this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2023
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EV trucks currently comprise such a tiny proportion of last mile vehicles that I can’t even find industry statistics on them. This is because their range and tonnage is so poor relative to ICE that they’re not economically viable yet for almost all last mile transport. DHL (and other logistics companies) is currently trialing a handful of EV truck prototypes. None of them have deployed EV at scale for the reasons I outline.
The claim that EV trucks aren’t in development is clearly incorrect. Tesla trucks are hotly anticipated.
Tesla can do whatever they want, who cares. Just like the tesla truck, they get all the hype but there are already tons of available electric trucks, available and selling, like the f150 electric. To say that they are still on development because tesla hasnt released theirs is silly.
Of course they are still on development, everything is always on development. But they are also available for purchase and they are being purchased. Not to the numbers that their conventional fuel counterparts, the production rate hasnt reached those levels yet, but still.
The bottleneck is the production, not the demand or viability. For last mile, at least here in Gothenburg, there are plenty of electric cargo bikes like this
https://www.velove.se/news/city-containers-new-pilot-dhl-express-frankfurt-utrecht
I am pretty sure that by 2030, the majority of trucks will be electric(and almost all sales will be electric).
Perhaps I wasn't clear. It could be a regional nomenclature thing. When I refer to trucks I am referring to last mile transport. This isn't an F150. This is vehicles capable of transporting one or more cargo containers. These vehicles comprise the vast majority of the transport of food to grocery stores, for example.
There is currently little demand for existing last mile trucks because of their poor range and tonnage. However I believe that will be solved soon. Solid state batteries are coming along nicely.
The demand is there, the supply hasnt caught. As i mentioned, in Gothenburg(which is Volvo's HQ), there are tons of electric trucks and cargo bikes. Basically every day i see at least one truck like this one
https://www.volvotrucks.com/en-en/news-stories/press-releases/2022/may/dhl-and-volvo-trucks-kick-off-new-zero-emission-cooperation-with-order-for-up-to-44-electric-trucks.html
Postnord, the swedish/danish mail provider, has tons of these electric "golf carts"
https://news.cision.com/postnord/i/electric-car-parcels,c2905777
Basically by 2030, most companies will have or purchase only electric vehicles. Scania is also making electric trucks like this
https://www.scania.com/group/en/home/products-and-services/trucks/battery-electric-truck.html
Postnord intents to replace its conventional trucks with these by 2030.
Just because the US is behind times, doesnt mean that the entire world is also like that. And if Volvo and Scania, 2 of the biggest truck manufacturers(and they are both swedish) have available electric trucks, then there are electric trucks. The only bottleneck is production. The demand is there but it takes time to scale up production of basically an entirely new vehicle. China is also going wild with electric vehicles, though i am not familiar with that market.
Honestly, i think we might start seeing bans on non electric vehicles for cities, at least in Europe. The noise and pollution reduction is significant and very perceivable.