E-charge 2 is a project aiming to accelerate the transition to zero-emission long-distance truck transport by demonstrating a large-scale electrified logistics ecosystem, including vehicles, high-power charging infrastructure, and efficient truck stop solutions.
Project description
The main objective of the project is to understand, describe, and demonstrate the transport ecosystem comprising electrified long-distance or energy-intensive truck transport that requires high-power charging, while accelerating the transition to a future logistics system with zero-emission transport. A large-scale system demonstration will be created by bringing together a critical mass of vehicles, charging infrastructure, and logistics flows, alongside a significant number of stakeholders from all parts of the value chain.
Implementation
The electrified logistics systems require a new collaborative culture with new roles, as well as changes in attitudes and behaviours among involved parties and stakeholders. Viable business models, including the sharing of infrastructure, will be described based on empirical data derived from goods and truck flows within the demonstrators. Calculations of environmental benefits and societal gains will be used to propose regulations and policies that support the transition to electric operation by considering the positive effects (such as reduced emissions, improved public health, or more efficient transport systems) that are created. Existing legal frameworks will also be studied in this context.
Operating electrified logistics systems requires infrastructures for freight transport, electricity supply, and data transfer. The interoperability between the involved subsystems will be verified, and methods will be developed for locating charging stations. System technologies will be developed into prototypes of complete electrified truck combinations, focusing on performance and integration between drive units. The efficient development of truck stops, which can manage access and the dynamics of arrival and movement patterns via, for example, booking systems, will be visually monitored and evaluated. Flexible approaches to managing variations in power demand for charging, as well as returning energy from vehicles, will be developed both technically and commercially.
The results of the project will pave the way for the scaling up of electrified logistics systems. The findings will be made available so that other stakeholders beyond the project partners can also benefit from the work. Over time, the results and impacts will contribute to the development of sustainable transport solutions on a global scale.
Project Facts
Partners
Lindholmen Science Park will serve as the project coordinator and main applicant. The project consortium consists of 37 partners, representing the value chain for electrified long-distance transport, including transport buyers, haulage companies, power grid operators, charging operators, terminal owners, vehicle manufacturers, as well as innovation and research organisations.
Funders
The total cost is 205 million SEK, of which 102 million SEK is requested in funding from FFI.
Operational Planning
The large-scale rollout of electrified transport solutions is hindered by several practical challenges, including long charging times and limited driving ranges. Unlike their fossil-fuel counterparts, electric trucks require more careful operational planning to ensure that the additional charging requirements are effectively integrated into their daily transport schedules. This involves battery-aware routing and time-efficient charging scheduling.
Given the currently limited charging infrastructure, trucks must also compete for available charging opportunities, which may lead to both underutilization and overutilization of charging stations. Such imbalances can result in significant costs for both fleet operators and charging station operators. To enable more cost-efficient and scalable solutions, it is becoming essential to coordinate operational planning not only within individual fleets but also across different haulage companies, while ensuring fairness and protecting fleet-sensitive information.
Understanding electrification from within
For those working in road freight, electrification is not only a technological shift, but it also reshapes everyday work – how routes are planned, how infrastructure is used, how responsibilities are distributed, and how coordination across organisations takes place. The challenge is therefore not only technological, but organisational and relational.
This PhD project contributes to E-CHARGE 2 by studying these human and organisational dimensions of the transition. By working closely with those expected to drive the electrification – through a design-oriented approach and collaborative, participatory methods – the research aims to make visible both barriers and enabling conditions for change, and how transformation can be supported from within.
In practice, this means spending time in the field: co-riding with drivers operating electric trucks and interviewing those responsible for planning and coordination. A study in collaboration with LBC Frakt is one example of this work.
