Accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles (EV) in trucking and transportation is no easy task, but partnerships may be the key to making it happen over the long haul.
That was the message of an early presentation on Tuesday at CSCMP EDGE 2023, taking place in Orlando through Wednesday. Part of the conference’s Town Hall series, “EV Trucks are Here: Partnerships Can Accelerate Adoption of Green Technology” outlined the challenges and opportunities of EV adoption across the industry, noting that this is just one slice of the broader sustainability movement. Session presenter Chinmay Jaju, senior manager for strategy and business development at Uber Freight, said that transportation accounts for the largest share of carbon emissions, and that trucking represents the fastest-growing portion of that number. The good news, he said, is that the world is rallying around sustainability, with governments, companies, investors, and individuals committed to carbon-reduction strategies and broader sustainability goals. Chinmay said EVs are not the only solution to the transportation industry’s emissions problem, calling them “one piece of a portfolio approach to decarbonization.” He went on to explain that partnerships between shippers, carriers, technology providers, utility companies, and other stakeholders in the supply chain and the larger energy industry are vital to promoting widespread use of electric trucks. Such partnerships may help overcome the many challenges inherent in EV adoption in trucking, including the higher cost of the vehicles, a lack of charging infrastructure, and problems surrounding ethical sourcing of raw materials for EV batteries. “Our industry needs to come together to make this happen,” Chinmay said.
