TRATON’s Race to Electrify Heavy Duty Trucking
We Mean Business Coalition & TRATON GROUP
This video is part of our series, Electric Advantage in Action, which spotlights how businesses are capitalizing on the tangible, wide-ranging benefits that come with electrification.
TRATON GROUP — a leading global manufacturer specializing in light, medium and heavy-duty trucks, buses and vans — has a plan to electrify heavy-duty trucking. For the company, it’s not a question of if but when. TRATON aims to move fast and lead the market by investing in public charging and depot charging and understanding how these new technologies can help customers solve their business challenges.
With battery prices coming down, the question is about scaling up to meet customer needs, which requires support from policymakers on climate, industrial, and economic policy.
“The challenge is no longer technological […] the problem is policy certainty,” said Andreas Foller, Chief Sustainability Officer of TRATON GROUP. “It delays investment and creates uncertainty for customers looking to invest in battery electric vehicles, which slows down the transition.”
Transcript:
Andreas Foller, Chief Sustainability Officer of TRATON GROUP:
“Electrification of heavy-duty transport is not a question of if it’s going to happen; it will happen. The question is: how fast can we get there?”
“We have really started to work on a system level approach.”
“We’re investing in public charging; we’re investing in depot charging and we’re helping our customers to understand how these new technologies can help them solve their business challenges.”
“The challenge is no longer technological. We are there. We have invested heavily in the technology. The battery prices are going to come down.”
“The problem is policy certainty. It delays investments and creates uncertainty with our customers looking to invest in battery electric vehicles, which slows down the transition.”
“My message to policy makers is that they need to keep consistent when it comes to policy.”
“The regions that combine economic policy, climate policy, industrial policy together will be the winners in electrification.”