1700 green energy charge points for Europe

The Volvo Group, Daimler Truck and the TRATON GROUP have completed the final step in forming a joint venture (JV) for charging infrastructure in Europe. The new joint venture, with Anja van Niersen as appointed CEO, is expected to have a significant role in supporting the European Union’s Green Deal for carbon-neutral freight transportation by 2050.

The joint venture plans to install and operate at least 1700 high-performance green energy charge points on, and close to, highways as well as at logistics hubs across Europe. The parties have committed to investing EUR500 million in total, which is assumed to be by far the largest charging infrastructure investment in the European heavy-duty truck industry to date.

The JV intends to take a catalysing role as a charge point operator (CPO) in the value chain by installing and managing charging stations for heavy-duty trucks and coaches. It will be a legal entity, operating under its own corporate identity and based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Anja van Niersen will bring a breadth of experience from the energy and charging industry sector, most recently serving as CEO and later as Chairman of the Board of a major European electric vehicle charging network provider.

With a strong customer-driven approach focusing on transport operators’ specific needs, the JV will provide reliable and accessible high-performance charging stations for all battery electric heavy-duty vehicle fleet operators.

The companies intend the joint venture to be a call to action to all other industry players, as well as governments and policymakers, to work together for a rapid expansion of the necessary charging network, and to invest in renewable energy in order to reach Europe’s climate targets. The charging network initiated by the three parties will be open and accessible to all heavy commercial vehicles in Europe, regardless of brand.

Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO Volvo Group, said, “This is a long-awaited and major step towards achieving the required charging infrastructure for the rollout and success of battery-electric long-haul trucks and coaches. We are making what would be impossible for one actor alone to accomplish — this strong partnership is a significant milestone and accelerator towards carbon-neutral transport in Europe by 2050.”

Martin Daum, CEO Daimler Truck, added, “We are very excited to kick off this new joint venture together with our partners. It is crucial that we are now taking the initiative for building up the much-needed charging network. Still, we call on the entire industry to join in our effort. The number of charge points has to increase significantly as fast as possible to make electric long-haul trucking a viable solution for our customers.”

Christian Levin, CEO TRATON GROUP, said that finding the best solutions for the climate challenge was the most urgent priority for the TRATON GROUP and the industry more broadly. “When we talk to customers about electric trucks, they always ask: ‘where can we charge?’

“With Anja van Niersen this JV has a CEO with a great deal of experience in setting up charging networks. Anja and her team will support the important journey to enable further progress of sustainable transport.”

The JV team will work quickly to scale up operations and network deployment to provide reliable and convenient public charging for heavy-duty vehicles. As the demand for battery electric trucks and coaches is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, the team will work collaboratively across industries to design and build charging solutions that match the needs of transport companies and drivers.

More information including the reveal of the brand name will be available during 2022.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Biletskiy Evgeniy