Climate Protection in Transport: Associations Demand Better Framework

Eight associations, one opinion: AMÖ (Federal Association of Furniture Forwarders and Logistics), BGL (Federal Association of Freight Transport Logistics and Waste Management), BIEK (Federal Association of Parcel and Express Logistics), BWVL (Federal Association of Economy, Transport and Logistics), DSLV (Federal Association of Forwarding and Logistics), VDA (Association of the Automotive Industry), VDIK (Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers) and ZVEI (Association of the Electrical and Digital Industry) have a clear idea of what needs to be done to achieve climate protection goals and have summarized their demands in a sector paper.

“The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 85 million tons by 2030, which is bindingly anchored in the Federal Government’s Climate Protection Law for the transport sector, cannot be achieved without savings in road freight and public road passenger transport, as these account for one-third of CO2 emissions in all road traffic,” it says.

Commercial vehicle sector supports climate protection

With battery-electric commercial vehicles (BEV-Nfz), a large and rapid contribution to the achievement of climate targets can be made within the portfolio of alternative Nfz drive technologies. The German automotive industry is driving the transformation forward with determination through innovations and investments: 220 billion euros will be invested in research and development by 2026, 100 billion euros by 2030 in the restructuring of plants.

“Battery technology can unlock significant CO2 avoidance potential in the short term with adequate available alternative energy capacities. With over 180,000 light e-commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tons in Germany, manufacturers are already present on the market in significant numbers. This year, the share increased by almost 11,000 units – an increase of six percent.”

Additionally: The market share of reliable and efficient battery-electric light and heavy commercial vehicles will steadily grow in the coming years. According to the associations, this drive technology can very early on form one of the important pillars of CO2-free road traffic – alongside hydrogen, gas drives, and synthetic fuels. The first 100,000 heavy BEV trucks with long ranges alone could save 10 million tons of CO2 annually – provided that a demand-driven charging infrastructure is in place.

Framework conditions must be right

The transformation process will only succeed by 2030 if the framework conditions, as well as planning and investment security for manufacturers and users, are correct. The associations AMÖ, BGL, BIEK, BWVL, DSLV, VDA, VDIK, and ZVEI have jointly developed points that, in their opinion, will successfully shape the transformation process:

• Reliable roadmap: In the interest of planning and investment security for users and industry, the federal government must present a reliable roadmap for the infrastructure development as well as the various state steering instruments. Ongoing and future investments in logistics properties are currently hampered by uncertainties about company-owned energy availabilities, access possibilities to alternative energies, and the possibilities for the technical development of a company-owned charging infrastructure. Swift countermeasures are needed here, according to the associations. European commercial vehicle manufacturers have announced that by 2025/2026 about 10,000 heavy BEV trucks are expected on German highways. By then, a powerful charging infrastructure must be operational nationwide.
• Appropriate funding: To accelerate market ramp-up and incentivize users to invest in new vehicle technologies, appropriate funding instruments need to be defined that guarantee reliability and planning.
• CO2-based truck toll: An important and competitively neutral lever to achieve a market ramp-up is the CO2-based truck toll. Its introduction should be based on the market availability of vehicles with alternative drive technologies, decided with sufficient planning lead time, exploit relief capacities in the infrastructure component, and at the same time include vehicles from 3.5 tons. At the same time, a double burden from CO2 tolls and national emissions trading must be avoided in an unbureaucratic manner through exemptions for the road freight transport industry in the Fuel Emission Trading Act.
• Competitive electricity prices and sliding clauses: Disadvantages of BEV commercial vehicles due to differences and fluctuations in electricity prices should urgently be avoided. At the same time, reliable data from the Federal Statistical Office on electricity price developments should be available on a weekly basis to reflect price fluctuations in sliding clauses.
• Charging infrastructure: An adequate public and operational or private charging infrastructure is imperative. This must be comprehensively expanded with as many fast-charging points as possible and according to the high energy demand. The development of the charging infrastructure in the commercial and public sectors must proceed ahead of the vehicle ramp-up and be demand-driven to provide sufficient planning security for vehicle manufacturers and the logistics industry. The upstream grid infrastructure should also be developed ahead of the expected charging technology. It must also be ensured that public charging infrastructures for commercial vehicles can be used with billing systems analogous to the payment systems currently customary in the road freight transport industry (e.g., “fuel cards”).
  Even if BEV ranges are continuously optimized, it must be assumed in the planning of future logistics processes (route planning as well as loading and unloading times) that the usability of BEV commercial vehicles will take place under changed conditions. Legally mandated driving time interruptions, rest periods and breaks, as well as vehicle loading and unloading, must be synchronized as much as possible with the charging times for economic reasons.
• Space requirements/parking space expansion: Equally challenging is the space requirement for charging stations, charging spaces, and access possibilities. According to the associations, around 40,000 truck parking spaces are currently lacking across Germany. Under no circumstances should the expansion of the charging infrastructure come at the expense of existing parking capacities. Rather, the development of the charging infrastructure should be seen as an opportunity to counteract the shortage of parking spaces.