Haulage body says targets for electric HGVs unachievable

The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has said Government and EU targets aimed at moving away from diesel in the sector are not achievable at the present time.

The IRHA said charging infrastructure for electric trucks is currently inadequate.

Latest figures show that out of 43,000 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) currently on the road, just 54 are powered by electric battery.

The HGVs rumble past; it's another busy day down at Dublin Port as deliveries are filled and met.

In total, heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) represent around 5% of Ireland's road fleet but contribute over 20% of road transport emissions.

Freight demand is projected to double by the year 2050 and the Department of Transport said the decarbonisation of the sector, including electrification, is seen as essential to achieving our national climate targets.

Dixons in North Dublin are beginning to make the switch.

They have 285 trucks in their fleet. Four of their HGVs are now electric with a range of 350 kilometres.

"These trucks, some of them are working around Dublin and some of them are transiting up to Lisburn and back down in the evening times and early mornings," said Brendan Dixon, the company's operations director.

He added: "I think it's something that is coming down the road and it should be coming down the road.

"There's a place for electric trucks in every fleet. Everyone should be able to do some amount of transport with them.

"The experience is very good. As I said, the product is very reliable. Our biggest kind of downfall is the charging network available; the public charging networks available.

"Currently I think there's only one designated charger for a truck in Ireland at the moment, so for trucks like this to become viable for general transport or general haulage, there needs to be charging networks placed around the country on the vital routes around the country."

From the cabin of the truck, it's a noticeably quieter ride, and there are running-cost savings too.

The distance achieved on a full tank of diesel costing €2,000 can be matched with an on-site electric charge of around €900.

But there are challenges, namely the price. A typical diesel truck costs around €150,000; its electric equivalent is three times that and there is the aforementioned lack of charging infrastructure.

"Our take on it is we have to creep before we can walk," IRHA President Ger Hyland said.

He added that his sector supports the move away from diesel, but said costs must come down and the charging network expanded first.

"We'll have to electrify the vans first. HGV electrification will come. It'll be in its own time.

"We don't see it within the next 10 years here realistically. The grid here just can't support it.

"You'll plug a couple of HDVs into any town in Ireland at the present time and the town will be in darkness," Mr Hyland said.

The Government has targeted 30% of new medium and heavy duty vehicle sales being zero emission by 2030.

Mr Hyland believes those targets are not realistic and expects them to be revised down.

"They're unachievable. They're not achievable here in this country at the present time. We don't have infrastructure.

"For us to go totally EV, we would need an additional 22% just for the commercial vehicle trucks. We would need an additional 22% in the national grid here just for our sector alone," he said.

It is clear from official figures that there is some way to go, with the latest data showing that out of 70,000 HDVs currently on the road, just 565 are battery electric.

HGVs, which are classified as weighing more than 3,000 tonnes, make up 43,000 of those, with 54 of them currently electric.

The Department of Transport has said progress is continuing to support the switch to electric.

It said a working group was established, and a number of grants to entice the changeover are in place.

However, the IRHA said the take up of those grants has been low.

The Department also said Ireland's transition to a low carbon economy requires decisive action across all sectors including transport, and in particular heavy duty vehicles.

While electrification is not the only zero emissions technology being developed in the HDV sector, the Department said, it is by far the most mature but remains challenging for certain use cases.

The switch to EVs for HGVs has some road to go, it seems.