Friday, February 6th, 2026
On 28th January 2026, ALICE organised the MACBETH Validation Workshop, an online session bringing together project partners and invited stakeholders to validate findings from an extensive interview campaign on the deployment of megawatt charging systems (MCS) for battery-electric trucks. The workshop marked a key milestone at the end of the project’s first year, focusing on requirements, gaps and priorities across the truck charging ecosystem.
The session aimed to move beyond data collection and into validation, inviting participants to reflect on consolidated interview findings covering demand-side users, charging operators, technology providers, logistics site owners and framework-setting actors. Through presentations and interactive polls, the workshop examined where truck electrification is happening today, which use cases are emerging, and what systemic barriers continue to slow down large-scale MCS deployment.
Alice Scotti (ALICE) opened the workshop by outlining the objectives of the session and the broader stakeholder engagement journey underpinning the MACBETH project. She explained how the interviews build on earlier activities conducted throughout 2025, including surveys and workshops linked to the FLEXMCS initiative, and how the scope was progressively expanded to include 21 stakeholder groups. The validation workshop was positioned as a collaborative checkpoint, inviting the 65 participants to confirm whether the identified challenges and priorities resonate with their own operational experience.
Yancho Todorov (VTT), MACBETH project coordinator, then provided an overview of the project and its ambition to support scalable deployment of multipoint megawatt charging hubs along key European logistics corridors. He introduced the two MACBETH pilots: a mixed-use hub in Sweden combining MCS and CCS charging for heavy- and light-duty vehicles, and a truck-focused hub in Belgium along the North Sea-Baltic corridor. These pilots are designed to test different operational conditions, business models and integration strategies, generating evidence to support future rollout.
Building on this context, Khalis Sinaga (ALICE) presented the main findings from the stakeholder interviews, focusing on the current state of electrification and charging practices. He highlighted that battery-electric trucks are still mainly deployed on predictable, regional missions, with depot charging remaining the backbone of operations. While interest and momentum are strong, long-haul electrification remains limited, driven by infrastructure gaps, vehicle constraints and operational uncertainty. Participants validated that mission structure, predictability and coordination complexity often matter more than distance alone when assessing feasibility.
During the interactive discussion, Alice Scotti and Khalis Sinaga guided participants through the key barriers identified across stakeholder groups. Grid capacity and energy availability emerged as the most critical bottleneck, followed by land access, permitting complexity and business case uncertainty. Operational challenges such as charging bay availability, power allocation and the lack of integrated reservation systems were also discussed, alongside concerns around standards interpretation, battery performance and interoperability. Live polls and open interventions allowed participants to prioritise these issues and share practical perspectives.
The discussion also highlighted opportunities and early best practices that could help improve MCS deployment conditions. These included hybrid hub concepts combining CCS and MCS, collaborative grid connection strategies, dynamic reservation and power allocation systems, and the potential to open private charging infrastructure to external users under controlled conditions. Participants agreed that improving predictability and utilisation is essential for both fleet operators and charging point operators if viable business models are to emerge.
The workshop concluded with a forward-looking exchange on the future role of MCS alongside CCS. Interview insights suggest that both standards are likely to coexist for an extended transition period, with hub design and vehicle configuration evolving according to use case and corridor needs. ALICE closed the session by outlining next steps for MACBETH, including further validation, dissemination activities and in-person exchanges linked to upcoming project events and pilot demonstrations.