Dossier: Expanding Charging Infrastructure for Electric Trucks, Challenges and Solutions (dena)

Summary

• Of more than 6 million trucks in Germany, only about 99,000 are electric, about 1.58% of the fleet, and only 1,700 heavy vehicles over 12 t (0.36%).p.4
• 871 heavy e-trucks were newly registered in 2024 and 213 in the first quarter of 2025.p.4
• Under the AFIR regulation, public charging stations must be available at least every 60 kilometres along the TEN-T core network, each with at least 3,600 kW.p.5
• Around 350 fast-charging sites are planned along federal motorways, with about 1,800 MCS and about 2,400 CCS charge points, to be completed by 2030.p.6
• According to a study, up to 207,000 charging points for battery-electric trucks will be needed by 2035.p.8
• Electricity demand of road freight is projected to rise to 76 TWh in 2035 and up to 110 TWh in 2045.p.9
• Logistics companies report that grid connections can take 2.5 years and the path to commissioning two to three years, in single cases up to 10 years.p.11

Key insights

1. Trucks over 3.5 t emit about 40 million tonnes of CO2 annually, about 5% of German CO2 emissions.p.4
2. The share of battery-electric heavy vehicles rose from 0.05% in 2023 to 0.32% in 2025.p.4
3. Depot charging of up to 400 kW needs 90,000 to 150,000 charge points by 2035.p.8
4. Buhck operates 14 heavy e-trucks with 16 DC charge points and plans to expand to 53 vehicles.p.7
5. Vehicle holding periods of 5 to 7 years contrast with infrastructure lifetimes of 15 years or more.p.16
6. The proposal for a standardised digital application system includes a first response from the grid operator within a maximum of 4 weeks.p.12
7. Banks are hesitant to lend because of the low number of e-trucks and uncertain market development.p.15