Logistics operators unite to give HGV fleet decarbonisation a JOLT

Electric heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are to be trialled across the UK in a new programme to help freight operators decarbonise their fleets.

Called Project JOLT – standing for Joint Operator Logistics Trial – the programme is led by The Centre for Sustainable Road Freight (SRF) and involves partners including John Lewis Partnership, Volvo Trucks UK, and Flexible Power Systems, a software company specialising in fleet management optimisation software for electric vehicles.

The JOLT partners will pool data and learning from their experiences with eHGVs in retail, delivery, and manufacturing operations to help develop transition plans for their own businesses and for the wider logistics industry.

SRF says the electrification of the UK’s commercial fleets needs to happen urgently. HGVs account for 20% of CO2 emissions from domestic transport, but are vital for the country in that, for instance, 98% of food and agricultural products are carried by road, mostly on HGVs.

Electrifying the UK’s HGV fleet would be the same as removing 13 million cars from our roads. A key problem is ensuring a smooth transition to electrification is a multi-faceted and onerous challenge, but maintains SRF, data driven insights are key to ensuring the confidence for companies involved in logistics to begin or continue their journey towards Net Zero.

SRF – a collaboration between Cambridge University, Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, the University of Westminster, together with industry and government partners – was founded to help industry and government minimise carbon emissions from the road freight sector.

Project JOLT has been established by Professor David Cebon, a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Cambridge University and director of The Centre for Sustainable Road Freight. He said, “The urgency of the climate crisis is driving adoption of electric heavy goods vehicles at a rate that few in the industry would have expected five years ago.

“Operators are purchasing and running these vehicles today in fleets of all sizes. But there’s still a long way to go to understand how whole fleets and industries can transition to electric heavy goods vehicles in a technically feasible way.”

Specialists at Cambridge University and Heriot-Watt University will analyse and model data including vehicle and charger performance, operational efficiency, and costs across as many industry uses as possible.

Professor Philip Greening, an expert in sustainable transport and logistics at Heriot-Watt University and codirector of The Centre for Sustainable Road Freight said, “A key feature of this project is understanding how the different range and load capabilities of electric heavy goods vehicles – as well as downtime for charging – will affect the efficiency of operators and supply chains. We’ll do this by analysing logistics data and technical information collected through digital twin computer simulations to help us understand operations at scale.”

As part of its contribution, John Lewis Partnership will use an eHGV from Volvo Trucks UK in their logistics operation. The vehicle, a Volvo FM 4x2 tractor unit, is a heavy-duty truck that can carry up to 42 tonnes and can cover up to 300km on a single charge.

Justin Laney, Partner and General Manager of Central Transport for John Lewis Partnership said, “We are delighted to be kick starting this important initiative, which will inform our journey beyond eliminating fossil fuel from our fleet by 2030 to achieving a zero-carbon fleet by 2035.”

Amy Stokes, Head of Electromobility at Volvo Trucks UK and Ireland, added, “At Volvo Trucks, we are committed to the environment, innovation, and safety in maintaining our position as market leaders in a changing world. We want to ensure our customers can take their next steps to zero-emission vehicles for their fleets with confidence.”

Project JOLT partners will use electric vehicle fleet management software FPS Operate, provided by Flexible Power Systems. Its platform is a remote, cloud-based system that connects to electric vehicle chargers, vehicles, building metering systems, and operational software. The data collected is then used to provide automated reporting and analytics and to help optimise the scheduling of electric vehicle charging.

Flexible Power Systems’ Managing Director Michael Ayres said, “Transitioning to electric freight can bring risks and costs for business. With big data and automated management, we can inform investment decisions and take some of the risk out of the transition of road freight traffic to near zero emissions by 2050.”

Parties interested in joining Project JOLT should email SRF on vl270@cam.ac.uk