastructure.
“Now it is the time to switch gears, otherwise it becomes unrealistic,” he said.
Infrastructure is not the only hurdle facing some truck manufacturers. Christian Levin admitted that problems at Scania battery supplier Northvolt had delayed the Swedish manufacturer’s production of electric trucks by a year.
“The worst thing was that we had to go back to all the customers and say ‘Sorry, we cannot deliver,’” Christian Levin, who is CEO of Traton and Scania, told Reuters.
• Northvolt crisis: page 11
Canoo, the American company which launched its innovative electric vans at this year’s CV Show (DNZ13), has set up a UK headquarters at Bicester Motion: an industry hub on a former Northamptonshire airfield located in the F1 ‘golden triangle’ of automotive excellence.
The company said the opening of Canoo Technologies UK at the hub was a pivotal stage in its global expansion.
Bicester Motion will serve as Canoo’s future operations, customer, and activation centre, providing a dynamic base for its commercial efforts across the UK and Europe.
Tony Aquila, executive chairman, and CEO of Canoo, said: “Our expansion into the UK is a key milestone in our global growth strategy, enabling us to establish a local presence for our commercial customers to better serve their needs.
“Six months ago, we debuted our right-hand drive vehicle, the USPS’ LDV 190 and also our LDV 130, and hosted and attended numerous fleet shows and customer test drives on tracks to establish ourselves as an American partner in the region. The UK activation centre at Bicester Motion will allow us to leverage the local expertise while strengthening our commercial operations in this high-potential market that provides incentives including the plug-in van grant (PIVG) to help the growing demand and reach the government’s zero-emissions goals. We look forward to sharing more in the near future.”
Canoo said it will take a customer-centric approach to entering the UK market focusing on configuration to meet the diverse and immediate needs of its commercial and government fleet customers. Its strategy will include pilots followed by rollout vehicles, and the company will work directly with customers to create solutions that meet their specific demands.
The Bicester Motion activation centre will provide facilities for customers to experience and test drive Canoo’s right-hand drive commercial vans.
Daniel Geoghegan, CEO of Bicester Motion, said: “We relish the opportunity to welcome like-minded technology pioneers to the UK to join our drive to positively shape the future of mobility.
“Over the last decade we have built a world-leading community for disruptive mobility leaders, manufacturers, innovators and change-makers who have a shared passion to deliver the mobility solutions we need for the future. It is clear that Canoo shares our vision, and we are pleased to provide them with a dedicated centre-of-excellence from which they can launch their UK operation and to establish another international marque at Bicester Motion.”
“Our technicians love the new Voice solution and would never go back to how we were working previously. The depot is now functioning much more smoothly, safely and efficiently”
Asset finance is, for many firms, a form of funding they have used for many years. Yet still, for others, it’s not something they know much about. In this article Close Brothers Asset Finance takes a closer look at the different products and understand why it could be the perfect option when considering your next purchase.
In short, asset finance is an alternative form of funding used by businesses to obtain the equipment they need to grow or access much-needed cash. Asset finance makes the otherwise unaffordable affordable because it gives businesses access to the equipment they need without incurring the cash flow disadvantage of an outright purchase.
Agreements can also be customised to the business’s needs, with flexibility on both the term and repayment schedule.
There are various products that come under the broad umbrella of asset finance with one of the key ones being Refinancing or capital release, as it’s also known; it’s a proven way to make your assets work for you and release cash back into the business.
It works by the finance company purchasing the asset and financing it back to you, with repayments calculated in line with the income the asset is expected to generate; at the end of the refinance term, you own the asset.
This offers several benefits to a business that just needs a cash injection, whether it’s for investment in additional business critical assets or to use in other areas of the business, including unexpected bills and invoices, salaries, VAT payments, diversification - the uses are almost endless. Funders can also look to take over a finance agreement with another provider and extend the term, ultimately reducing monthly payments and easing the pressure on cash flow.
• Hire Purchase (HP) allows you to buy the equipment on credit. The finance company purchases the asset on your behalf and owns the asset until the final instalment is paid, at which point you are given the option to buy it.
• Operating lease: Similar to a Finance Lease, an Operating Lease allows you to rent the asset from the asset funder while you need it. The key difference between the two is that an Operating Lease is only for part of the asset’s useful life. This means you pay a reduced rental because the cost is based on the difference between the asset’s original purchase price and its residual value at the end of the agreement.
• Finance lease: The full value of the equipment is repaid to the finance company, plus interest, over the lease period. At the end of the term, you can choose to:
o continue to use the asset by entering a secondary rental period
o sell the asset and keep a portion of the income from the sale
o return it
Prohire Software is a key part of the UK rental industry, having been a dependable and trustworthy partner to businesses of all types and sizes for almost 30 years.
Over the years, Prohire Software has developed long-lasting relationships with clients by offering innovative and dependable rental management software solutions, exceptional customer support, and a thorough understanding of the unique needs and challenges of the rental industry.
At Prohire, our vision has always been to empower rental companies with innovative software solutions
that streamline operations, maximise efficiency, and drive growth. We hope to revolutionise fleet management and enable rental businesses to thrive in an everevolving industry, unlocking their full potential.
Our all-in-one solution is designed to streamline operations and enhance customer satisfaction. At Prohire, we offer a comprehensive suite of
features that seamlessly integrate rental and fleet management, customer management, live tracking, web bookings, damage management, billing, secure payments, and risk management.
Whether you’re a family-run business or a large enterprise, Prohire has the expertise to help you achieve your goals and drive significant growth.
Hopes for a ‘native’ European vehicle battery manufacturing industry have been delt another blow after Sweden’s Northvolt AB admitted it was fighting to survive a series of misfortunes and put its main factory into bankruptcy.
Chosen as battery supplier for Traton subsidiary Scania as well as some premium European car manufacturers, Northvolt had to grow fast to compete with the likes of China’s CATL (which is the chosen supplier for Traton’s stablemate MAN).
Northvolt ran up a billions of dollars tab in debt and equity, secured using $55 billion of contracts from European car and truck makers. Ambitious expansion plans launched in 2022 even before its first factory in Sweden had commenced commercial production, included a new plant in Germany. Plans for a factory in Canada were announced the following year. But Northvolt’s flagship Swedish factory was plagued by operational setbacks and challenges in trying to ramp up production while containing costs. Although its first battery cells were sold in 2022, Northvolt’s losses tripled in 2023 to $1.03 billion. The company tempted investors that year with plans for a stock-market listing at $20 billion.
Recently, the company tried to contain losses by the partial mothballing of its so-called ‘gigafgactory’ at Skelleftea plant, in the north of Sweden, and the complete closure of its Borlange facility near Stockholm and a research and development subsidiary in California, while seeking new investors for a project in Poland.
Subsequently it has laid of 20 per cent of its workforce and put its main factory into bankruptcy.
Nothvolt appears to have tried to expand too fast, and in too many directions, before perfecting its core product. In June, BMW AG cancelled a €2 billion order after quality problems. It also faced a string of health and safety issues, including worker injuries and reports of toxic chemical leaks.
All this came at a time when the European EV market was shrinking and excess manufacturing capacity was driving record-low prices in the Chinese domestic market, where lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells can be bought for close half the average global price of $95 per kilowatt hour. There’s also a glut in battery material supplies.
The task facing any European battery startup is daunting: China’s CATL employs 21,000 engineers in R&D alone: three times more than Northvolt’s entire workforce.
China supplies about 80% of the world’s lithium-ion batteries, and is home to six of the world’s 10 largest EV battery component manufacturers, which produce items such as cathodes, anodes, separators and electrolytes.
Establishing an independent non-Chinese source for electric vehicle batteries is proving difficult: UK startup Britishvolt ran out of money early last year with a planned £3.8 billion industrial investment in Blyth, Northumberland coming to nothing after the Government withdrew support because of a lack of progress in building the factory, and Freyr has mothballed its plant in its native Norway while switching investment to the USA where generous subsidies are available.
The Swedish government says Northvolt’s future is a matter for its shareholders, and has ruled out any state aid.
CATL launches long-life, long-range bus battery
Chinese battery giant CATL has launched a new bus-specific traction battery with a claimed 22 per cent greater power density than the previous generation product. This would allow a like-for-like weight-saving of around 300 kg without impacting on range.
With 200 Wh/kg, the new L-Series Tianxing battery is designed specifically for buses and can last up to 1.5 million km (932,000 miles) and 15 years. CATL said it has an “ultra-long warranty” of ten years or one million km (621,400 miles), meaning that battery life and vehicle life are now close to parity.
CATL already has 13 bus OEM customers for the new battery, which is poised to enter mass production. It will power 80 different models of electric bus from manufacturers, including Dongfeng, Golden Dragon, and Yutong Bus. CATL’s batteries already power more than 385,000 buses globally, the company says.
Hao Huan, CTO of CATL’s domestic passenger division, said the new electric bus battery “pays tribute to the 10 years of vigorous development of China’s commercial vehicle market.”
According to the latest SNE Research data, CATL accounted for 31.6 per cent of global EV battery sales in the second quarter of this year. China’s BYD was second with 14.7 per cent.
CATL is planning new factories in Germany, Thailand, Hungary, Indonesia, and two in the US for Ford and Tesla.
Solid-state battery packs more power
Car and van manufacturer Mercedes-Benz claims to have doubled the power-to-weight ratio of existing EV batteries with a new solid-state product developed in conjunction with Factorial Energy. Merc plans to have to Solstice solid-state batteries installed in production vehicles by 2030.
Factorial Energy’s Solstice 100+ Ah batteries are said to offer a power-to weight ratio of 450 Wh/kg, compared to anything from 90 to 255 Wh/ kg for current technology. They use a lithium-metal anode, a sulfide-based electrolyte, and a dry cathode.
The chemistry minimises fire risk, because there’s no flammable, volatile liquid electrolyte, and it also offers greater temperature stability. The battery pack will require less energy-sapping cooling and the batteries can be manufactured using existing production facilities.
Markus Schäfer, CTO of Mercedes-Benz, said: “Solstice offers further improvements in energy density and safety features that will help us develop electric vehicles that set new standards in range, cost, and performance.”
In addition to Mercedes-Benz, Factorial has attracted financial backing from Hyundai and Stellantis.
Businesses and local authorities in the resource and recycling sectors can take specific, measurable actions to reduce the running costs of their fleets while contributing to environmental goals.
Allison Transmission has developed a powertrain support programme for waste and recycling vehicle fleets that does exactly this by addressing high fuel prices and reducing tailpipe emissions. It involves three easy measures of a software upgrade, reviewing transmission service intervals and specifying different axle ratios.
The potential impact of the three-pronged package – as demonstrated via a multi-faceted, two-year improvement initiative with Biffa, the UK’s leading sustainable waste management business– is substantial because the de facto transmission choice for so many commercial vehicle fleets operating in the waste and recycling sector is an Allison fully automatic transmission.
The three initiatives Allison is proactively communicating to the market:
• Retrofitting in-service diesel engine vehicles with FuelSense 2.0 transmission software. Biffa achieved fuel savings of up to 9% or a £600,000 in diesel costs per year, which translates into by 1.6 million kilograms fewer carbon emissions, annually.
• Extending transmission servicing intervals can be achieved without compromising performance, efficiency, or durability. In the case of Biffa’s 1,150 Allison-equipped Dennis Eagle Elite and Mercedes-Benz Econic trucks in the UK, it saved £200,000 per year and 33,500 litres of diesel.
• When specifying new vehicles, fleets can choose different axle ratios that better suit UK roads and vocational demands as well as modern fleet’s fuel economy priorities. This simple adjustment costs nothing but can reduce fuel consumption and overall costs by up to 3%.
Initiative #1: Retrofitting FuelSense 2.0 software
Allison’s FuelSense 2.0 is a unique transmission software and electronic controls package that delivers quantifiable fuel savings of up to 6% without sacrificing any performance, reliability, durability or productivity.
All new commercial vehicles fitted with Allison transmissions come with FuelSense® 2.0 as standard software programme but it can also be retrofitted into diesel vehicles mid-way through their lifecycle. This delivers fuel economy and emissions benefits straight away, allowing for the upgrade to be more than paid for in lower fuel costs.
At the heart of the software is DynActive® Shifting innovative shift scheduling. This uses an algorithm to choose the optimal shift point, based on vehicle, specifications and environmental parameters, continuously delivering the ideal balance of fuel economy and performance.
To provide further incremental fuel savings, FuelSense 2.0 is also offered with the options of Neutral at Stop technology, which reduces the load on the engine during lowspeed coasting and when the vehicle is stopped, and customisable Acceleration Rate Management, which mitigates aggressive driving by automatically controlling engine torque.
Allison has proactively contacted fleets that operate diesel engine vehicles for which a FuelSense 2.0 upgrade is appropriate: 2014-2018-manufactured vehicles complying with Euro 6 emissions regulations.
A trial run in partnership with Biffa, the UK’s leading sustainable waste management business, proved the impact of FuelSense 2.0. The study was conducted in real-world working conditions on six of Biffa’s Dennis Eagle trucks, three of which were assigned to municipal residential waste collection in Liverpool and three to trade waste collection in Birmingham. When following the same duty cycles as trucks without FuelSense 2.0, these vehicles delivered up to 9% in fuel efficiency improvements and a reduction of approximately 4,500 kg of CO2
Steve Lea, Fleet Category Manager at Biffa Municipal Ltd., commented: “This initiative is expected to reduce carbon emissions from the Biffa fleet by 1.6 million kilograms per year and will cut our diesel bills by over £600,000 per year, fully paying back the retrofit cost of the FuelSense 2.0 software within just four months. Fuel Sense 2.0 means we can reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions with vehicles that have been in service a long time.”
In response to these impressive results, Biffa committed to retrofitting FuelSense 2.0 software to 540 Dennis Eagle and Mercedes-Benz Econic trucks. Most of these vehicles, which are towards the end of their eight- to nine-year service life, have now been retrofitted by Allison’s distributor partners when the vehicles come into Biffa’s workshops for regular servicing.
Biffa’s order affirms that FuelSense 2.0 software upgrades make great financial and environmental sense for the early adopters of Allison Transmission, vehicles that are now mid and late-life. There are still about 6,000 such Allison-equipped vehicles in service in the UK and Ireland that are being targeted which would benefit from the upgrade, making the air cleaner for the local communities they serve and avoiding the unnecessary expense of about £10 million per year on fuel.
Reviewing and adapting the frequency of transmission fluid and filters replacement, waste and recycling fleets can accrue big savings. For example, Biffa has reduced truck transmission servicing costs by £200,000 per year from service schedule changes advised by Allison. It’s a tactic that could be rolled out to many other fleet operators.
Transmission service intervals are typically based on fleet operators’ longstanding habits, historic predictive maintenance schedules, or standard recommendations from truck OEMs or bodybuilders. When Allison examined the schedules for Biffa’s 1,150 Allison-equipped Dennis Eagle Elite and Mercedes-Benz Econic trucks in the UK, it found that service intervals could safely be extended without diminishing transmission performance, efficiency, or durability.
Biffa had previously followed a recommendation to renew the transmission fluid and filters on its Dennis Eagle trucks – which run municipal refuse collection services – every 12 months, 600 hours, or 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles), whichever came first.
Initiative #3: Specifying different axle ratios
Allison Transmission is making waste and recycling vehicle fleets aware of fuel saving opportunities from specifying shallower axle ratios to those routinely offered on new vehicles.
Making this simple change to a truck’s specification at the time of ordering costs nothing yet can bring a valuable reduction in running costs and carbon emissions. Savings are likely to be greatest on duty cycles with frequent stop-starts around town or on minor rural roads.
Now, those intervals are extended to 36 months, 3,000 hours, or 120,000 kilometers (74,565 miles).
In addition to bringing significant savings on annual oil and filter costs, the revised service intervals are saving Biffa 3,600 hours in labour and vehicle downtime annually. Oil consumption and disposal have also been reduced by 33,500 litres each year, making a positive contribution to Biffa’s “Resourceful, Responsible” 10-year sustainability strategy.
Biffa’s Fleet Category Manager, Steve Lea, said: “Like many fleets, our service intervals are somewhat defined by how we’ve always done it, with the aim of ensuring our vehicles are well maintained and deliver efficient, long service. We were aware there may have been some overservicing, but after hearing the recommendations of the UK team at Allison, we were very surprised by the huge £200,000 annual savings to be gained from adopting different practices. We have gone from servicing some double-shifted RCVs (refuse collection vehicles) twice per year to just three times in their 10-year life.”
OEMs typically recommend axle ratios based on the country of use and application. Historically, deeper axle ratios were favoured for better gradeability on steep inclines. However, extreme gradients like those requiring a 30% or higher incline are rare on UK roads, and with growing fuel economy and environmental concerns, fleet operators are increasingly interested in balancing performance with economy. Fuel saving can be achieved without negatively affecting launch gradeability or overall productivity, thanks to Allison’s Continuous Power Technology.
Again, Allison proved the potential of this strategy by working with leading UK waste management company Biffa. This started by determining the optimal axle settings for Mercedes-Benz Econic refuse collection trucks with 270-, 300-, and 350-horsepower engines. By running simulations on its industry-leading iSCAAN software program, Allison identified that switching these trucks from the standard 6.84:1 axle ratio to a shallower 6.0:1 ratio, also offered by Mercedes-Benz, could reduce fuel consumption by up to 3%.
Darren Judd, Biffa’s Head of Fleet Development, highlights an interesting rule of thumb: every 100 rpm reduction in engine speed translates to a 1% fuel cost saving. Over a fleet of vehicles and many years, these seemingly small savings accumulate significantly.
As a result, Biffa has amended the axle specification of all newly purchased Mercedes-Benz Econic trade waste collection vehicles. Sixty have been ordered and placed into service with a further 50+ due to be delivered in autumn 2024.
Driving consumer behaviour is never easy. According to the SMMT’s LCV vehicle registration data for July 2024, zero-emission LCV registrations remain disappointingly low, hovering around just 5% for the year so far. It is clear that meeting the 10% ZEV Mandate for 2024 will require significant effort and strategic shifts.
Barriers to the purchase of electric vehicles should be falling. Zero-emissions vans and trucks are available here and now, with vehicles such as the latest Renault Trucks Master E-Tech able to cover 450+ kms on a full charge, improved infrastructure, and falling prices. So what can be done to accelerate the uptake?
Fundamentally we are dealing with people, and people do not like change. Taking a look at the problem from a behavioural science perspective might help in understanding how we can stop working against human nature and start using it to our advantage.
Change is an inevitable constant in life. To embrace it effectively, we must strive to make the transition as seamless and smooth as possible. Any successful transition requires both conscious and unconscious alignment. People often behave differently in reality from how they claim to, so we need to address both aspects to be ready to drive effective change.
Individuals make quick decisions based on what they know, so it’s essential to align our communications with their comfort zones. By designing our messaging to resonate with their natural preferences and motivations, we can work with them rather than against them.
To facilitate change effectively, we must minimise the friction and streamline the process. By raising awareness and providing education, we can ensure that stakeholders are happy to make informed decisions to adopt change, with each individual playing an active role in the transition.
That’s why appealing to people to switch to electric vans for the sake of the OEMs 10% ZEV Mandate just isn’t having the desired effect. Rather we need to use strategies to help reduce the cognitive biases, to help commercial vehicle operators make decisions
based on relevant information and clear thinking. In behavioural science this is called ‘soundproofing’, blocking out the distractions to make the transition to ZEVs appear popular and appealing.
Take the rise of veganism here in the UK. Although the movement began years ago, it has only recently gained widespread acceptance, not only because it is a healthy lifestyle and is better for the environment, but because the food tastes good too. As more people adopt veganism, the momentum creates a herd mentality, making it feel safer to join the trend. Similarly, the green number plate for electric vehicles signals a clear, visible commitment to sustainability, and as we see growing numbers on our roads, in towns, on motorways, up and down the country, it encourages more to follow suit and switch to electric with confidence.
It is all about making things easy for people to adopt the new technologies and pathways.
What we need to do is ‘show people what they can gain from change rather than what they are losing’. We need to focus how their change not only benefits them, but also the community around them.
Changes are coming for the heavy truck sector, too. The introduction of VECTO introduces a new dynamic that requires OEMs to reassess their market strategies. The practice of relying on high-powered tractor units across all market sectors seems increasingly challenged. OEMs will need to adapt by integrating more emission-friendly ICE models or, preferably, zero-emission alternatives to meet evolving regulations and balance overall emissions.
Sales strategies will need to evolve in response to customer behaviour, requiring a constructive and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders. This cannot be as simple as the Government
setting a ZEV mandate for HGVs. Even if the manufacturers build them, the customers don’t have to buy them – they will make the right purchasing decision for their business.
In a world where we strive to minimise waste, VECTO - which is mandating heavy trucks leave the factory with the most fuel-efficient specifications, including air kits, side skirts, and the most efficient tyres - presents something of a conundrum.
For some applications, like car transportation or bulk tipping, these fuel-saving aids are unnecessary or even incompatible. Such components may simply end up being discarded, despite being used to meet stringent emissions standards at production. It is an unnecessary cost borne by the OEM, dealer and operator, and highlights the challenges of balancing environmental goals with practical operational needs.
For operators especially, such ill-conceived rules only help to demonstrate how misguided and out of touch the legislators are in the pursuit of net zero ambitions. Most operators desperately want to reduce costs, and will reduce emissions, if it makes them more efficient financially or operationally.
No one intentionally seeks to worsen their fuel economy. When a trailer exceeds the cab’s height, investing in an air kit can be beneficial. However, in situations where these features are unnecessary, focusing on factors like axle ratios or other operational efficiencies often yield better fiscal and performance outcomes. In some cases, this may also involve exploring the latest electric vehicle options.
In Dublin, a trial is currently underway with an operator using a traditional Renault Trucks T520 High 6x2 tractor unit to tow two trailers, totaling 19 metres in length, simultaneously— similar to combinations used in Australia. Although it might seem counterintuitive from
“we must minimise the friction and streamline the process”
• Grahame Neagus
an environmental standpoint, one tractor unit pulling two trailers on specialised motorway routes is more eco-friendly per km travelled compared to two separate tractor units carrying the same load. Efficiency is the name of the game here, and in specific operations like pallet distribution, it demonstrates how innovative strategies can significantly boost productivity and reduce emissions per km.
Of course, some efficiencies may have unintended consequences. As OEMs increasingly rely on online configurators for vehicle orders, traditional sales roles may become obsolete. Brands like LOTUS have already adopted this approach.
For me, this shift is troubling, because it dismisses the value of skilled, passionate salespeople who offer deep understanding and personal engagement. Moving towards a purely digital, impersonal purchasing process risks stripping the industry of essential elements such as education, relationshipbuilding, passion, ownership, accountability,
and overall joy. People buy from people they trust.
We are, today, still in a people business, and the role of salesperson extends beyond simply persuading customers to choose one product over another. This is especially relevant as we navigate the shift to alternative fuels and electromobility. Adapting to these changes involves more than just using a configurator; it requires ongoing, open communication and education. To effectively shift perceptions and understanding, it’s crucial to keep these channels active. Sometimes, this means advising clients that while a particular solution may not be ideal for them now, it could be the right choice in 12 to 24 months.
Honesty, Integrity, Demonstration or Dialogue and finally Education, or HIDE as I call it, are key in the behavioural shift required to decarbonise transport. And it is only by making this shift that the industry will achieve ZEV mandate percentages for LCV and also lay the foundations for HGV transition, too.
We need a new way of working from a financial perspective to meet the needs and expectations of the end user. The requirement to “Make it Easy” has never been more critical, and achieving this relies on educating everyone involved in the decision-making process. Only through comprehensive education can we effectively reach our goals. If we don’t, we run the risk of not only emissions goals being missed by a country mile, but OEMs being fined millions of Euros, factories potentially closing and dealers going bust, with the stagnation of behavioural change leaving the industry in a mess.
One day we will look back and remember the old days when we all ran 100% ICE engines in our vans and trucks with incredulity. But, for now, we need to look at how we can change behaviour for the better, using soundproofing and HIDE to make decision making easier. Our industry, and our planet, depend on it.
With battery-electric trucks already on the road, Daimler is now developing hydrogen fuel-cell power.
Words: Paul White
There is a growing realisation that while battery-electric vehicles (BEV) have made significant inroads into the passenger car and light vehicle segments and are starting to show their capabilities in the heavy urban distribution sector, their role in long-haul heavy goods transport is still open to question. Proponents of battery-electrics portray hydrogen as a possible ‘fuel of the future’: but not a prospect in the immediate term.
However, hydrogen-powered vehicles are possibly a lot closer than some may admit.
Daimler Truck certainly envisages a using mixture of energy sources in the long-haul role. Its battery-electric contender: the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600; will be joined by a hydrogen fuel-cell electric stablemate: the Actros GenH2. This has already completed an important period of testing and evaluation which culminated in a run from the Mercedes-Benz headquarters at Wörth-Am-Rhein near Stuttgart, to the German capital Berlin. The test ran via Hamburg and covered a total distance of 1047 kilometres and was particularly significant in that it was completed on one tank of hydrogen.
The manufacturer has since presented five fuel-cell 4x2 Actros tractors to a select group of customers for use in their daily operations so all parties can evaluate how the trucks work in realtime.
In reality, the customers are more like partners in the venture. Daimler chose five companies each operating in completely different sectors of the transport industry to begin the next phase of development.
“This highly successful trial would strongly indicate that a hydrogen-fueled Actros will work equally well for the five customers of Daimler.”
The trials will evaluate how well hydrogen fits into the diverse operations within the partners’ respective industries. The customers are Air Products, Amazon, Holcim, INEOS, and Weidman & Winz. They run large fleets within their particular sectors from general haulage and container freight to construction, building materials, and specialist chemical handling.
Daimler’s 1047 km test demonstrated that hydrogen power works well for the driver. Refueling intervals and times are comparable to diesel, and the driver does not require protective clothing during the process, although the liquid hydrogen is contained in the truck’s two fuel tanks at a temperature of -253 degrees C. Daimler believes holding liquid hydrogen at these cryogenic temperatures to be the most efficient method transporting and storing the fuel. However, a widespread infrastructure is fundamental to the adoption of any alternative fuel.
Acknowledging this, Daimler chairman Martin Daum refers to the earliest days of the motor vehicle when Bertha Benz (wife of Karl Benz) made the historic first-ever journey by petrolengined car from Mannheim to Pforzheim in 1888. She had to stop at pharmacies along
the way to buy a liquid petroleum spirit to fuel her motorwagen.
Citing this analogy Daum says that if people had told Bertha to forget the petrol car because “to make it work you will have to drill in the North Sea. You will have to build refineries, you will have to build tankers to transport the product and you will need a petrol station in every village. Forget this idea and just ride your horse, it only needs grass and we have that everywhere.”
Daum says “If Bertha had not persisted the world would be a different place today.”
The chief executive of Daimler Truck adds, “I take it for granted as CEO that all the problems will be solved by competent people within the organization.”
Seifi Ghasemi CEO of Air Products (the world’s largest producer of hydrogen, and a major truck fleet operator) said it was investing $15 billion between now and 2027 to develop the infrastructure to needed make hydrogen widely available.
Ghasemi says “Our attitude is that people will not use the trucks if the fuel is not there.”
Hydrogen is stored at -253
To support his statement, he highlights that Air Products has already constructed a hydrogen refuelling station in Duisburg, and while the station is fully operational, tested and approved, it cannot be opened because it has not been signed off by the local planning authorities. Ghasemi tells Daimler, “You build the trucks - and we will make sure the molecules are there.”
The heart of the hydrogen Actros is a fuel cell developed by the Cellcentric company. Cellcentric is a joint venture between Daimler Truck and Volvo Group. From our run in the hydrogen Actros, the truck appears to have all the attributes to make it work for operators. Daimler says the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 truck offers a payload of approximately 25 tonnes at a gross combination weight of 40 tonnes, and the Cellcentric fuel-
Fuel cells are made by Cellcentric
cell Actros delivers a performance almost identical to a regular BEV. One slight difference is that the BEV eActros 600 has a four-speed transmission whereas the GenH2 Actros has only two speeds.
The five trucks have begun their field trials and will be monitored throughout by the transport companies and by Daimler technicians. It is hoped in a year from now the information they have gathered will be invaluable for the future development of hydrogen-fuelled commercials.
Daum comments, “We do not need passenger cars to live, you can walk, cycle or use the bus - you still get to where you want. However, if you have to haul 40 tonnes of dirt we need trucks. We need commercial vehicle transport to keep keep our society going - it is the key to our society. We are not the problem, we are the solution.”
DAIMLER TRUCK GENH2 SPEC CHECK
Make & Model: Mercedes-Benz Actros Gen H2 4x2 Tractor Unit
Power Source: Liquid Hydrogen (Cellcentric) Fuel Cell
Fuel Cell / Battery: 300 kW (2 x 150 kW) / 400 kW (70 kW storage support battery)
Electric Motors: 2 x 230 kW Continuous Power 2 x 330 kW Maximum Power
Available Torque: 2 x 1,577 Nm or 2 x 2,071 Nm
Tank Capacities: 88 kgs in 2 stainless steel liquid Hydrogen tanks
Payload at CGW of 40 Tonnes: 25 tonnes approximately
As the demand for fossil fuels declines, driven by global acknowledgement of the associated environmental risks, the haulage industry is focusing its efforts on decarbonisation. If fleet managers are to end their reliance on oil and natural gas, they must look at alternative energy sources that are less harmful to the environment.
Fortunately, clean, renewable energy, by virtue of wind, water, and solar power, is becoming more accessible. Transportation modes that used fossil fuels: like cars, trucks, and aeroplanes; are now being developed to run on renewable fuel sources.
The introduction of electric vehicle (EV) technology has been successful in the UK, with ZapMap reporting the existence of over 1,145,000 passenger and commercial EVs on the road as of June 2024.
While a fully-electric delivery fleet isn’t feasible yet, now is the time to plan and prepare for this future. Here are five steps that fleet managers can take to ensure a smooth transition to an EV fleet.
1. Analyse your existing data
Start by examining your company’s existing operations. Gather information from your fleet telematics system on current routes, vehicle load capacity, typical cargo, and available drivers. Next, look at the quality of the road network around your premises and your vehicle replacement schedule. Inhouse telematics data will provide months of very rich operational insights to form the
foundation of your transition strategy. It can take some effort to pull all of this information together, but once it has been compiled and analysed, you will have a detailed overview of your operations. This will significantly assist you in the remaining steps of the process.
Although it is possible to complete this analysis in-house, getting help from experts will produce far more accurate results and an in-depth plan of action for the next steps.
2. Invest in solar
Despite the stereotype that the UK suffers from a distinct lack of sun across all seasons, solar power represents a renewable energy source that UK fleet operators should be looking to adopt on-site. There has been a huge push in the UK for solar panel installations, with the incoming Labour government revealing ambitious plans to invest £8.3 billion into state-owned power company Great British Energy (GBE). This investment is set to transform the energy landscape, which includes the expansion of solar power. One of the biggest incentives for businesses to invest in solar panels is the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which allows them
to deduct a percentage of their installation costs from their taxable income. This reduces the overall costs of going solar.
While there are appealing tax breaks, decision makers at haulage companies must apply strategic thinking to solar power adoption. Instead of investing in just enough roof panels to meet current needs, entire roofs should be covered. Yes, it will produce more power than you can use right now, but that won’t be the case for long as later down the line, you’ll replace your fossil fuel with green, renewable ‘fuel’ to operate your fleet. Your solar investment will pay off in the long run, when you can invest in larger trucks that can travel longer distances with more cargo.
3. Invest in your first electric vehicles
With the fleet telematics gathered in Step 1, investigate which electric trucks and vans will best suit your business. There are affordable entry-level EVs for most categories of light commercial vehicle.
The initial analysis will identify the optimal balance of internal combustion engine (ICE) and EV vehicles in your fleet as an initial step towards transition. Then you need to decide
which EVs are the most suitable replacements for the ICE vehicles nearing retirement.
Look at battery size, range, and charging times. Analyse how much solar power you are producing and compare those numbers to the energy requirements of various EVs. Match up your supply with potential demand for the best investment. Your EV fleet may look a little different from your ICE fleet, but it should ultimately produce the same results.
By the time you are ready to start replacing your ICE fleet, most likely with smaller delivery vehicles in the one-to four-tonne range, there will be a greater range of options to select from, as EV manufacturers are regularly launching new models and producing increasingly improved vehicles. Furthermore, import tariffs and duties could be adjusted in future government budget announcements, which will go a long way to the affordability of these eco-friendly vehicles.
With a good understanding of your new vehicles’ capabilities, it is time to look at the most suitable routes to send them on. The first routes to be serviced by EVs will be loops of around 70 miles from the depot, and more than likely in Greater London, which has more than 20 000 EV charging points already. This allows for two runs a day, with a fast charge after the first run while the vehicle is being reloaded, and a full charge overnight on lowpower cheap-tariff charging.
Longer routes won’t be viable for some time as they will require charging infrastructure along major national routes, which will undoubtedly take a while to complete. However, shorter routes can reduce your fuel spend from the outset.
When the first tranche of your routes has gone electric and you’ve got new data to analyse: which routes work best, what the best charging schedule is for your business, your largest expenses and biggest savings, and so on; you can revisit your initial plan and make improvements for the next wave of EVs you acquire.
Data management and analytics are even more important for EV fleets than ICE fleets. EV fleets require careful management of resources since you may not be able to pop into a nearby charging station if a vehicle runs out of power.
One of the key benefits of data management and analytics for EV fleets is the ability to optimise charging infrastructure. Fleet managers who analyse data on vehicle usage patterns, charging times, and energy consumption, can identify the optimal locations for charging stations. This ensures that vehicles have convenient access to charging points and reduces the risk of downtime due to lack of charge. Monitoring battery health, energy
• Justin Coetzee, GoMetro
consumption, and vehicle performance also lets fleet managers identify potential issues before they become major problems.
Thankfully, electric vehicles generate vast amounts of data that, with the assistance of a reliable electric vehicle fleet management system, will set your company up for a successful future in the EV era.
The UK is currently aligned with the EU’s 2019/631 legislation, which introduced a zero and low emission benchmark of 15% of the vehicles in a manufacturers’ total new vehicle registrations for 2025. It’s only a matter of time before the government tightens these regulations even further, meaning fleet operators need to be proactive in introducing structural changes to ensure they are able to use the vehicles that manufacturers will be allowed to build and sell.
An EV fleet is a neat solution to satisfying the developing standards of emissions control. Not only does it show commitment to a greener planet, but you can also take advantage of economic benefits, such as reduced fuel and maintenance costs, improved efficiency, and vehicle longevity, all of which are good for your business.
Burnt Mills Tyres celebrates 30th Anniversary with first Renault Trucks E-Tech Masters.
Burnt Mills Tyres Limited, has marked its 30th anniversary with a significant step towards sustainability by introducing its first fully electric vehicles.
Supplied by Peter Thirkettle at Norfolk Truck and Van, three new Renault Trucks E-Tech Master L2H2 panel vans will provide Burnt Mills Tyres’ on-site and roadside tyre fitting services. The new vans will clock up between 50 and 100 miles a day, with local trips in and out of the depot in Basildon where the vehicles will also be charged.
• Will Bray, managing director
Bray, Managing Director of
explains the decision to choose Renault Trucks for the company’s first electric vehicles: “Over the years, we’ve relied on Renault Trucks for their unmatched reliability and cost-effectiveness. Our longstanding relationship with the sales cont.
“Over the years, we’ve relied on Renault Trucks for their unmatched reliability and cost-effectiveness.”
team at Norfolk Truck and Van, especially with Peter Thirkettle, played a significant role in our decision. I value working with people I know and trust, and Renault Trucks has always been our ‘go-to’ manufacturer for the demands of our business.”
Will continues: “We have had many Renault Trucks over the last 30 years, I have honestly lost count. We have used others in the past but have always found Renault Trucks the most successful for what we do. The reduction in fuel costs alone makes these vehicles ideal for our operations, and Renault Trucks’ R&M deal ensures that our overheads remain consistent and manageable.”
The Renault Trucks E-Tech Master, equipped with a R75 electric motor and a 52kWh lithium-ion battery, has a real-life range of up to 120 miles on a single charge. With zero-emissions and zero-noise pollution, the vans can operate without restriction in highly regulated areas including London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone.
The vehicles have also been specified with an additional split battery charging system to operate the on-board tyre fitting machines and chargers have been installed at the company’s Basildon site, further simplifying the transition to electric.
“Renault
Trucks E-Tech Master, equipped with a R75 electric motor and a 52kWh lithium-ion battery, has a real-life range of up to 120 miles on a single charge.”
To commemorate its 30th anniversary, Burnt Mills Tyres has also unveiled a refreshed version of its iconic “Burnie the Hedgehog” logo, prominently displayed on the new E-Tech Masters along with a sticker that reads “NO DIESEL ENGINES LEFT IN THIS VEHICLE OVERNIGHT,” in playful nod to the company’s switch to electric vehicles and its commitment to a greener future.
Will said: “As we celebrate 30 years, we felt it was important to modernise our look with something a little faster and sharper, while staying true to our roots. Our branding is well known locally, and this refresh celebrates the longevity of our business and the quality of service we provide.”
Burnt Mills Tyres’ investment in its first electric vehicles marks a pivotal step in the company’s sustainability journey. Will concludes: “Even though we are a small company, this project has inspired us to become more efficient and greener. These are our first EVs, and it’s an exciting time. I’m confident that our fleet will double in the next few years and that we will become 100% electric. With this strategic move, Burnt Mills Tyres is not only celebrating its past achievements but also paving the way for a sustainable future and we are delighted to partner with Renault Trucks on this journey. I truly believe that electric vehicles are the way forward for businesses like ours.”
• Will and Corinne
“I’m confident that our fleet will double in the next few years and that we will become 100% electric.”
If battery-electric trucks are currently impractical and uneconomic, what are the alternatives? Richard Simpson explains why the third-best solution may be the best way forward.
Back in the 1930s, a British scientist was working on a system to counter an existential threat. He had a technology in mind that would do the job, the question was whether it could be developed to its optimum within the time and budget available.
In what became known as the ‘cult of the imperfect,’ he told his engineering team to: “Give them the third-best to go on with, the second-best comes too late, the best never comes.”
The scientist was Robert Watson-Watt, the threat was Nazi Germany, and the technology was the RAF’s Chain Home radar system.
History records that the first Chain Home radar station came into use in September 1938, a year later the UK was at war, and a year after that an out-gunned and outnumbered RAF was defeating the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain: a feat only made possible by timely completion of Watson-Watt’s ‘third-best’ Chain Home radar system.
Faced with the modern-day threat of climate change, the road transport industry is now contemplating its own ‘cult of the imperfect’.
“A recent tour by the band Metalica used a mixture of gas and electric Iveco trucks”
The best way to go net zero is undoubtedly to switch all trucks to electric power generated by carbonneutral means.
But is it possible, practical and as affordable as is sometimes made out?
The advantages of the electric truck are obvious: near silence, ease of driving, and zero emissions of greenhouse or toxic gases at the point of use.
But from an economic point of view, the challenges are considerable. It’s a given that the current electric truck offerings cost more, carry less, and can cover fewer miles in a shift than their diesel stablemates. A dense network of truck-specific charge-points would address these considerations: more charging points would mean there would need to be fewer heavy and expensive batteries on each vehicle, and charging times would be faster.
But will this ‘best’ ever come?
The electricity industry is confident that it can generate enough power to serve an electrified UK truck fleet, but serious questions remain over the distribution of that power to the points where it will be needed, and the cost of improving connections and
installing chargers. Comments made by truck industry CEOs at the recent IAA road transport show in Hannover indicate a growing consensus around the view that across Europe, there will be insufficient truck-chargers to enable road transport decarbonisation targets to be met.
Never let it be forgotten that, even on economically-efficient diesel, most haulage businesses generate profit margins in low singlefigure percentage points at best. Can an already cash-strapped industry be expected to bear the increased capital cost, not only of the vehicles, but the chargers and connectors?
And, can a cash-strapped Government which is going to lose its revenue from fuel duty, fill the gap?
There is also the question of pricing. The Putintriggered spike in UK electricity prices saw the UK’s rail freight industry quietly park up its electric locomotives as they had become too expensive to operate in comparison with its diesels. Even if it is generated by renewable sources, UK electricity’s price is still bizarrely coupled to wholesale fossil gas prices, so there is no incentive to use it for decarbonisation.
Then there’s the seemingly inexorable rise of AI, and the additional energy demand it will create. Mike Stark, president of Scotland’s electrical trade body SELECT warns that the demands of AI have the potential to overwhelm the grid: “At present, the UK’s National Grid appears to be holding its own, with current increases being met with renewable energy systems. But as technology
advances and systems such as AI are introduced, there will be a time when the grid will struggle to support the demand,” he says.
He estimates that there could be 1.5m AI servers in the UK by 2027. Running at full capacity, these would consume between 85 and 134 terawatt hours per year – roughly equivalent to the current energy demands of the Netherlands or Sweden!
Currently, the UK makes up shortfalls in its own generation by importing nuclear-generated electricity from France, but 14 of the French nuclear power stations are scheduled for closure by 2035: just as the sale of new diesel trucks of 26 tonnes and under is to be banned.
So, if the best is never going to come, what’s the second-best?
Hydrogen, probably. It can either be used to generate electricity on the vehicle, via a fuel-cell, or burned in a modified internal combustion engine. In the first case, the only emission is water vapour. In the second, because it’s a carbon-free fuel, the exhaust gas is also water vapour, although there may be a tiny trace of other combustion gases from the small amount of lubrication oil that will inevitably be left on the combustion chamber wall each time a piston descends.
Hydrogen is not, however a direct replacement for diesel. To adapt a diesel design for hydrogen its compression-ratio must be reduced, and a spark-ignition system installed. Coping with the unique characteristics of hydrogen is also a challenge: it tends to accumulate at the top of the combustion chamber, so a high-speed
• Robert Watson-Watt: advocate of the imperfect
turbocharger is required to give the incoming charge sufficient velocity to ensure an optimum fuel-air mix. However, these technical challenges have not prevented proponents of hydrogen combustion including Cummins and JCB from adapting diesel engines to burn the gas, and they claim that the power and torque of the parent engine have been replicated by the hydrogen units.
Fuel cells have proved more problematic. They are expensive to make and delicate in operation, being prone to damage by contamination and vibration. And the problems don’t end there. They are also unable to operate at maximum capacity for long before they become flooded with water, so designers of fuel-cell vehicles tend to specify a cell that can produce twice the vehicle’s peak power requirement, then operate it at half capacity. Transient response is also poor, so practical fuel cell vehicles also require a traction battery to cope with spikes in torque demand. This battery can also be used to recover waste energy through regenerative braking, just like a conventional battery-electric vehicle.
But chemistry provides a powerful argument against fuel cell vehicles. The amount of energy required to produce ‘green’ hydrogen (by using renewable electricity to electrolyse the gas from water), compress and transport it, before using a fuel cell to convert it back into electricity and water, means that, according to the Institute of the Motor Industry, a fuel cell vehicle is only 22% efficient: which compares badly with a batteryelectric equivalent at 70% efficiency.
Hydrogen can be produced by stripping it out of a hydrocarbon such as methane, but in doing so waste carbon is produced meaning the gas can no longer be regarded as a zero-carbon fuel.
No matter how it is produced or used, hydrogen also presents problems in storage and transportation, lacking density and being prone to leaching and leakage. The creation of a hydrogen distribution network is decades away, meaning that the gas qualifies for second best in Watson-Watt’s cult of the imperfect. It could work, but making it work will take time we do not have if we are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by the projected deadline of 2050.
So, the vast majority of operators are going to be looking for a “third-best to be going on with,” and that means either truck they can buy now that have been adapted to run on a low or no carbon fuel, or a low or no carbon fuel that can be substituted for fossil diesel in a standard truck.
Low/no carbon fuels currently available include methane, FAME, and HVO.
Methane appears in two forms. It is either ‘natural’ (fossil) gas, identical to the mains gas used in domestic homes, or ‘biogas’ given off by decaying organic materials. They share an identical molecular structure: CH4 (one carbon molecule attached to four hydrogen molecules). Whether natural or biogas, it is used in trucks in either liquified (LNG) or compressed (CNG) states. Different tanks and refuelling equipment are required to handle each state, so while a gas truck can run on natural or biogas (or a blend of the two), it cannot be switched between CNG and LNG unless two sets of tanks are installed. Methane must be cooled to below – 162ºC to achieve liquid state, so insulated tanks are required for LNG storage and use.
Gas trucks are currently available in the UK from Volvo, Scania, and Iveco, with a limited range of engines. Volvo’s offering is unique as it retains diesel compression-ignition (with a small amount of diesel fuel being injected into the combustion chamber to initiate this) while Scania and Iveco use spark ignition and a lower compression-ratio.
“near silence, ease of driving, and zero emissions of greenhouse or toxic gases at the point of use”
There is wide variation in the carbon footprints of biogas and natural gas. Natural gas is a fossil fuel, but it is rich in hydrogen and low in carbon, so yields a reduction in CO2 emissions of around 10% against fossil diesel.
Much greater reductions in CO2 are possible when biogas is used. If the feedstock from which the gas is derived is an organic waste that would otherwise decay into the atmosphere, burning it in an engine actually results in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions because methane is over 28 times more potent than CO2 in trapping heat in the atmosphere. Hence manufacturers can claim their gas trucks are carbon-neutral when run on biogas, even though CO2 is emitted from their exhaust systems.
Operators seeking to reduce carbon emissions from existing conventional trucks are often directed towards hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). This is a slightly misleading name for a fuel that can be produced from a wide range of vegetable and animal fats and oils which are treated through hydrogenation (adding hydrogen) or hydrocracking (breaking large molecules into smaller ones) to produce hydrocarbons from the fatty acids of the base feedstock. The result is a high-quality diesel fuel free of the impurities such as sulphur that can be found in ‘fossil’ diesel, and is a ‘pour-in’ substitute for it. Unlike fossil diesel, it is nontoxic. While it has a greater energy density by weight than pump diesel, in volumetric terms it falls behind the fossil fuel. This means that fuel consumption will be higher in trucks running HVO, but, bizarrely, in aviation where fuel is measured in kg not litres, it’s better!
In terms of CO2 emissions, its production from renewable resources means it offers a 90% reduction compared to fossil diesel, while its clean combustion can also produce a reduction in other pollutants.
HVO has largely supplanted a cruder form of diesel biofuel: fatty acid methyl ester (FAME); although modern B7 pump diesel contains up to seven percent biodiesel.
This is mostly sourced from reused cooking oils. Running more than seven per cent biodiesel is possible in some modern truck engines. However, it is not generally on sale, so operators will need to secure their own supply. Advice should also be sought from the truck manufacturer: many engines will run on up to 30 per cent FAME, and some will go as high as 100 per cent. However certain key engine components and systems may need to be replaced or modified, and maintenance intervals tightened to ensure more frequent changes of filters and engine oils. Fuel tanks and lines, both on and off the vehicle, will also need to be modified to cope with the fuel in colder weather (FAME has a higher cold filter plugging point than even summer diesel), and bulk and vehicle tanks will have to be regularly monitored and cleaned to prevent to accumulation of the black sludge that forms when bacteria in the fuel reacts with water from the atmosphere.
• Farm slurry tanks are a largely untapped source of methane
Fuel consumption is also higher than for ‘pump’ diesel, as the volumetric energy content of FAME is lower than pump diesel’s.
So the negative costs and implications of any switch to FAME need to be carefully considered. That said, for companies operating in the catering and food services sector, use of FAME made from the industry’s waste products provides a good example of the benefits of a ‘circular’ supply chain against one which is driven by a oneway consumption model.
What is clear is that there is currently no ‘magic bullet’ solution to decarbonising road transport. Battery-electric is like Watson Watts’ ‘best’ solution: the costs and constraints mean it may never be a ‘one-size fits all’ means of providing zerocarbon transportation. The undisputed second-best, hydrogen, is still a long way off. Government remains fixated on electricity, and the challenges in hydrogen transportation and storage are simply a matter of physics and beyond the control of the political classes.
Which leaves us with the third-best: biogas and HVO. Both of which are available now, and one of which requires little or no additional capital investment in infrastructure or equipment.
Can this easy step towards rapid decarbonisation really be so difficult to take?
The dark side of biofuel Where biofuels are made from food waste and crop residue, the environmental case for them is overwhelming. Material that would otherwise represent a disposal cost and hazard can be turned into fuel.
The bad side comes when demand for biofuel outstrips the supply of waste feedstocks. Even in the UK, biomethane digesters which were originally built to process animal manure are being fed with harvested maize direct from the field, without the inconvenience of passing it through a cow first!
On a global scale, the risk is that natural forests are being cleared (destroying precious habitats and releasing vast quantities of sequestered carbon dioxide and methane), to produce spurious ‘green’ fuel feedstocks by monoculture.
Organisations switching to HVO should ensure that the product chosen carries International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), which is an independent certification system that rates various fuels based on their environmental effects. This will ensure the fuel meets environmental, traceability, and social requirements.
In Europe, biomethane is included in the Guarantees of Origin (GOs) framework. There are currently different schemes for certification. GOs issued in the UK, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria can be transferred across borders.
“Gas trucks are currently available in the UK from Volvo, Scania, and Iveco, with a limited range of engines.”
With extended cabs streamlined for energy efficiency, the Volvo Aero range is another leg on our journey towards zero emissions. Trucks designed to take you further and to make a difference to your bottom line. The Volvo Aero range is available with electric, gas or diesel powertrains and loaded with innovative features to maximise performance. Your efficiency. Extended.
Contact your local Volvo Trucks dealer or visit volvotrucks.co.uk