A new Ricardo study — commissioned by the Committee on Climate Change as part of research for its ‘Net Zero’ report — outlines the costs and requirements of infrastructure to support a zero-emission heavy goods vehicle fleet in the UK by 2050.

To meet the UK Government’s proposed decarbonisation targets, heavy goods vehicles need to become net zero-emission by 2050.

With electric and hydrogen vehicles emerging as viable alternatives to diesel in the passenger car fleet, the most cost-effective route to decarbonising the heavy-duty vehicle sector is not straightforward.

Policy makers need a full understanding of the entire eco-system that will enable net zero-emission heavy goods vehicle transport to become a reality.

A number of infrastructure types were considered in the study, including: refuelling stations for electric vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells; depot-based chargers and ultra-rapid charge points at strategic locations for battery electric vehicles; electric road system infrastructure (specifically overhead catenaries for battery-electric or battery-hybrid vehicles); and hybrid solutions combining elements of the above.

The Committee on Climate Change has called for the Government to make decisions on how heavy goods vehicles will be decarbonised by the second half of the 2020s, due to lead times on infrastructure and the turnover of vehicle stocks.

It also says that following the results of this infrastructure study, further work is required to investigate vehicle costs and electricity network upgrade costs to formulate a full understanding of the most cost-effective route for the shift to zero-emission heavy goods vehicles.

The study said that implementing infrastructure that would support zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles is achievable, but there will be a number of challenges, including: planning, co-ordination, supply chains, resource and materials, a skilled workforce and the need for a strong Government policy to enable the market to deliver.

The full Ricardo report — Zero Emission HGV Infrastructure Requirements — is available on the Committee on Climate Change’s Web site (www.theccc.org.uk/publication/net-zero-technical-report).