Scania sets a date for the end of diesel engines in its trucks

The road to electric vehicles is increasingly clear, and more and more manufacturers are setting a date for the end of combustion engines. Although Europe has established that in 2035 no new combustion-engine cars will be sold, with some member states resisting this, road transport has no set date for this. The complexity of electric drive systems in this type of vehicle makes that unfeasible, at least for now.

But one truck manufacturer has already set a date for ending production of combustion engines in trucks. The brand belongs to the Volkswagen Group and, like the rest of the group, is working to eliminate combustion engines as soon as possible and shift towards electric propulsion.

The specific date is the year 2040, after which no model of the brand with combustion engines will be sold. However, Christian Levin, the brand’s CEO, has stated that for this to become a reality, several conditions must be met.

One of these conditions is that a network of charging stations capable of serving the electric truck fleet must exist. In addition, that electricity must be generated by sustainable means and at an affordable price per kilowatt-hour.

Overall, Volkswagen wants that by 2030, 50% of commercial vehicle sales be electric models. To achieve this, a charging infrastructure of between 30,000 and 40,000 units, exclusively for trucks, is needed. To that end, Scania, through its parent company Traton, has signed an agreement with Daimler Truck and Volvo to create a network of chargers specifically for trucks: the company Commercial Vehicle Charging Europe.

This company wants to imitate the Ionity network, with the installation of the first 1,700 charging points. Investment will grow gradually to make it easy to find one of these charging stations. Scania has 51,000 people working on electric vehicle research and development worldwide.

Traton is investing more and more money in these developments and reducing its investment in combustion engines. Will they be able to meet their goals within such a tight timeframe?