Print

Nov 05 2024

Advancing zero-emission vehicles: Insights from ZEFES

Partners and stakeholders of ZEFES – an EU-funded project testing electric and hydrogen long-haul trucks, with IRU playing a key role – came together for the second annual symposium to discuss key updates, challenges and future directions.

The ZEFES project aims to catalyse the decarbonisation of long-haul freight by showcasing real-world applications of both battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) across the EU. IRU has a pivotal role in this project, committed to exploring all options that will decarbonise transport.

 

The project’s partners met for the second time with experts at the annual ZEFES Stakeholder Symposium, hosted by Volvo Trucks in Gothenburg, Sweden, to present the progress achieved so far, including demonstration goals scheduled for 2025. Volvo’s BEVs and FCEVs were on display at the event.

 

IRU opened the first session with a presentation on the challenges concerning weights and dimensions, focusing on five aspects: decarbonisation, operational efficiency, road safety, combined and intermodal transport, and infrastructure. The need for additional weights and dimensions allowances for zero-emission vehicles were discussed. The participants also elaborated on ongoing efforts to standardise ZEFES vehicles across participating countries.

 

IRU EU Goods Transport Associate Director Marc Billiet said, “The road transport sector is committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. But achieving decarbonisation targets requires appropriate enablers and incentives. One key issue facing battery-electric vehicles is the added weight of the battery and the additional length of the technology. The revision of the Weights and Dimensions Directive should factor in this key challenge.” Read more

 

Source: IRU