Although electrification has become a real option for last-mile logistics and for urban passenger transport, heavy-duty freight trucks and long-distance buses are still overwhelmingly powered by combustion engines. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), only 0.1% of heavy-duty vehicles in the EU are electric. According to data from the Spanish Business Association for the Development and Promotion of Electric Mobility (AEDIVE), of the more than 9,000 heavy-duty industrial vehicles sold in Spain in the first four months of the year, only 57 were 100% electric.

In the manifesto published by companies and associations in the sector, these estimate that, with over six million medium- and heavy-duty vehicles circulating in Europe and around 300,000 vehicles put into service each year, two decades will be needed to renew current fleets. That's why they propose to use all available decarbonization technologies, from electrification and hydrogen to renewable fuels, so that carriers can choose in each case the solution that best adapts to their needs.

"From now it seems that there is a race, we have gone from a marathon to a short-distance race, with immediate time frames," comments José María Quijano, general secretary of the Spanish Confederation of Freight Transport (CETM), who considers that the calendar established by Brussels generates uncertainty in the sector. "Companies don't know which way to go because the market does not allow you to be a pioneer. The costs of purchasing from one vehicle to another have nothing to do with each other and in the end they have to be competing in the same market with different costs. There are hundreds of thousands of trucks in Europe and it is very complicated to make a transition in which the whole sector adapts on similar dates."

In the case of electrification, the sector considers that, due to the tight margins and the cost of these vehicles, many small and medium-sized companies, which make up the majority in Spain, could see their survival threatened if they were forced to renew their fleets. "Right now, in round numbers, we have almost 100,000 companies authorized to transport goods in Spain, of which half have only one vehicle and 80 percent have less than five vehicles (...) we will have to see how these types of companies are able to make a leap of the caliber of electrification," explains Ramón Valdivia, executive vice-chairman of the International Road Transport Association (ASTIC), who calculates that the cost of an electric truck is almost four times that of one with an internal combustion engine.

To the cost of renewing the fleet you have to add the lower performance that electric trucks still offer today. The lack of charging points and the shorter autonomy of the batteries make it difficult to carry out long-distance routes in a sector whose punctuality of deliveries is one of its strong points in international markets. "On certain circuits, almost all trucks tend to make stops around a circle of kilometers to match their driving and resting times. That would mean a lot of vehicles to charge in one place and that makes it much more difficult. And then you have to add that electric vehicles are not prepared to have the possibility of doing many kilometers in a row without having to make a stop to charge the batteries," explains José María Quijano, from CETM.

"Our 100% renewable fuels are produced from organic materials, such as used cooking oil or agricultural and forestry waste, giving them a second life. Thanks to their lower carbon intensity, these fuels reduce net CO₂ emissions by 80%-90% compared to the fuel of mineral origin that they replace," explains José Luis García Montes-Jovellar, Fleet manager at Repsol, who has just inaugurated in Cartagena the first plant in Spain dedicated to producing 100% renewable fuels on a large scale, with a capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year.

Commitment to technological diversity

Faced with the challenge of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, manufacturers, carriers, and logistics operators agree that technological diversity in heavy-duty road transport is imperative. "We are not committing to the transition with a single energy formula," explains Juan Manuel Valverde, director of sustainability and quality at Ontime Logística Integral, a company that works in parallel on the implementation of three alternative technologies for its fleet: renewable fuels, electrification, and hydrogen.

Scania, one of the benchmark companies in the transformation of industrial vehicles, has an unequivocal commitment to battery electric vehicles. "For us, electrification is one of our strategic pillars, we are unquestionably committed to battery electric vehicles," explains Alberto Linares, director of Sustainability. However, the manager considers that "to achieve the decarbonization targets the use of a mix of products will be key" with a legislation that takes into account the use of biofuels. "Renewable fuel will play a fundamental role so our customers can achieve their emissions reduction targets by 2025."