The pilot project for the electrification of truck traffic in Germany has failed. Experts had doubted the German government's plan from the very beginning. The government ignored the warning cries and made a massive miscalculation.
The idea of overhead line trucks is simple: as with rail transport, the vehicles are supplied with power via overhead lines and can thus save climate-damaging emissions because they consume less fuel. In recent years, three test routes were built on German motorways and tested with 15 trucks.
But already at the beginning of the project, experts warned that the implementation would be much more complicated in many places than hoped. A successful overhead line system would only work if there was a comprehensive network in Europe. Such planning would be virtually impossible in the different countries with complex planning procedures, judged Daimler Truck boss Martin Daum in autumn 2021. And the project was also doomed to fail technically, said Iveco boss Gerrit Marx at the time, as the trucks were very sensitive to the power supply and bumps in the road could quickly lead to problems.
At about 1.5 million euros, a trolley truck was also no bargain and, even if the technology worked at the end of the project, would not save enough CO2 to justify the expense: Only about 22% CO2 savings would be possible at most. Nevertheless, the government spent about 190 million euros on the project. Soon, the experts' worries became reality. The mishaps ranged from defective electricity pylons, to inaccurate GPS positioning, which is important for power collection, to complications in winter, when swirled-up road salt interrupted the power supply.
Now the first test track is being dismantled again. The experiment failed and cost the taxpayer dearly. The conclusion: Electrification of freight transport is important. But instead of investing in rigid overhead lines, the government should focus on hybrid variants and alternative fuels such as hydrogen. This is the only way logistics companies can remain flexible and independent and reduce CO2 emissions wherever they travel.