‘Decouple from diesel’: Australian-first fully electric freight delivery
As the fuel crisis strains trucking companies across the country, a major milestone in EV freight delivery has been reached, with its efforts claiming it could help Australia become “independent” of its reliance on diesel.
Last week, the first fully electric “end-to-end” transport of goods took place during a 460km journey between a warehouse in Sydney and multiple delivery points in Canberra.
The bulk of the walk took place inside an all-electric backhaul that recently made a single-charge journey from Sydney’s outer southwest to the Hunter Valley and back.
On Wednesday, the backhaul picked up a large batch of product from the warehouse of Who Gives a Crap, a sustainable toilet paper company, and arrived in Canberra on a single charge.
The supplies were then distributed to a fleet of all-electric ANC delivery vans, which made final-stage deliveries throughout the capital.
NET co-CEO Daniel Bleakley says this backhaul, owned and operated by New Energy Transport (NET), “will usher in a new era of Australian road transport”.
“Electric heavy trucks are not only cheaper and faster, they also save Australia from volatile global oil markets and significantly strengthen our supply chain resilience,” Mr Bleakley said.
“Australia must act now and seize this moment to diversify away from diesel. Australia’s major transport buyers, including our supermarket chains that depend on diesel-based trucking to deliver food to millions, have a responsibility to accelerate the transition to flexible road transport.
“Governments at all levels also have an important role to play. By co-investing in charging infrastructure and making electric backhauls more affordable through targeted subsidies and incentives, they can accelerate industry adoption and unlock long-term economic, productivity and energy security benefits for Australia.”
ANC CEO Joe Sofra said the company was “proud” to partner with NET.
“Driven by a shared vision to accelerate zero-emission transportation, this initiative also demonstrates what is possible to deliver improved energy resilience amid ongoing fuel volatility and supply uncertainty,” he said.
Smart Energy Council CEO Josh Grimes said diversifying Australia’s transport supply was key to keeping up with the “pace of change”.
“Australia runs on road transport, so if diesel stops, we stop and starve. Electric trucking strengthens our energy security and we’re ready. We’re already building electric trucks and charging infrastructure, and we can power them all with solar and wind,” he said.
“Every liter of diesel we save on highways by electrifying trucks is the fuel we allocate to farmers.”
NET is currently working to establish a trucking depot near Wilton in Sydney’s south-west, where a fleet of up to 50 electric prime movers will be deployed to serve freight corridors between Sydney, Wollongong and Canberra.
