The government and a number of leading industrial companies are now investing heavily in the electrification of heavy transport to reduce climate impact. Heavy duty vehicles account for a third of green house emissions. Until today, renewable fuels have largely been the only solution for the transition to climate neutrality.
The transition to an electrified freight transport system is an important step towards a sustainable society. The goverment and industry are now joining forces with over SEK 400 million to support the two REEL and E-Charge projects led by CLOSER and Lindholmen Science Park. The investment goes via the Fordonsstrategisk forskning och innovation (FFI).
– The investment accelerates the transition to sustainable road transport and reduces emissions immediately. A gratifying receipt that shows the importance of collaboration and the automotive industry's role for socially beneficial solutions, says Malin Persson, Chairman of the Board of FFI.
– Einride already has extensive experience of running electric heavy transports for several customers, but the transition to a fossil-free transport system is too slow. By participating in REEL, we see great opportunities to work with other actors to accelerate this transition and further develop the system support necessary for electrification of heavy transport, says Andreas Allström, Director of public funding and research collaboration, Einride.
In the REEL project, which is now being scaled up, 40 battery-electric trucks will be used in a number of regional freight transport services. The vehicles will drive all over Sweden, but mainly in Mälardalen, Skåne and Västra Götaland. Both prototypes and mass-produced trucks with a total weight of 16-74 tons will be included. In addition, the project will include charging infrastructure with digitally connected system support at depots, logistics terminals and other important logistics points. The project brings together transport buyers, freight forwarders and distributors, hauliers, terminal operators, charging point operators, electricity network companies as well as suppliers of trucks, charging equipment and management systems. In addition, regions, cities and universities participate in the project.
– The upscaling of REEL gives us the opportunity to commission and evaluate electrified transport on a large scale in our domestic market, close to our research and development. The lessons learned and experiences from the electrified logistics flows will be crucial in order to be able to scale up electrification and meet the transport sector's climate goals, says Jessica Björkquist, Senior product manager sustainability, Scania.
– The transition to a fossil-free world requires innovation in society as a whole. This is a clear example of innovation in a broad sense, where companies, authorities and others together address that even business models, behaviors and regulations need to be developed towards sustainability, says Vinnova's Director general Darja Isaksson.
The E-Charge project develops battery-electric prototype plastic cars that can handle the really long-distance transports, ie daily driving distances longer than 50 km. The vehicles are then tested in a couple of large logistics flows between our largest cities, and are charged with high-power charging in connection with the driver's rest periods. The project combines development work in several thematic areas with research at an integrated system level to build knowledge and understanding of how electrification of long-distance transport can affect larger systems such as logistics and electrical systems.
– The development of REEL gives us the opportunity to learn more about what services we need to provide so that customers can use their electric trucks as efficiently as possible. These include route planning, monitoring of energy consumption and range, and solutions for finding, booking and paying for vehicle charging. That the project also helps to accelerate the expansion of charging infrastructure for heavy vehicles is very important for us to be able to scale up the electrification of regional transports, says Johan Larsson, VP Electromobility Business Development at Volvo Trucks.
– In the project, the largest trucks will be driven on electricity, which just a few years ago was considered completely impossible. This shows how fast the development is moving towards fossil freedom in the transport area, says the Engerimynidheten´s Director general Robert Andrén. He also emphasizes that the project will systematically provide useful results to the government's appointed electrification commission.
Both projects start immediately and run until 2024, and are important contributions to achieving a national electrified freight transport system.
Reel
Participating parties in Reel when the project is now scaled up are initially Einride, Scania, the Volvo Group, but more parties from business, regions, cities and academia will be announced shortly. The FFI program finances with 85 million SEK and the project parties contribute with 104 million SEK. The goverment authorities The Swedish Energy Agency, the Swedish Transport Administration and Vinnova to contribute with financing, business expertise, a system perspective and synchronization of R&D support and infrastructure measures. The project is led by the national collaboration platform for transport efficiency, CLOSER at Lindholmen Science Park.
E-Charge
In the project, Scania and the Volvo Group collaborate with ABB, Circle K and OKQ8. The project also involves ICA Sverige AB, DB Schenker, Tommy Nordbergh Åkeri and Vattenfall and other energy companies and electricity network owners. The Swedish Electromobility Center (SEC) is an external research partner and Lindholmen Science Park coordinates the project. The FFI program finances with 102 million SEK and the project parties contribute with 113 million SEK. The state authorities The Swedish Energy Agency, the Swedish Transport Administration and Vinnova contribute with financing, business expertise, a system perspective and synchronization of R&D support and infrastructure measures.
Fordonsstrategisk forskning och innovation (FFI)
FFI is a collaboration program between the state and the automotive industry that funds research, innovation and development with a focus on climate, environment and safety. The financing amounts to approximately 1 billion SEK per year. Participating authorities are the Swedish Energy Agency, the Swedish Transport Administration and Vinnova. AB Volvo, FKG, Scania CV AB and Volvo Car Group from the industry participate.
Elektrifieringskommissionen (The Electrification Commission)
The Electrification Commission advises the government, but also has the government's task of accelerating electrification and contributing proposals for measures that they or other actors can implement. The Commission consists of 16 members and is chaired by Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth. The members are representatives from politics, business, research institutes and the public sector.
Andreas Josefsson
Project manager Reel, CLOSER & Lindholmen Science Park
andreas.josefsson@lindholmen.se
072-392 76 56
Gunnar Ohlin
Project manager E-Charge, Lindholmen Science Park,
gunnar.ohlin@lindholmen.se
073-368 40 62
Linda Svanhed
Programchef FFI
linda.svanhed@vinnova.se
08-473 30 65