5. Charging Ahead: Overcoming Infrastructure Challenges in Electrifying Road Freight (1/2)

In this episode of Redefining Energy Tech (part 1 of 2), host Michael Barnard interviews David Cebon, director of the Centre for Sustainable Road Freight at the University of Cambridge. They discuss David's expertise in heavy ground transportation and his involvement in the hydrogen science coalition.

Full transcript.

Cebon spent 20 years studying how heavy road vehicles actually impacted roads. That segued a dozen years ago to look into how the segment would decarbonize. Cebon stresses the importance of thinking about the entire day of a truck's journey when considering electrification and the need for a centralized solution to charging infrastructure. It’s not about one segment of the day, but the whole day, end points and availability of charging.

He worked through the implications of batteries, overhead catenary lines and hydrogen, as well as other power options. He’s settled on batteries and overhead lines in suitable high-volume road segments as the right mix for the transition. While battery energy density is clearly going to improve to the point where pure battery solutions for every range and mix of loads will be both viable and dominate, we can’t wait to start decarbonizing the segment.