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Tag: electric

Tate & Lyle Sugars goes all-in on electric HGVs

Posted on by David Priestman

Tate & Lyle Sugars continue to push sustainability with the introduction of two brand-new 100% electric Volvo lorries, operating around London from April 2025.

Transport emissions are one of the leading contributors to urban air pollution, and Tate & Lyle Sugars’ investment in fully electric lorries marks a step towards supporting cleaner, healthier cities and reaching its carbon neutrality targets in the UK by 2041.

Unlike traditional diesel lorries, which emit pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide that exacerbate air pollution and climate change, these electric alternatives produce zero tailpipe emissions.

The investment highlights Tate & Lyle Sugars’ ambition and commitment to becoming the most ethical and sustainable cane sugar refiner in the world, and its pledge to reduce emissions, thereby improving urban air quality.

To honour its heritage while working for a cleaner future, Tate & Lyle Sugars unveiled one of its new electric lorries outside the British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Leyland, Lancashire, which charts the UK’s commercial vehicle history since the 1800s and proudly exhibits a number of the company’s retired commercial vehicles. Chorley is also a neighbouring Lancashire town where sugar merchant, philanthropist, and one of the founders of the company Sir Henry Tate, was born in 1819.

To emphasise its evolution, a number of historic vehicles were proudly lined up and displayed outside the museum, including a horse and cart, used by Tate & Lyle Sugars to move sugar within the refinery until 1954, and two vintage vehicles; a 1913 McCurd and a 1932 Latil.

The McCurd is the only surviving vehicle of its type in the world and even appeared in the film ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. It was restored as a box van in the ‘Tate Sugars’ livery after being used by troops during the war.

The French manufacturer, Latil, produced the versatile Latil four-wheel drive road tractor under licence in England by Shelvoke and Drury and it was used by Tate & Lyle Sugars throughout the 1930s.

Two cutting-edge Volvo electric lorries are now in operation at Tate & Lyle Sugars, serving key logistics routes in East London. One vehicle handles palletised product transfers from the Thames Refinery to an external warehouse, while the other manages bulk deliveries to major customers within the M25 and also handles sugar movements between the Thames Refinery and Plaistow factories.

Volvo has provided comprehensive hands-on training to drivers, ensuring optimal performance and battery efficiency. They will also repurpose end-of-life EV batteries for second-life energy storage to minimise waste.

A recent survey by Tate & Lyle Sugars revealed that 67%² of consumers view businesses more positively when they utilise electric vehicles, further reinforcing the necessity of sustainable operations within the supply chain.

Saving 55,000 diesel miles annually, this is roughly the distance of driving from London to Sydney and back twice, 7 round-trip flights from London to New York, 82 return coach trips between London and Edinburgh or traveling the entire length of the UK (Land’s End to John o’ Groats) 63 times.

Andrew Jones, President of Tate and Lyle Sugars, commented:

“The introduction of our 100% electric lorries marks another step forward in our commitment to being one of the world’s most ethical and environmentally responsible cane sugar refiners.

“We continually explore ways to make our logistics more sustainable — from optimising vehicle payloads to choosing greener transport methods — and remain focused on working with our customers and suppliers to build a more sustainable supply chain.

“The commemorative event at the British Commercial Vehicle Museum also celebrated this progress, showcasing our journey from 1878 to today.

“This latest move honours our heritage while accelerating our vision for a cleaner future.”

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Europe’s Largest Truck Deal of 2025

Technology Expertise United to Accelerate Fleet Electrification

Posted on by David Priestman

Hitachi ZeroCarbon and MUFG have joined forces to supercharge the global transition to electric vehicles by removing the technical and capital constraints to decarbonisation. In combining Hitachi’s technology and operational expertise with MUFG’s financial strength, fleets benefit from strategic EV guidance and support, and reliable access to low-cost capital that protects long-term asset value.

This partnership addresses the biggest barriers to electrification faced by fleets all around the world: capital availability and change management. Across the industry, fleet operators have less than a decade to decarbonise, but the cost of replacing diesel vehicles, installing new infrastructure or upskilling workers can delay or prevent businesses from reaping the benefits and revenue opportunities of the EV transition.

MUFG’s global financial strength and presence ensures that fleets can scale their electrification seamlessly across markets, while Hitachi’s platform helps operators to better understand, manage and optimise their assets, for example electric vehicles, batteries or charging infrastructure. Fleets maintain full operational control of their services while benefitting from the financial and technical expertise of both partners. Hitachi’s managed service maximises the residual value of assets, ensuring they can be reused or recycled at the end of the lease period, protecting investment returns for fleet operators.

Commenting on the partnership, Hiroki Miyashita, Managing Director of Business Co-creation Division at MUFG said: “We have a proud history of working closely with Hitachi, and our shared values and business philosophies have driven fundamental transformation across countless industries. We are committed to addressing the barriers in the way of societal progress, and combining our expertise with Hitachi will help the commercial fleet ecosystem decarbonise at speed, and realise the real-time benefits of electrification far more quickly.”

The model has already made its mark with the leading UK bus operator, First Bus. The operator is on a mission to decarbonise its 4500-bus fleet by 2035 and has already purchased more than 1000 EV batteries, and benefitted from managed services for 1500 buses to enable electrified operations.

First Group, the parent company of First Bus, has saved more than £20M in deferred capital, and is anticipating more than £40M in future savings. This NextGen project was recognised for Innovation of the Year at the IJGlobal Awards 2023, showing how technical and financial expertise underpins the successful decarbonisation of commercial fleets.

Ram Ramachander, Chief Executive Officer at Hitachi ZeroCarbon said: “Cost remains the greatest hurdle to fleet electrification. We’re removing that barrier by giving fleet managers the confidence that decarbonisation is not only achievable, but financially viable. With access to financing through partners like MUFG, operators can accelerate progress toward their net zero targets while unlocking new revenue streams. By helping customers optimise their assets, we’re enabling long-term investment returns and creating meaningful commercial value. It’s a win-win, advancing both sustainability and profitability, and making fleet electrification a practical reality.”

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All-in-one electric fleet management platform

Posted on by David Priestman

 Hitachi ZeroCarbon today unveils a holistic suite of EV fleet solutions designed to simplify every step of fleet electrification, from planning and strategy support, facilitating EV financing, through to a technology platform delivering charging management and battery optimisation – driving decarbonisation across the fleet ecosystem.

With various legal directives across Europe mandating that all new vehicles must be zero-emission by 2035, fleet managers have only a decade to decarbonise. Recognising that many fleets are at different stages of their electrification journey, from building the business case, to looking for affordable financing, to trialling EVs, Hitachi now provides a one-stop-shop service that supports all aspects of the EV fleet ecosystem. The comprehensive solution suite empowers fleet operators to accelerate the runway to electrified transport.

New solutions that are now available include:

• ZeroCarbon Fleet: The combination of Hitachi’s charging and battery management capabilities, Fleet ensures vehicles are safely charged to meet daily operations, manages batteries to protect their long-term performance, and enables organisations to unlock new energy revenue streams from EV fleets.

• ZeroCarbon Charge: Charge is a 24/7 managed service and technology platform, providing real-time alerts, live vehicle monitoring, load balancing and advanced tariff optimisation for reliable charging operations and lower electricity costs.

• ZeroCarbon BatteryManager: The battery is the most valuable component of an electric vehicle. BatteryManager provides a managed service and advanced asset analytics technology platform to help protect performance, extend battery life and maximise its residual value.

• ZeroCarbon Strategy: Hitachi’s energy expertise supports fleet managers through every step of the electrification process, through designing bespoke decarbonisation strategies, conducting site assessments, calculating total cost of ownership, facilitating access to financing through its partners and identifying new energy and asset utilisation revenue opportunities.

These solutions were born out of Hitachi ZeroCarbon’s involvement in Optimise Prime, the world’s largest commercial trial of over 8000 EVs. Hitachi worked closely with major UK fleets, leading technology providers and local distribution network operators to develop and test impactful EV fleet solutions.

Alongside its ability to support fleets through a variety of funding solutions, from providing access to low-cost finance, co-invested equity and debt-based finance, Hitachi ZeroCarbon now has a market-leading end-to-end proposition for fleets. Solutions can all be tailored to the specific needs of public transport operators, utilities and facilities fleets, hauliers and last mile delivery businesses.

Commenting on the launch, Mike Nugent, Chief Revenue Officer, Hitachi ZeroCarbon said: “We understand that every business is unique, and has its own set of decarbonisation challenges, so we’re proud to have curated a service that threads the entire process together in one seamless offering. Our customers are telling us they don’t know where to start, and need support through every step of the journey. That’s why we combine bespoke strategies with a people-first approach to transformation, showing how close management of charge infrastructure and battery assets can deliver real business value. We are experts at taking the complexity out of electrification, and removing capital constraints, so operators can enjoy greater benefits, sooner.”

Stig Tvergrov at Posten Bring, one of Hitachi ZeroCarbon’s key customers, added: “We operate in a challenging environment where the conditions can change dramatically based on season. We needed a resilient and proven electrification partner that had the solutions to anticipate challenges and address them before they materialised.

“Hitachi’s ZeroCarbon’s end-to-end service ticked a lot of boxes, and through our deployment of ZeroCarbon Charge, we achieved complete visibility into the health and performance of our key battery assets, so we can optimise our vehicles based on route, journey, or condition. The service plugged seamlessly into our existing site hardware and software too, which meant no disruption during installation. It led to us having complete visibility over both vehicles and chargers, allowing us to rely on new technology and help us towards achieving our climate goals early.”

Hitachi ZeroCarbon already manages over a thousand electric vehicle assets across Europe, North America and Asia, supporting the global shift to electrified transport. Across its portfolio, Hitachi provides an around-the-clock managed service, with swift incident resolution and expert support to prevent operational risk or disruption. Its services are technology agnostic, so can integrate with any existing fleet hardware or software systems, while its expertise in data science provides market-leading charging and battery optimisation to maximise the value from electric vehicle fleets. 

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Cathay Cargo Pioneers Autonomous Electric Tractor

Posted on by David Priestman

Cathay Cargo Terminal has completed the first end-to-end trial of Autonomous Electric Tractor (AET) operations for direct towing from the inside of the terminal to the West Cargo Apron (WCA) at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

The trial involved a fully autonomous electric tow-tractor pulling four cargo dollies into the Cathay Cargo Terminal and driving itself to the correct cargo transfer gate for loading. After loading, the AET drove itself out of the terminal and successfully completed its journey across HKIA to the furthest cargo apron, the WCA, delivering the cargo ready to be loaded directly onto a Cathay Cargo flight.

A unique feature of this initiative is the precise docking solution, enabling the AET’s towing dolly chains to automatically align with the transfer deck for seamless Unit Load Device (ULD) loading. Enhanced security features also allow the AET to be digitally checked into and out of the terminal without compromising security.

The project is a collaborative effort between Cathay Cargo Terminal, the Airport Authority Hong Kong, and UISEE, one of China’s leading autonomous driving companies. This breakthrough not only streamlines cargo movement, but also strengthens operational safety, efficiency, and sustainability.

Cathay Cargo Terminal pioneers Autonomous Electric Tractor

Cathay Cargo Terminal Chief Operating Officer Mark Watts said: “This has been an important proof-of-concept to show that AETs are capable of more advanced workflows than we have seen so far for cargo, reducing manual processes and significantly enhancing operational efficiency. This also improves overall cargo flow at the world’s busiest cargo hub and significantly reduces carbon emissions associated with traditional ground service equipment.”

The project is a collaborative effort between Cathay Cargo Terminal, the Airport Authority Hong Kong, and UISEE. The AET drives itself out of the cargo terminal and makes its way to the apron to deliver cargo ready to be loaded directly onto a Cathay Cargo flight. In addition to ongoing trials with AETs, Cathay Cargo Terminal is also piloting the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) for its non-electric cargo tractors. HVO is a renewable alternative to fossil-based diesel, with the ability to reduce the lifecycle carbon emissions approximately 80-90%, according to industry data.

Cathay’s Mark Watts added: “HVO is a very important step, but continued electrification is the ultimate vision to help us reduce carbon emissions and pursue Cathay’s digital and sustainability leadership.”

Airport Authority Hong Kong Acting Deputy Director, Airport Operations Wing Yeung said: “This new milestone reinforces HKIA’s leadership in smart logistics and sustainable aviation development, paving the way for further advancements in autonomous vehicle solutions in cargo-handling. The successful deployment of AETs in end-to-end cargo operations reflects the HKIA community’s continuous efforts in the adoption of smart airport initiatives and to reinforce the airport’s position as a global aviation hub.”

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[Podcast] Electric Freightway: Decarbonising the UK’s HGVs

Posted on by David Priestman

In this episode of Logistics Business Conversations, host Peter McLeod speaks with Colm Gallagher, Chief Data Scientist at Hitachi ZeroCarbon, about the ambitious Electric Freightway initiative. With heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) responsible for 20% of UK transport emissions, Hitachi ZeroCarbon, in collaboration with Gridserve and other key industry players, is spearheading a data-driven transition towards electric HGVs.

Colm explains how this initiative tackles the “chicken-and-egg” dilemma between charging infrastructure and vehicle adoption, ensuring a synchronized rollout of electric HGVs and public/private charging networks. The discussion explores the role of real-world telemetry data in optimizing fleet operations, reducing costs, and informing industry-wide decarbonization strategies.

Key topics include

The economic viability of electric HGVs, the challenges of scaling up infrastructure, and the behavioural shift required within the logistics sector. Colm also shares insights into Hitachi’s role in analysing fleet performance, supporting operators in making data-driven decisions, and driving policy development for the UK’s 2040 diesel ban.

Tune in to discover how Electric Freightway is shaping the future of sustainable logistics, and what it means for fleet operators, policymakers, and the wider supply chain. Don’t forget to subscribe for more insights from industry leaders tackling today’s most pressing logistics challenges!

Click here to listen to this episode and more…

The Future of Germany’s Power Grid – Intelligent Control Systems

Posted on by David Priestman

E.ON and PSI Software AG have announced a strategic partnership to deploy a standardized, intelligent network control system aimed at enhancing the efficiency, security, and sustainability of Germany’s energy distribution grid. The initiative, set to be completed by 2029, will unify the control systems across E.ON’s grid companies, marking a major step toward modernizing the country’s energy infrastructure.

The project will leverage PSI’s modular “Control System of the Future” (CSF) platform, designed to streamline operations, reduce maintenance costs, and enable advanced automation within the electricity and gas distribution networks. The CSF platform features a secure, open software architecture that allows for seamless integration of emerging technological advancements, ensuring long-term adaptability to evolving energy demands.

The German Power Grid

Germany’s power grid is one of the most advanced and complex in the world, integrating a mix of conventional and renewable energy sources. The country has been a global leader in the transition to clean energy, with ambitious targets for reducing carbon emissions and increasing the share of renewables in electricity production. However, the shift to decentralized energy generation and fluctuating renewable sources, such as wind and solar, has presented new challenges for grid stability and efficiency. To address these issues, Germany has been investing in digitalization and intelligent grid management solutions to ensure a reliable and secure energy supply. In Germany, more than 95 percent of renewable energy such as wind or photovoltaics are connected to the distribution grids. With the heating and mobility transition, millions of electric vehicles and heat pumps will also have to be integrated into the grid in the coming years. To meet these challenges, E.ON is continuously developing its grids and system management.

Integrating Electric Lorries into the Grid

As the transition to electric mobility accelerates, heavy-duty electric lorries will play a crucial role in reducing transport-related emissions. The widespread adoption of electric lorries presents significant challenges for Germany’s power grid, requiring careful management of charging infrastructure and energy distribution. High-powered charging stations for lorries demand substantial electricity capacity, necessitating smart grid solutions to balance supply and demand efficiently. E.ON is actively working on strategies to ensure seamless integration of these vehicles into the grid, enhancing infrastructure resilience and optimizing energy use. Through intelligent load management and grid modernization, the company aims to support the growing fleet of electric lorries while maintaining grid stability.

The Control System Project

“The new, standardized network control system is an essential building block for this and an important step towards standardization. At the same time, a modular system is being created that can be expanded and thus react flexibly to the requirements of the future.” said Harald Heß, Senior Vice President Energy Networks Technology & Innovation, E.ON.

For the successful implementation of the project, PSI and E.ON rely on agile principles and cooperative partnership. PSI will set up its own customer unit, which will work closely with E.ON’s key supplier management. The common goal is to make an important contribution to the reliable, economical and sustainable grid management of the future, with important topics such as sector coupling and holistic optimization of the energy system becoming more important.

“We are very proud that E.ON is relying on its long-standing partner PSI for the implementation of a new and standardized network control system,” says Robert Klaffus, CEO of PSI. “This confirms our strategy of technologically redefining the grid management of the future with the development of our new generation of control systems and at the same time relying on proven modules. In this way, we provide our customers with the best possible support in meeting the requirements of an increasingly dynamic market and energy system.”

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Electric vans “could be worked harder”

Posted on by David Priestman

Petrol and diesel-powered light commercial vehicles (LCVs) are being worked more than twice as hard as electric vans within the same customer fleets, despite the average daily mileage being well within the range of an electric LCV.

Detailed analysis of more than 85,000 vehicle records by Michelin Connected Fleet’s data science team found the average internal combustion-engined (ICE) van travels 63 miles per day, compared with just 28 miles for an electric LCV.

Michelin Connected Fleet also found that 59% of electric vehicles (EVs) are being plugged in when the state of charge is greater than 50% – which negatively impacts driver productivity, particularly given half of charging events occur during the daytime. This overcharging is also putting lithium-ion batteries through unnecessary charging cycles which could cause them to deteriorate faster, negatively impacting range and residuals.

Alberto De Monte, Business Segment Director for EV and OEM at Michelin Connected Fleet, says: “Range anxiety is clearly impacting the fleet market’s confidence in electric vans, resulting in EVs being overcharged, and under-worked.

“In most applications the EVs you buy today have the range to do the job of a petrol or diesel-powered van in and around cities, but they’re being deployed on the lightest duty work – whilst ICE assets are being worked harder, which is less efficient and increases emissions.”

Electric vans overcharged

Michelin Connected Fleet’s analysis has also revealed that van drivers charged batteries to 90% or more in 76% of the charging events it studied – in comparison with car drivers who hit 90% or more in only 58% of instances.

De Monte adds: “We know lithium-ion batteries perform best when the state of charge is maintained between 20 to 80%, and the general advice is to only charge the battery fully if you need that additional range for a particularly long journey.

“What we’re seeing points to more guidance being needed for fleets to ensure they are maximising the benefits which transitioning to EVs offer; and not storing up issues which could impact performance and residuals down the line.”

Michelin Connected Fleet offers a dedicated electric vehicle fleet management service called MoveElectric, designed to help businesses of all sizes to lower fleet CO2 emissions, reduce operating costs, and to integrate EVs for the most efficient last mile delivery strategy.

MoveElectric brings easy-to-use tools to help fleets plan, grow and master all aspects of EV fleet management, from identifying routes to achieving EV roll-out. It forms part of a comprehensive fleet management solution to help connect vehicles, optimise performance, and gain greater visibility across an entire fleet based upon informed data-driven choices.

Michelin Connected Fleet will be using its attendance at the London EV Show 2022 (29th November – 1st December 2022, ExCel London) to talk to fleets about the importance of switching to EVs, and showcasing how MoveElectric can support the transition.

 

STILL installs e-chargers at HQ

Posted on by David Priestman

The Hamburg-based intralogistics provider STILL is currently building 20 charging stations for electric vehicles at its headquarters on Berzeliusstraße in Hamburg. The highlight: not only will the company fleet’s electric vehicles be charged there in future, but employees and visitors will also be able to use this charging facility for their private vehicles.

“Electrifying!” – the slogan of the Hamburg-based intralogistics provider STILL will take on a whole new meaning in the future. That is, when the 20 charging stations for e-cars that are currently under construction go into operation in August.

“In fact, we will not only use the new charging stations for our increasingly electrically driven company vehicle fleet but will also offer our employees and our visitors a charging option as a very special service. We are particularly thinking of employees who do not have charging facilities at home. We want to make it possible for them to switch to an emission-free vehicle,” says Stefan Sanny, who is responsible for facility management at STILL.

However, building the first charging points was only the first step for STILL. “This is just the first part of an overall project by STILL, with which we have now created the infrastructural and procedural possibilities for gradually equipping other sites with electric charging points. In this way, we not only want to enable the conversion of our own vehicle fleet, but also motivate our employees to switch to electric vehicles.”

In the medium term, it will also be possible to include suitable wallbox chargers at home for the service van fleet and company cars for employees in the STILL charging infrastructure.

STILL uses “green” electricity

STILL obtains the electricity required for the charging stations – like the rest of its electricity – from “green” sources. “This means that we are making a real contribution to reducing CO2 emissions with our new charging stations,” says Stefan Sanny. The charging points can be used with the usual charging cards – and STILL employees can even benefit from special rates. Charging is carried out according to the ‘fair-use principle’. This means that charging is only carried out when and for as long as necessary so that charging points are always available.

“We will closely observe how our new offer is made use of. If it proves successful, we have the option of building another 24 charging stations at the same location,” concludes Stefan Sanny.

Miralis and partners win smart-charging bid

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Miralis Data, a transport-focused software and data science company, has secured funding to extend its electric vehicle fleet smart charging research.

This Innovate UK-funded grant will enable Miralis, and project partners Envisij and Mina, to move their smart EV charging from feasibility to testing on real fleets with and tackle emerging challenges.

The government through its Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) is leading the drive to address challenges associated with the transition to zero emission vehicles including the adoption by company fleets. This project, named FCSC or Fleet Connected Smart Charging, will produce a solution that enables fleets and their host sites to transition to electric vehicles quicker and more efficiently.

Will Maden, Research Director at Miralis, explains more about the need for the project: “One of the biggest crunch points for larger fleets transitioning to electric vehicles will be managing the supply of electricity. Most fleet managers will face challenges including how much charge different vehicles require, whilst trying to balance the most cost effective way to charge, and ensuring that site capacity is not compromised.”

The project will balance the expected charge needed for a varied fleet with the site’s electricity capacity. Energy management company Envisij will be partnering with Miralis to report real-time and projected site power capacity and site demand to Fuuse/Miralis. Miralis will devise a smart charging solution to optimise the remaining capacity, charging vehicles within cost and capacity parameters.

Committed to making paying for EV charging simple, EV payments startup Mina, will be focusing on home charging for fleets within the project, allowing the smart charging solution to be applied where fleets charge vehicles at employees’ homes.  Mina’s Fleet Charging solution already allows employees to charge at home, fleet managers receive one single invoice each month that captures both home and public charging together for their entire fleet. Within the FCSC project, they will begin testing the benefits of smart charging fleet vehicles at employees homes for the first time.

“The results of our partnership with Envisij and Mina on this project could be a real accelerator for the electrification of fleets,” added Maden. “We’re excited to break down the barriers to transition and make EV charging more accessible, cost-effective and easier to deliver.”

The project is set to kick off in August 2021 with a solution expected in spring 2022.

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