eHighways electrify heavy trucks via overhead catenary wires. They have been de-risked by half-a-dozen real-world pilots. High-utilization routes can support 10% IRRs on both road infrastructure and hybrid trucks. This 15-page report finds benefits in logistics networks, especially around ports, and hidden opportunities around integrating renewables?
Heavy trucks comprise 2% of global useful energy, via the c30-40% efficient combustion of 10Mbpd of oil products, emitting 1.4GTpa of CO2, which in turn is 2.5% of total global CO2 emissions. We have struggled in the past to get excited by decarbonized truck technologies while there has been most momentum behind LNG trucks in China (key numbers behind these themes are re-capped on pages 2-4).
eHighways are an alternative, providing electricity to the drive train of hybrid-electric trucks, through overhead catenary lines, via a pantograph. How eHighways work, what they cost, and results from past pilot projects, are described on pages 5-7.
eHighway economics seem favorable for truck operators, based on our capex build-up, and IRR calculations, discussed on pages 8-9.
This should garner attention across companies in ports, logistics, freight, mining and materials. There is also a fascinating read-across for integrating renewables, load-shifting and even providing synthetic inertia to grids, per pages 9-10.
eHighway economics for infrastructure investors, who actually build the eHighways, are more challenging however, and the key variable is utilization of the route. Scaling challenges, and other challenges with eHighways, are on pages 11-13.
Conclusions about eHighways, who benefits, exposed companies, links with rising global electricity demand, and changes to our oil demand forecasts are discussed on pages 14-15.
Finally, if eHighways did gain traction, it would compound the ongoing boom in grids, from transformers, to power generation, to T&D themes, and grid construction.
