1 minute read
Have you turned off the switch?
The recent collapse of two more haulage firms (see cover), highlights not only the cost pressures operators are facing, but also why switching their fleets to zero carbon probably isn’t a current priority. There’s been great momentum behind the net zero transition in the last couple of years, but it feels like it’s got to a certain point and stayed there. It needs another push – partly because the tough times have inevitably tempted transport firms to hang on to old technology for longer.
The fleet manager of one big parcel firm I spoke to recently admitted that, given the cost of investing in zero carbon trucks and related infrastructure, early adoption simply isn’t affordable. Firms face a cliff edge, wary of losing their competitive advantage so preferring to hang on and step off at the last point.
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And it’s all very well for roads minister Richard Holden to suggest the DfT will partner with the commercial sector, including the truck makers, to help develop an HGV charging infrastructure. But this would just mean operators investing in building it into their own networks, which, aside from the huge costs, is a massive technical challenge.
Holden also reassures us that the price of electric HGVs will shrink in the same way that they have in the wider automotive sector. But trucks are a very different proposition, and the amount of batteries needed for a decent range in a 4x2 tractor unit would take you up from 8 tonnes to 12. That’s a lot of batteries.
What the industry needs is more government help. But instead, manufacturers are being penalised for not having built the right balance of ICE and electric trucks. And the problem for operators is that when it comes to their next buying round they will soon be pretty much forced into an alternative. It may not be what they want, it may not be affordable, and it may not even be ready. With the technology changing at such a pace, the risk is buying something now when in two years’ time something comes out that’s better. Difficult decisions lie ahead.
