The Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, has released a strategic plan to steer the heavy vehicle transition to battery-electric. The recently released report, ‘Electrifying Road Freight,’ is a blueprint to create a low-emission future for road freight.
This report is an advanced guide, providing insights into market preparation, developing technology environments, and practical delivery strategies for facilitating the transition to electric road freight transport. Through intensive analysis of use-case scenarios, energy demands, and infrastructure requirements, ARENA has set the stage for industry players and policymakers.
One of the main suggestions of the ‘Electrifying Road Freight’ report is the construction of 165 heavy vehicle charging hubs across the country. The hubs, powered by electricity, will be incorporated into existing port, intermodal, and road facilities, delivering an efficient freight network. ARENA makes it clear that concentrated, site-specific planning is important to effectively identify the high-impact installation sites.
Furthermore, the report explains that energy generation is not the main challenge towards the goal. Based on its study, there is sufficient capacity that can address freight electrification needs. Rather, electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure will be the challenge, as this will need gigantic overhauls to accommodate long-distance and cross-border transportation corridors.
ARENA also targets urban freight as the most readily accessible segment to electrify. With its smaller vehicles, predictable travel patterns, and depot-based operations, urban logistics is a prime gateway to electrifying road freight at large. Electrification of interstate and intrastate freight will have to be done gradually.
