At the Brisbane Truck Show, the largest in the southern hemisphere and very large, held only once every two years, the future and beauty of road transport is in the seller’s eye.
And it seems it doesn’t matter whether they’re selling the latest big diesel rig, a hybrid truck, a battery-powered truck or a hydrogen fuel cell — they’ll tell you the future is still theirs.
However, the grim reality is that for most trucking companies, Australia is one of the last frontiers where you can pretty much do whatever you want.
Australia’s passenger car market is known to be one of the last dumping grounds for dirty cars, thanks to a lack of vehicle fuel standards that make these cars hazardous to the climate, dangerous to people’s health, and expensive to run.
This issue is now being addressed, although it remains unclear how quickly and for what purpose. We may find out at the end of the year.
Not so much in the truck industry, where the situation seems to be even worse: the sector has not even evaluated the reference in the new National Strategy for Electric Vehicles, and is one of the last markets in the world where you can be present with diesel platforms such as the Kenworth 220 (which won Truck of the Year) or Iveco S-Way and confidently declare that these machines are truly the future of trucking.
This is perhaps one of the problems with the “net zero by 2050” target. Many people seem to think that this means not having to do much anytime soon – yet we know from the latest climate science that there is a huge amount of work to be done in a very short period of time.
But it doesn’t look like this will happen in Australia. On Thursday we reported on some green shoots on the market, new electric truck releases from Hyundai and Ford, the first heavy-duty electric trucks from Volvo and Mercedes, and new offerings from Fuso, Foton, Isuzu, H-Drive, Hyzon and others.
These are exciting developments. For those who have driven these vehicles here or abroad the benefits are clear – in terms of efficiency, running costs, pollution, driver comfort and safety. But in many ways, the Brisbane Truck Show highlighted just how far behind the rest of the world, and Europe in particular, Australia is.
Heavy road transport accounts for about 7 percent of global emissions. In Australia, the Grattan Institute estimates that 400 people die every year from air pollution, and the worst reason for this is the age of Australian trucks – many of which are on the road for up to 40 years, and they are highly polluting. There are solutions, but they need government support.
At the world’s largest truck show in Hannover last year, it was nearly impossible to find a diesel truck, and every trucking company was touting its zero-emissions offerings, mostly electric and a few hydrogen fuel cells.
In Brisbane, electricity was visible, but barely visible. There have been about 14 different companies offering some form of electric or hydrogen fuel cell trucks, and some bold Australian startups like private conversion company SEA Electric and battery swapping company Janus Electric. But it was mixed messages from the big players.
In Hannover, German company Man Group was one of the big talkers about the switch to electric vehicles, unveiling a heavy-duty electric truck with a range of up to 800 kilometers, which is just the ticket for the Australian market, one might think. But in Brisbane, there was not even a mention of electrification, nothing on its display stand.
So, full credit to Volvo Trucks, the Swedish group that doesn’t just talk the talk, it walks the walk. Yes, Volvo had a diesel truck on its stand in Brisbane, unlike Hanover, but it’s also clearly very serious about going electric.
Volvo has sold more than 5,000 electric trucks worldwide, and more than 50 mid-size electric trucks in the Australian market. It has now brought its first heavy electric trucks to Australia, but cannot make deliveries until the country’s unique and outdated rules governing weight around front axles are amended.
“We as an industry need to transition to fossil-free transportation. We need to do it now and quickly,” Volvo Trucks global CEO Roger Alm told media at a presentation in Brisbane before the conference opened.
He pointed to a slide in his presentation that showed a picture of a young child in a field.
“It doesn’t really care about range, it doesn’t care about charging infrastructure, it doesn’t really care about technology,” Alm said. “It wants to have something different. We need to give the next generations a world they want to live in, and we have to achieve that. They should feel proud of us because we achieved that.”
In Europe, trucking companies are under pressure because local communities and governments are serious about climate change and are fed up with noise and pollution. Diesel trucks will not be welcomed within city limits, or face strict pollution controls that cannot be met.
This means switching to electric vehicles, or hydrogen fuel cells where they fit the industry. According to the International Energy Agency, global emissions from heavy truck exhaust have almost doubled in the past 20 years, and will continue to increase to record levels in the coming years. But they need to fall, and fall fast.
So far, China accounts for 90% of global zero-emission bus sales, and 80% of electric truck sales. About 15 countries have pledged to reach 100% zero-emission truck sales by 2040, and 30% by 2030. This includes New Zealand, but Australia is not one of them.
It was no surprise then to hear Foton Mobility’s head of local sales talking about Chinese brands’ intentions in Australia. It has just launched the T5 electric van in Australia, and is also bringing its hydrogen bus and hydrogen prime mover to Australia.
H-Drive also distributes Chinese-made hydrogen trucks and buses, and has just launched its first hydrogen drive in Australia. It’s not clear how effective this will be in this market, but the intention is there.
Grattan Institute models show that the societal benefits of zero-emission sales targets for heavy trucks could be worth more than $4 billion in monetary terms between 2024 and 2040.
These benefits include not only avoiding carbon emissions, but also achieving a significant reduction in respiratory and other diseases, thanks to the elimination of exhaust pipe pollutants. There will also be a welcome reduction in noise pollution.
But for many trucking companies, Australia looks like one of the last big markets where they can sell their large diesel platforms with impunity, knowing that long-haul and a government that has not even mentioned heavy trucks in its electric vehicle strategy will not survive. to touch the industry anytime soon.
Giles Parkinson is the founder and editor of The Driven, and also editor and founder of the websites Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former businessman and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.
