The Volvo Group, Daimler Truck, and TRATON GROUP have finalized the establishment of their joint venture for charging infrastructure in Europe. It is anticipated that the new joint venture, led by Anja van Niersen as CEO, will play a significant role in supporting the European Union’s Green Deal for carbon-neutral freight transportation by 2050.
As announced last year, the joint venture (JV) intends to install and operate at least 1,700 high-performance green energy charge points on and near European highways and logistics hubs. The parties have agreed to invest a total of 500 million euros- believed to be the single largest investment in charging infrastructure in the history of the European heavy-duty truck industry.
The JV aims to play a catalytic role in the value chain as a charge point operator (CPO) by installing and managing charging stations for heavy-duty trucks and coaches. It will be a separate legal entity with its headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands, operating under its own corporate identity. Anja van Niersen, who will be taking the helm of the new company, will bring a wealth of energy and charging industry expertise with her, having most recently served as CEO and then Chairman of the Board of a major European electric vehicle charging network provider.
The JV will provide dependable and easily accessible high-performance charging stations for all fleet operators of battery-electric heavy-duty vehicles, with a strong customer-centric focus on their specific needs.
This kick-start is a call to action to all other industry players, as well as governments and policymakers, to collaborate on a rapid expansion of the required charging network and investment in renewable energy in order to meet Europe’s climate goals. As a signal to all stakeholders, the charging network initiated by the three parties will be accessible and open to all European heavy commercial vehicles, regardless of brand.
Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO of Volvo Group, stated, “This is a long-awaited and major step towards achieving the required charging infrastructure for the roll-out and success of battery-electric long-haul trucks and coaches. We are making what would be impossible for one actor alone to accomplish – this strong partnership is a significant milestone and accelerator towards carbon neutral transport in Europe by 2050.”
Martin Daum, chief executive officer of Daimler Truck, said, “We are very excited to kick off this new joint venture together with our partners. It is crucial that we are now taking the initiative for building up the much-needed charging network. Still, we call on the entire industry to join in our effort. The number of charge points has to increase significantly as fast as possible to make electric long-haul trucking a viable solution for our customers.”
CEO of TRATON GROUP, Christian Levin, stated, “To find the best solutions for the climate challenge is our most urgent priority as an industry and as the TRATON GROUP. When we talk to customers about electric trucks, they always ask: where can we charge? To support as fast as possible, we are teaming up and from today on kick-starting the European charging network. With Anja van Niersen this JV has a CEO with a great deal of experience in setting up charging networks. Anja and her team will support the important journey to enable further progress of sustainable transport.”
The JV team will expeditiously scale up operations and network deployment to make public charging for heavy-duty vehicles dependable and convenient. As the demand for battery electric trucks and coaches is expected to grow rapidly over the next few years, the team will collaborate across industries to design and develop charging solutions that meet the requirements of transport companies and drivers.
In 2022, additional details, including the unveiling of the brand name, will be available.
Partners in the joint venture, but rivals in all other respects.
The Volvo Group, Daimler Truck, and TRATON GROUP will each own an equal share of the JV, but they will continue to compete in all other areas. The joint venture agreement between the three partners was signed in December 2021. Since then, the required authorizations from the relevant authorities have been obtained.