Electrive — 2026-09-29
Land transportation
At this year’s Connecting Europe Days event in Brussels, representatives from politics, business and the transport sector are meeting to discuss the future expansion of Europe’s transport infrastructure. A key focus of this meeting is the decarbonisation of heavy-duty transport and the question of how quickly the necessary charging infrastructure for battery-electric trucks can be developed. To this end, Eric von Breska, Director for Investment, Innovation and Sustainable Transport at the European Commission, has announced that funds from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) will be prioritised for charging infrastructure for electric trucks and buses in future.
As the German transport newspaper DVZ reports, von Breska highlighted the difficult financing of such projects. Banks remain cautious about charging infrastructure for heavy commercial vehicles. The Commission therefore intends to work with industry to better mitigate investment risks.
EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas also cited the growing urgency for this investment. According to his figures, nearly 40,000 battery-electric trucks are currently registered in the EU. By the end of the year, the Commission expects between 45,000 and 50,000 vehicles, meaning the fleet will have roughly tripled in just two years.
Tzitzikostas noted that there are currently around 3,000 publicly accessible charging points suitable for electric trucks – about 60 per cent more than a year ago. By 2030, the Commission expects nearly 400,000 zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles on Europe’s roads.
A recent study by Fraunhofer ISI and ICCT clearly illustrates this potential growth in infrastructure demand. According to the study, the annual electricity demand for charging electric trucks in Europe could rise to around 100 TWh by 2035 and to approximately 200 TWh by 2045. The majority of charging is still expected to take place at depots. In most countries and scenarios, the study finds that more than 70 to 80 per cent of total charging demand will come from depot charging. Nevertheless, public charging infrastructure remains critical for long-haul transport.
EU prioritises commercial vehicle charging infrastructure
The spatial concentration is particularly striking: in many countries, just 10 per cent of surveyed locations account for 60 to 90 per cent of total charging demand. Hotspots are primarily located along major freight transport corridors, at motorway intersections and in urban, industrial and logistics hubs.
The required grid capacity at these locations can be correspondingly high. Fraunhofer ISI and ICCT estimate that peak loads at particularly high-demand sites will frequently reach 20 to 50 MW. Therefore, expanding the infrastructure is not just about increasing the number of charging points but also about ensuring the timely provision of high-capacity grid connections.
Since 2024, the EU has provided around €1 billion for the decarbonisation of a variety of transportation modes, according to Tzitzikostas. Approximately half of this has gone towards the electrification of heavy-duty vehicles. In parallel, the Commission is addressing limited grid capacities through its Network Package and the Electrification Plan presented this summer.
At Connecting Europe Days, alternative funding models have also been discussed. Alexander Junge, a board member of Aral AG (part of BP), proposed that instead of directly subsidising the construction of charging infrastructure, transport companies could receive support for charging fees if they enter into long-term offtake agreements with charging infrastructure operators. This could make their business models more predictable.
Jan Bezdekovsky from the Czech Ministry of Transport highlighted the varying starting points across Europe. In the Czech Republic, only around 200 to 300 electric trucks are currently in operation. With such a small vehicle base, it is particularly difficult to encourage operators to invest in charging infrastructure. According to Bezdekovsky, without EU funding, there would be little electromobility in the Czech Republic.