The European Commission aims to cut road transport emissions by 90 percent by mid-century — key to its effort to become climate neutral by 2050. But getting there means a huge increase in the number of charging points for electric vehicles, as well as developing alternatives like hydrogen.

It’s especially crucial for heavy transport, because the existing infrastructure for electric vehicles is heavily skewed toward cars. Trucks need vastly higher recharge capacities, and fuels like hydrogen are also likelier to play a role in heavy transport compared to cars. The heavy transport industry has already invested in new technologies and electric trucks and buses. It estimates about 200,000 zero-emission trucks will have to be up and running by 2030 to achieve a target to cut emissions by 30 percent. The issue: There are just 2,300 zero-emission trucks on EU roads.

Meanwhile environmentalists have been calling on the upcoming revision of alternative fuels infrastructure rules (AFIR) to set binding targets for charging infrastructure for each country and for whole transport networks.

Questions to be addressed include:

• Hydrogen seems to be the technology of choice for clean heavy transport, is there a role for electricity?
• What changes are necessary in the upcoming AFIR to help heavy vehicles go electric? Should policymakers introduce binding heavy-duty infrastructure targets?
• Who is responsible for setting up the infrastructure and how could we make them work beyond AFIR? Is it the EU or MS or private sector responsibility?
• How many charging parks — so-called “hyper hubs” — should be deployed? How much space and capacity do such centers need?
• What scale of investments is needed to develop charging and hydrogen refueling points that would make heavy transport green? How can the Commission ensure better interoperability between the disparate networks that exist today in Europe?
• What role does ETS and a high carbon price play in incentivizing the green conversion of heavy transport?

Organiser : Politico. Register here