Combustion engine or electric: Where is logistics heading?

Electric trucks are gaining ground. At the same time, hydrogen, renewable fuels and the realities of today’s vehicle fleet make one thing clear: the future of logistics will not be shaped by a single drive technology.

---

Electric commercial vehicles are accelerating

Both the IAA in Hanover and ETX in Kassel have demonstrated how rapidly electric drives are moving into new areas of transport. The first fully electric heating-oil delivery vehicle presented at ETX marked another step in that direction. A number of fuel distributors have already been using electric trucks to deliver wood pellets for several years.

The market at a glance

This makes Germany Europe’s largest growth driver for electric commercial vehicles. The Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Sweden lead the way in electric-truck adoption. Germany’s share of around seven per cent is also above the EU average.

Beyond batteries: hydrogen offers another route

Battery-electric powertrains are only one way to reduce emissions from road freight. Several major manufacturers are developing hydrogen combustion engines or fuel-cell trucks. The distinction matters: a fuel cell converts hydrogen into electricity on board to power an electric motor, while a hydrogen combustion engine burns the fuel directly in a modified piston engine.

It remains to be seen which solution will prove best for each application. Daimler Truck, Volvo Trucks, Iveco and MAN, as well as Quantron, KEYOU and Paul Nutzfahrzeuge, are all working on hydrogen-based drive concepts.

The real question is not simply combustion engine or electric. It is which energy source and drive concept best suit the job.

Today’s fleet needs renewable fuels

Almost the entire existing truck fleet, and more than 90 per cent of all new truck registrations, still use conventional combustion engines. Renewable fuels can therefore make an important contribution to reducing the additional CO2 emissions of vehicles already on the road.

• HVO100: This renewable diesel is already available at around 750 filling stations in Germany and approximately 8,000 across the EU.
• Bio-CNG: Germany has almost 650 CNG stations offering 100 per cent bio-CNG; the European total is around 4,200.
• Bio-LNG: Europe has roughly 800 LNG filling stations, a large proportion of which offer bio-LNG.

Electricity is not automatically carbon-neutral

Electric vehicles produce no tailpipe emissions. However, the electricity they use is only carbon-neutral when it comes from renewable sources. Renewables accounted for around 50 per cent of EU electricity consumption last year and approximately 55 per cent in Germany. On an annual basis, a substantial share of the electricity consumed therefore still comes from non-renewable sources.

At the same time, electricity demand is rising across many sectors, while weather-dependent generation is not always available when it is needed. Liquid fuels offer an energy density of around 10 kWh per litre under normal conditions and are comparatively easy to store and transport. That matters for resilience, particularly when supplying emergency vehicles or the armed forces. In the longer term, this is also bringing electricity-based sustainable fuels, or e-fuels, into focus.