Charging corridor for electric trucks opened on European freight route

Announced by bp pulse, the six public charging locations with 300kw charge points have been launched along a 600km stretch of the Rhine-Alpine corridor across Germany.

The new chargers have been installed on Aral sites - bp’s German retail brand - between the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan area and the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region. In the next six months, two additional locations are scheduled to open on Aral sites to complete the new charging corridor.

According to bp pulse, bp’s EV charging business, the 300kw charging stations are each capable of charging over 20 E-Trucks, per charger per day. An E-Truck’s range can reach up to 200km in around 45-minutes using the ultra-fast charge points.

In a statement, Nigel Head, EV Truck director, Europe, bp pulse, said: “This is a significant moment for E-Trucks in Europe and an important step in our journey towards helping to decarbonise truck transportation. By electrifying this stretch of the Rhine-Alpine corridor with ultra-fast charging, bp is enabling EV Truck charging beyond ‘back to base’ whilst rapidly learning customer insights which will directly inform our longer-term European network and proposition.

“By beginning the roll-out of a dedicated charging network for freight operators and fleets, with a focus on major logistics corridors, bp is supporting the electrification of medium and heavy-duty vehicles, decarbonising the movement of goods, as well as people.” 

Head continued: “Ultra-fast charging in the right locations, combined with depot and destination charging, is critical infrastructure to accelerate the electrification transition, unlocking the economic and environmental benefits of low-carbon commercial road freight and transport.” 

By 2030, it has been estimated that approximately 270,000 battery electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles will be in operation in Europe that will require up to 140,000 public and destination electric charging points.

Bp said it aims to have over 100,000 ultra-fast chargers installed worldwide by 2030.