Fill ‘er up: electric trucks plug into charging network
Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson |
Up to 100 electric trucks will able to ‘fuel up’ at three high-powered charging stations as part of a $61 million project designed to reduce emissions from Australia’s freight network.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on Monday announced it would invest $25.3 million in the development by NewVolt that will put charging hubs in three locations around Melbourne.
The investment, revealed at the Freight Forward Summit, comes as Australian transport companies face skyrocketing diesel prices, and after another firm demonstrated the first end-to-end electric truck delivery between Sydney and Canberra.
The truck-charging network, announced by Transport Minister Catherine King, will deliver 24 fast-charging bays for heavy and medium-sized trucks in Melbourne’s west, north, and southeast.
“Scheduled to open over the course of this year and the next, the hubs will be able to charge between 50 and 100 heavy electric vehicles,” she said.
“I look forward to seeing these as I drive around Victoria.”
Heavy trucks such as a diesel prime movers were among the most challenging vehicles to electrify, ARENA chief executive Darren Miller said, due to their high up-front cost and the scarcity of charging hubs.
Establish charging stations could remove a significant speed bump to their adoption, he said, and build the foundation of a national electric freight network that did not depend on imported fuel.
“Decarbonising our heavy freight is not only good for emissions, but it also means the freight sector will be protected from international oil price volatility,” he said.
“Projects like this can help build a more resilient transport system by powering trucks with Australian electricity instead.”
The company’s first charging hub in Melbourne’s west will open later in 2026, NewVolt chief executive Anthony Headlam said, before the company builds facilities further up the Hume Highway to Sydney.
“Our mission has been to fast-track the Australian freight industry’s transition to electric trucks,” he said.
The announcement at the Freight Forward Summit also came as New Energy Transport and ANC revealed they had completed Australia’s first end-to-end electric truck goods delivery.
The transport firm’s Windrose electric prime mover moved bulk toilet paper from Who Gives A Crap from Sydney to Canberra on a single charge, before transferring it to ANC’s electric delivery trucks.
The electric journey cut energy costs by 84 per cent, New Energy Transport co-chief executive Daniel Bleakley said, and the electric truck maintained high speed across the entire route.
“This delivery shows Australia can and must urgently electrify our road freight sector,” he said.
AAP