Shell joins Germany’s electric truck charging project HoLa

The high-profile ‘HoLa’ project for long-distance electric truck transport in Germany is gaining new momentum. Shell has signed on as a new partner, assuming responsibility for three out of five charging locations. Megawatt charging will also be installed sooner than expected.

The HoLa research project is entering a new phase: Shell has joined the consortium as a new partner and will equip and operate three sites with CCS and MCS charging technology. According to project manager Patrick Plötz, the planning for all five project sites has now been finalised “so that construction can begin soon.” Following delays in the project, the participants have now decided to install CCS and MCS chargers in parallel. Initially, a two-stage installation was planned – first CCS and then MCS chargers.

A brief introduction: ‘HoLa’ stands for High Power Charging for Long-Distance Truck Transport (in German: Hochleistungsladen Lkw-Fernverkehr). The federally funded project kicked off in Germany in 2021. To that end, the project will install fast-chargers for trucks at five locations in Germany, all located along the A2 motorway between Berlin and the Ruhr area. The five charging locations are spread across three motorway locations and two depots. Construction of CCS charging points (two at each of the five locations) with up to 350 kW and the first MCS chargers (two at each of the four locations) will now begin. Twelve electric trucks will charge at these five locations, eight using CCS and four using MCS. The vehicles will be used in actual logistics operations to collect data that is as realistic as possible.

Shell becomes active in Hamm, Lehre and Wustermark

With Shell as a new partner, the project is now gaining additional momentum. With its subsidiary SBRS (Shell Business Recharge Solutions), the mineral oil company has an experienced charging infrastructure specialist under its roof. It will be responsible for the HoLa charging infrastructure in Hamm, Lehre and Wustermark. HoLa plans to use motorway service stations and logistics areas to set up electric truck chargers there. The other two locations will be operated by the Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle Centre Dortmund and EnBW (at a motorway service area in Lipperland). The Dortmund depot charging centre is the first of the five locations to be connected to the grid.

Shell already has a strong focus on electric mobility research in Germany. The company operates the ‘Shell Technology Centre Hamburg’ in Hamburg, its leading laboratory for electric mobility worldwide. According to Shell, the centre operates a CCS and MCS test laboratory “to test and further develop the interoperability, driving and charging performance of electric trucks under various climatic conditions.”

Successful SBRS demo of a MW charging process

Among other things, the expertise of Shell subsidiary SBRS will be sought after for megawatt charging. The supplier is one of the manufacturers working on MCS chargers and demonstrated an MCS charging process on the MAN eTruck last year. Up to 750 kW flowed, and the tested truck charged 300 to 400 kilometres in 30 minutes. MCS charging systems are not yet in operation, although the chargers and trucks are ready. The roll-out still depends on several detailed issues and, above all, on final standardisation by the CharIN organisation.

The HoLa consortium wants to get the ball rolling regardless. They are trying to implement the current status of standardisation, according to those responsible. Given the lead times required by the truck manufacturers and hardware manufacturers, the project participants will thus work based on a preliminary status if necessary. That makes sense, as the project timeframe is limited, and the HoLa team cannot afford to wait too long.

Meanwhile, the development and operation of infrastructure and vehicles are accompanied by extensive research activities at HoLa. Here, too, the aim is to “provide the blueprint for nationwide expansion,” as Plötz and his team put it. At the halfway point of the project in 2023, the project manager at Fraunhofer ISI had already presented interim results and derived recommendations for action. The result is a list that shows what the industry, network operators and politicians urgently need to tackle to make the vision of electricity-powered freight transport on the road realistic.

The role of MCS in the future transport system

Logistic companies want to minimise downtime for charging electric trucks. The 45-minute break required by law, which every truck driver must take after four and a half hours of driving, should thus (also) be used for charging. To fully charge batteries with capacities of 400 to 700 kilowatt hours in three-quarters of an hour, a charging capacity of 550tts is required. However, the current plug standard for fast charging – Combined Charging System (CCS) – can only transmit a maximum power of 500 kW. The work on defining a new high-power charging standard, namely MCS, began in 2018.

An EU regulation already sets specific minimum targets for a public truck charging infrastructure for all EU member states. In Germany, for example, a total of 32 truck charging points must be established by 2025, 104 by 2027 and 314 by 2030. The associated charging capacity for trucks will increase from around 66 megawatts in 2025 to 918 megawatts in 2030. The EU regulation also stipulates that fast-charging infrastructure for battery-electric trucks must be available every 60 to 100 kilometres along the main German motorways.

That raises the question of suitable locations, their design, the number of locations, and charging points over and above the specified minimum quantity. Plötz and his team have calculated that a starting network for Germany should comprise around 142 charging locations. The underlying scenario envisages that trucks will be recharged during the aforementioned 45-minute break in 2030 and that around 15 per cent of all heavy goods vehicles will be battery-electric – with a maximum of half of the charging processes taking place at public charging infrastructure.

90 per cent of the fictitious truck fleet can be electrified

The HoLa project also ran simulations of a future battery-powered truck fleet based on existing driving profiles of 2,400 diesel vehicles. It showed that with a maximum battery size of 700 kilowatt-hours in 2030, and 900 kilowatt-hours in 2050, significantly more than 90 per cent of this fictitious truck fleet could be electrified and that ‘slow’ charging infrastructure would be sufficient for the majority of charging processes, usually on private property with a maximum of 44 kilowatts.

Charging with more than 350 kilowatts, i.e. with the new megawatt charging standard MCS, will be reserved for long-distance vehicles for intermediate charging and will mainly take place at public charging stations. In the second half of 2024, a joint study by Fraunhofer ISI and Amazon provided further insights into the required number and suitable locations of public fast-charging stations for long-haul truck traffic in Europe. Based on the calculated traffic volume for 2030 and 1.6 million truck trip combinations, the study uses Amazon’s open-source tool CHALET to analyse 20,000 potential locations for truck charging stations along European motorways. “The results suggest that just 1,000 charging stations equipped with Megawatt Charging System (MCS) outlets could enable about 91% of expected long-haul trucking traffic,” the analysts said.

In addition, HoLa has completed extensive research into the acceptance of HPC charging parks, providing insights into the requirements and expectations of haulage companies and drivers. Simulations of charging locations have also been carried out to show how they can be optimally integrated into existing transport networks. The companies involved are also pushing ahead with separate research and preparatory work, from the implementation of standards and the interoperability of the systems with the vehicles to the certification of the charging infrastructure components.

So much for the current state of research. Soon, trucks will use real chargers, while Hola will continue its research and environmental analysis. The project was scheduled to end in September 2025, but due to the previous delays, it will likely run until 2026.

The large-scale project is coordinated by Fraunhofer ISI. A total of 13 consortium partners and ten associated partners from industry and research are involved in HoLa – including the truck manufacturers Daimler Truck, MAN, Scania, Traton and Volvo, as well as the charging infrastructure OEMs Heliox, ABB and SBRS. A complete list of all partners can be found here. HoLa is being funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport with 12 million euros.

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