Powering the Megawatt Corridor
With a new charging standard, expanding infrastructure, and longer-range trucks, the future of electric freight transportation is taking shape.
One of the more interesting presentations at this year’s EV & Charging Expo, which took place in Toronto in April, looked at the challenge of building charging stations for electric long-haul trucks that travel between Québec City and Toronto.
Romain Gayet, Director, Zero Emission Vehicle Sector for Propulsion Québec explained that for more than a year now, electrified Class 8 trucks have already been taking advantage of an electrified corridor between Québec City and Montreal. The next step, he added, is to extend that corridor all the way to Toronto.
Gayet spoke about a recent study that looked at whether it’s realistic for an electric Class 8 truck to travel between Québec City and Toronto. “The answer is yes, it is realistic, even during the winter,” he added. “Our goal is to have a total of seven charging sites in that corridor, and two are already being built by Hydro-Québec.”
Panel insights
Gayet invited a panel of industry experts to the stage, including Martin Archambault, Business Development - Fleet Electrification, Hydro-Québec; Erika Myers, Executive Director, North America, CharIN; and James Carter, Principal Consultant, Vision Mobility. Will Marshall, Freight Program Manager with Electrification Coalition served as the moderator.
Erika Myers explained that there’s a big push globally to decarbonize transportation, and acknowledged that Class 7 and 8 trucks are the hardest to decarbonize. One of the challenges to moving ahead with a charging network for these trucks is the need for a charging standard, she added.
“We brought together the most diverse community of stakeholders over the course of five years to define what this charging standard would look like, and there were lots of opinions,” she said.
All that hard work has paid off, she added. “I’m thrilled that IEC TS 63379 got published in February. It’s a charging connector and inlet standard and it’s available to everyone today.” This standard can now be adopted by all stakeholders, making it possible to roll out more charging stations.
“Our goal is to have a total of seven charging sites in that corridor, and two are already being built by Hydro-Québec.”
- Romain Gayet, Director, Zero Emission Vehicle Sector, Propulsion Québec
Big power for big trucks
A standard is only one piece of a bigger puzzle. Hydro-Québec’s Archambault explained that providing enough power to a single charging station where several Class 8 trucks are plugged in at the same time is also a big challenge.
Another piece of the puzzle is the availability of electric trucks. James Carter from Vision Mobility explained that we already have long-haul trucks on the market that offer an 800-km range and that can charge from 5-70% in 30 minutes. “If we can get the infrastructure into place, these trucks will be able to replace diesel trucks for long-haul applications,” he added.
Myers acknowledged that electric trucks are more expensive than their diesel counterparts, and that some fleet managers may be afraid of the unknown. “They don’t necessarily want to be the first movers,” she explained, “and I’ve seen a lot of people kind of dipping their toe into the technology to see how it works, how it impacts their fleet, and how it impacts payloads.”
Just as the acceptance and adoption of electric cars took time, she added, getting Class 7 and Class 8 electric trucks on the road will take time as well.
While challenges remain, the panel made it clear that the technology, charging standards, and vehicle capabilities are advancing quickly. As infrastructure continues to expand between Québec City and Toronto, the path toward practical long-haul electric trucking in Canada is beginning to look far more achievable than many in the industry once believed.
