Bringing together leading logistics providers, high street names and leading hauliers, the eFREIGHT 2030 consortium is part of the UK Government’s Zero emission HGV and infrastructure demonstrator programme, which aims to kickstart the uptake of zero emissions heavy goods vehicles.
Electric HGVs are already on the road with our consortium members – Welch’s Transport, M&S and Kuehne + Nagel – with more set to join in the coming weeks. At the same time, we’re rolling out a network of new depot-based charging locations across the UK.
One of four projects being funded by the Department of Transport delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency, eFREIGHT 2030 has received £49.2 million in government support across the project, which will help unlock an expected £500 million of private investment from consortium members in electric vehicles and charging hubs across the UK by 2030.
Led by Voltempo, developers of the British designed and manufactured electric HGV megawatt charging system, the eFREIGHT 2030 consortium members are seeking to lead the way in decarbonising their operations and business sectors.
The aim of the Zero emission HGV and infrastructure demonstrator programme is to stimulate the deployment of long haul zero emission HGVs with a multi-year demonstration of 40 – 44t battery electric trucks, including the development of the required business models for scalable deployment and a network of dedicated infrastructure.
Alongside the vehicle and charging offer, consortium member Dynamon is bringing a full data and planning service using its ZERO software package, allowing operators to both plan the most efficient use of their vehicle fleet, both diesel and electric, and analyse their business model to identify when specific vehicles or routes can be decarbonised.
The eFREIGHT 2030 consortium is introducing 100 electric HGV 4×2 and 6×2 tractor units, and 32 new charging locations with megawatt-charging capacity from day one.
As well as the nominated vehicle operators, the consortium includes a number of vehicles to be managed by the vehicle leasing company Vertellus as an extension of its EV Discovery Programme, which enables electric vehicle operation on a subscription basis. This will allow other fleet operators and SMEs to join the eFREIGHT 2030 programme as associate members of the consortium.
Work on the eFREIGHT 2030 project began in early 2024 and will take seven years to complete.
We are delighted that the eFREIGHT 2030 consortium has been selected to participate in the Zero emission HGV and infrastructure demonstrator programme, to accelerate the EV revolution that will decarbonise heavy duty transport. eFREIGHT 2030 will create UK jobs in the industries of the future, as well as unlocking investment into zero emission electric HGVs that meet the pressing need to reduce fossil fuels and improve air quality. We recognise that to create a greener and more sustainable future for road freight transport will require success in developing different zero-emission fuels and welcome the opportunity to demonstrate the contribution which EV technology can bring to bear.”
