Swiss road freight company Krummen Kerzers claims to have completed a challenge no company has done before: covering an international, 3,000-kilometre long journey by an electric lorry.
The record journey from Switzerland to Valencia and back was a success. Boris Jost, owner and managing director of Casa del Mas, a chain of Swiss stores selling citrus fruits, and Peter Krummen, co-managing director of road freight company Krummen Kerzers, welcomed proudly the Volvo FH Electric in Zurich after the adventure.
“The journey to Spain sets new standards. We are confident that e-trucks will be part of everyday life on long journeys in a few years”, Peter Krummen says proudly.
The Casa del Mas has been transporting citrus fruits from sustainable cultivation with Krummen Kerzers for years.
“In addition to the organic cultivation of our fruit, sustainable transport to Switzerland is important to us. We are therefore particularly pleased that the test with the e-truck was successful,” adds Boris Jost from Casa del Mas.
While the pilot clearly proved that an electric HGV is just as capable of carrying out long-distance transportation as diesel trucks, the project also showed that even with thorough planning, charging is a challenge under the given infrastructure.
When the company started drafting the route to Spain, it became obvious that while the journey from Kerzers, Switzerland to Barcelona, Spain is basically feasible, the last 450 kilometres to Canals are difficult because there are only a few charging stations on the route, and those are difficult to reach by an HGV.
And driver Balint Schnell, who has been with Krummen Kerzers for five years, did have some hard times when he had to realise the lacking infrastructure himself. Just before he reached the last charging point before his destination, the lorry was so low on energy that nothing worked in the anymore, Krummen’s press release reads.
But this was not the only adventure the driver had during the journey:
“In Spain, drivers blocked a main road because they got out to look at the electric truck,” recalls Schnell.
When summing up the results, Krummen faced some disappointing facts: the trip to Spain took a day longer than with a diesel truck, the fuel costs were higher and scheduling was more intensive.
Nevertheless, the course has been set. With the expansion of e-charging stations on European motorways and advances in battery technology, e-trucks will also play an important role in long-distance transport, the company hopes.
“Record or not: what is decisive for us is the fact that this trip gave us important insights into the use of e-trucks in long-distance traffic and almost 3 tons of CO2 were saved,” says Peter Krummen.