The financial entry threshold for zero-emissions trucks remains a stumbling block for the greening of road transport. Multiple ideas have been suggested to lower the risk level at the carriers, but they are not easy to implement. Maybe the key lies with Ikea.
We do not elaborate on the leasing or rental formulas of the constructors here, but we focus on the more ‘creative’ models that have seen the light in recent years.
‘as a service’ … a failure
It was the term that suddenly appeared everywhere: ‘Truck as a service’. You do not pay for property but for the use of the vehicle via a flexible contract, sometimes based on the number of kilometers driven. This goes beyond a traditional operational leasing, because a TAAS contract also includes fleet management solutions and even energy supply, as was tried in the US. The term was mainly used by new players in the electric truck market, as a way to distinguish itself from the ‘old world’.
Each of them quickly burned themselves: the model slores a huge amount of capital. Tevva, Volta Trucks, Quantron and Nikola went bankrupt or came under judicial management. The lucky ones among them, such as Volta, made a restart without the ‘bait’ model, or announced-such as Quantron-a complete revision of their strategy. Hyundai is currently the only one trying to sell his Xcient Fuel Cell through this model.
Einride on dead track
Another original project is that of the Swedish company Einride. That became familiar with the development of an autonomous truck without a cabin, but has meanwhile diversified with traditional electric trucks that it purchases in large numbers. It concludes transport contracts with large shippers and has the transport carried out by local transport companies.
In December 2022, Einride signed such a contract with AB InBev to offer the world’s largest brewery group transport services with six electric trucks in Belgium. The contract also includes the charging infrastructure and the use of a transport management platform (SAGA) developed by Einride itself. In this model, Einride acts as a carrier or as an forwarder. Einride Belgium was founded on April 28, 2023, but currently has no transport permit. To meet its obligations, Einride works with transporters who only make drivers available.
The Belgian carriers who were approached responded lukewarm. The model encounters a legal obstacle: an intermediary may not make a vehicle available to a subcontractor. Contacted by our editors, Einride reacts evasively: “We currently have no news about our collaboration with AB InBev. We remain in consultation about various aspects of the rollout.”
However, the concept is not dead. For example, Scania founded a joint venture with the digital expediteur Sennder. This company, called Juna, is already active in Germany and wants to expand to three other countries in 2025 – including Belgium. Be continued.
And if the shippers …?
However, there is nothing that prevents shippers from investing in electric trucks themselves. IKEA Belgium, for example, financed seven trucks that-in IKEA colors-are used by logistics partner VPD. “It is an investment of approximately two million euros. We have purchased the vehicles and concluded a maintenance contract, but everything else is at VPD,” says John Neven, project manager at IKEA Belgium.
In this case, the carrier still plays his full role: he plans the journeys, employs his own drivers and is responsible for loading the batteries. VPD also has its own loading installation in Zellik. And even – at least in the beginning – it would not have to use the charging points that IKEA wants to install in all its stores.
This approach enables a carrier such as VPD to switch faster to an electric fleet and from this year not to purchase new diesel trucks.
What we hardly see is that shippers re -internalize their transport activities. In addition to Coca-Cola, there are few who purchase electric trucks on a large scale.
