Electric trucks: ultra-fast charging in the megawatt range

Consortium developing solution for low-emission cargo transport - It is an ambitious goal: By 2030 the German government aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 65 percent compared to 1990. But how? With partners from industry and research institutes, scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are working on prototypes for an electric-powered truck and the charging station it will need. "Freight transport on our roads is responsible for more than one third of our national greenhouse gas emissions," says Sebastian Wolff of the TUM Chair of Automotive Technology. Consequently, new truck concepts will be needed if Germany wants to drastically cut its CO₂ emissions by 2030. In the NEFTON project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of the Economy, engineers working in industry and research are developing a prototype for an electric truck and a charging station to power it. The first battery-powered truck prototypes are currently being tested with customers serving short-haul routes. A long-haul truck needs to cover 500 kilometers or more in a day, however.