Electric trucks are coming to a highway near you

{"text":[[{"start":4.25,"text":"China has form in taking a new technology, slashing its cost, and then exporting it to the rest of the world. It happened with solar panels and, more recently, electric vehicles. Could battery-powered trucks be next? "}],[{"start":17.85,"text":"The technology is in place. Heavy and long-distance transport was supposed to be hard to wean off diesel because it would have required batteries that were too heavy and took too long to charge. But about 30 per cent of all the heavy trucks sold in China last year were electric — basically in line with analysts’ forecasts for 2030 — thanks to improving battery density, fast charging and a nifty new idea: battery swapping. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":43.05,"text":"Battery swapping has lots of advantages over traditional charging. Truck manufacturers sell the chassis alone, lowering the upfront investment for freight operators. The batteries are then leased — often from giant CATL, which now has 2,000 swapping stations in China — and exchanged with new ones when depleted, in less time than it takes to fill up the tank. The take-up of such vehicles in China has been supported by incentives, but lower fuel costs should over time offset the fact that, together, the chassis and battery still cost more than the equivalent diesel truck. "}],[{"start":77.9,"text":"Now, battery swapping is making its way to Europe. CATL has teamed up with UK energy company Octopus to build 30 swapping stations by 2035. While it’s no mean feat to build up a sizeable network, the economics would appear to stack up here, too. "}],[{"start":94.10000000000001,"text":"For an idea of the numbers involved, consider that an electric truck with a lifetime driving distance of 1mn kilometres, and the equivalent of 1.2 batteries to facilitate swapping, costs about 17p per kilometre, based on Lex calculations. That compares to 10p for a diesel truck. But diesel costs 57p per kilometre, while Swaptopus, as the joint venture is known, reckons it can sell energy without making a loss for 40p. "}],[{"start":122.85000000000001,"text":"On top of that, energy storage costs should continue to fall: Aurora Energy Research foresees a 7 per cent reduction by 2030. Swap stations could even use their idle batteries to sell power to the grid when needed. "}],[{"start":136.5,"text":"Europe is a more complex and fragmented market than China. But electric trucks have the potential to spread even faster than passenger cars, because their users will be more acutely focused on the economics."}],[{"start":149.45,"text":"And it’s not just diesel-guzzling vehicle makers that should be on guard. Given trucking’s importance to oil market — it accounts for about 17 per cent of current demand, on Wood Mackenzie numbers — the rise of electric haulage is yet another sign that peak demand may roll around faster than expected. "}],[{"start":171.79999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783492767_9777.mp3"}