Concern has been raised haulage firms are waiting years for depot grid connections for eHGVs when existing energy capacity elsewhere is unused, according to a new report.
The study by freight infrastructure body TwentyForty, titled 12 Pillars of Change: Power In, found freight depots – whose electric vehicles charge overnight when the network is quietest – are queuing for grid upgrades behind reservations that are largely unused.
As a result, the body has called on the UK Government to change how grid capacity is allocated based on its findings. It is asking for electricity networks to offer flexible connections to depots, recognise freight projects within strategic grid priority criteria, and offer commercial tenants a statutory right to install charging where they pay for it.
Its analysis of five million half-hourly meter readings from 96 data centres on UK Power Networks’ distribution network found that a typical site drew just 18% of capacity it had reserved across three years. The study also stated that a depot grid connection takes 18 to 36 months to build, while a truck procurement cycle takes a matter of months.
Therefore, once the running cost of an electric HGV falls below diesel, a large share of the fleet could switch within one or two buying rounds, it said.
Alongside the report, TwentyForty has published a free Operators’ Guide, setting out what fleets can do under current rules.
The guide’s central point is to “ask the connection question first”, and it advises operators to get a budget estimate from the network operator before costing chargers or ordering vehicles, because the connection is the longest item on any electrification plan.
It highlights several facts, such as a network operator cannot legally refuse to connect a site, and that both the connection quote and date are both negotiable.
The guide also describes batteries and other behind-the-meter fixes as a “workaround for a problematic connection process, not a substitute for fixing it” and warns that some isolated sites will “never be able to connect in a way that is economically viable”.
Jamie Sands, Founder of TwentyForty, said:
“The grid is handing its scarcest resource to whoever asks for it first, not those that will use it. Most trucks charge overnight, when the network is quietest, but depots are waiting in a queue for increased grid connectivity behind reservations for capacity that are pure speculation.
“Government has to fix who gets the power and in what order, and the report clearly puts that case forward. However, hauliers cannot put their fleet plans on hold while Whitehall consults. The Operators’ Guide covers what hauliers can control today, while the report deals with what they can’t.”
Image courtesy of TwentyForty
