Real-World Energy Efficiency and Emissions of Electric Freight Vehicles: Insights from ALICE & Smart Freight Centre’s Joint Webinar

Monday, May 12th, 2025

On 5 May 2025, ALICE, in partnership with Smart Freight Centre, hosted a pivotal Thematic Group 1 webinar on Real-World Energy Efficiency and Emissions of Electric Freight Vehicles. The session drew over 100 logistics professionals, researchers, OEMs, and policymakers to explore how electric freight vehicles (EFVs) perform in operational conditions and what it really takes to measure their emissions accurately.

The webinar, moderated by Angjelo Andoni (ALICE TG1 Project Manager), opened with a keynote from Fernando Liesa (ALICE Secretary General), who outlined key EU policy files and innovation projects accelerating road freight electrification. Among the initiatives discussed were ZEFES, FLEXMCS, MACBETH, and CLEVER each working to improve vehicle performance, charging infrastructure, and emissions measurement.

Tharsis Teoh Senior Technical Manager at Smart Freight Centre introduced the ISO 14083 methodology, explaining how emission calculations must go beyond tailpipe emissions to include energy production losses, grid emissions, and real-world energy consumption. He emphasised the need for accurate data to support meaningful carbon reporting and outlined current efforts to harmonise electricity emission factor databases under the CLEVER project.

Additional expert presentations from Prof. David Cebon, Director of Centre for Sustainable Road Freight (CSRF) and Giorgos Mellios, Managing Director at EMISIA tackled charging inefficiencies, vehicle range prediction, and simulation models. Both speakers highlighted the operational complexities of EFV- ranging from energy losses at various charging points to payload penalties and grid constraints.

A lively panel discussion followed with Marie Knutsen-Öy (Vice President Energy Solutions at Einride), Andrea Condotta (Director of Public Affairs, Innovation & Sustainability at Gruber Logistics, ALICE Vice-Chair and 2ZERO Partnership Vice-Chairman), and the above-mentioned experts from SFC, CSRF and EMISIA, focused on addressing thought-provoking challenges such as data accessibility, standardisation gaps, and the need for industry alignment on emissions accounting.

Key takeaways included:

Charging inefficiencies of 10–15% must be factored into energy/emissions models.
Payload penalties from battery weight can reduce capacity by up to 24% for long-haul EFVs.
Real-world data is essential to inform Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculations and investment decisions.
Battery swapping, while explored in some regions, is seen as unlikely in Europe due to interoperability and cost barriers.
ISO 14083 and the GLEC Framework provide the most robust methodology for consistent emissions reporting.
The CLEVER project is working to harmonise electricity emission factor databases across countries and platforms.
Predictive simulations using tools like VECTO can assist with planning, but real-world calibration is crucial.
Market pressure from shippers is already driving voluntary emissions reporting, even ahead of regulation.

Upcoming opportunities to stay involved:

30 May 2025 – Megawatt Charging Solutions in Europe webinar (FlexMCS & MACBETH)
2–5 June 2025 – Meet ALICE and partner projects at Transport Logistics Munich (Booth A3-400)
11 June 2025 – Electrified Road Systems webinar with project insights and global pilots

This session forms part of ALICE TG1’s ongoing work to drive efficient and low-emission assets and energy systems, and to promote open, standardised, and collaborative innovation in road freight decarbonisation.

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