It’s not clear year what the support will be, though at the launch of the first large scale electric truck depot in Western Sydney, Fleet HV News asked Chris Bowen, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, about how the government is planning to support smaller transport operators to transition their fleets to zero emission electric trucks.
“We work with them to,” said Minister Bowen when asked about small transport operators. “Not every company we’re partnering with, or working on plans with, that will be announced soon, is large. There are plenty of smaller trucking companies, and indeed, they need support as much as the large trucking companies, if not more, and we’re working with them and we’ll have further announcements.”
There was no detail from the Minister though ARENA has been working on funding eight fleet and transport project to gain knowledge and understanding of the challenges to get more electric trucks on the road.
Darren Clark, CEO at ARENA, acknowledge the mammoth task ahead of funding and building the infrastructure to support the transport industry.
“We’ve got a program here of 60 trucks in amongst 1000s of the fleet, in amongst 10s of 1000s in the Australian fleet,” said Clark. “We’ve heard from the Prime Minister and others, what a significant part of the emissions challenge transport represents. And we know we’re making great progress in the likes of electricity, renewable energy, electrification; and transport is one of the highlights of those sectors, especially when you get into these heavier vehicles.”
“What we’ve learned through the work that we’ve done at ARENA is that the vehicles are more expensive, the infrastructure needs to be built. We don’t have network petrol and diesel stations ready to go like you’ve got for the incumbent vehicles. So you’ve got to invest the capital. And it is much more expensive.”
“We’re hopeful that momentum we can gain in projects like this, that will build scale in the industry, and companies like Volvo, and they’re doing such great work that will convert their entire operations to the electric. And ultimately, these electric vehicles will be cheaper, better, more efficient cleaner, and that is clearly where we’re headed. But there’s much more to do.”
