Monday morning. A new week is starting. Also for Susan. She leaves home early and gets on a bus. Switches to another bus. On her way to work, she calls in at a pharmacy to pick up medication – her son caught a cold. After a short walk, she arrives at work and enters the factory. Susan leads a team of employees working at an assembly line of a global manufacturer. Parts arrive, Susan does her job. Chats with colleagues. More parts come in. After work, she stops off at a supermarket and gets food for the family dinner. Takes the bus home.

Susan is fictional, I just made her up. But for many people across the world days like this are typical for their everyday life. What we tend to oversee: Our daily routines would hardly be possible without commercial vehicles. Without them, major parts of our economy and society would stop functioning. Commercial vehicles take goods to huge shopping malls and small shops, bring supplies to construction sites and hospitals – and they take people to work, on vacation or our kids to school. Trucks and buses keep the world moving. They have a huge impact – unfortunately also when it comes to CO₂ emissions. And we are working hard to preserve the former and change the latter.

Today, all major manufacturers are investing massively into zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) – the transformation in terms of vehicles is in full swing. However, compared to where we need to go, there is only a small number of ZEVs in daily customer operations today, whilst CO₂ reduction targets in Europe are ambitious. The goal is to reduce CO₂ emissions in the new fleet population by 45 percent by 2030, compared to those in 2019. This translates into more than 400,000 ZEVs on the roads of Europe by 2030. That’s bold, but not impossible – so how do we get there? The decarbonization of commercial vehicles will not rely on one, but on two propulsion technologies: Battery-electric and hydrogen-based drives.

But which factors are decisive to make a zero-emission truck a business case for customers?

Today, one kilowatt hour (kWh) in Europe costs about 70 cents at public chargers, one kilogram of hydrogen about 10-15 euros at the pump. Truck customers can make a business case with about 40 cents per kWh and about 4-5 euros per kilogram of hydrogen. This means: Prices for green energy will be absolutely crucial in achieving cost parity between a diesel truck and a battery-electric or hydrogen-powered one.

As energy prices are hard to predict, especially considering today’s geopolitical tensions, we will have to make use of a second steering impulse to speed up the transformation: Making the operation of diesel trucks more expensive. The upcoming CO₂-based toll in Germany is a first step in the right direction. Increasing diesel taxation would be another political option.

In the end, green transport will become more expensive. The sustainable future will come with a price tag – to claim otherwise would be insincere. But even when cost parity between ZEVs and diesel trucks is achieved, customers still need to charge and refill their trucks. And this brings me to the third crucial factor, besides emission-free vehicles and cost parity: Infrastructure.

In order to speed up the decarbonization of road freight transport, it is now key to send out the right political signals that will enable the market uptake of battery-electric and hydrogen-based vehicles. These signals must focus on the two factors besides vehicles that are decisive for decarbonization: Infrastructure build-up and cost-parity.

The CO₂-based toll will only make a real difference if it becomes a solution for the majority of Europe. And it only becomes an effective political steering impulse if a change in customer behavior follows. This will only be possible if a dense infrastructure network is available. Thus, a significant amount – about 20 percent – of the revenue stream coming from the CO₂-based toll must be invested into battery-charging and hydrogen-refilling infrastructure. Besides that, we must speed up approval procedures, passing some kind of “bureaucracy reduction act”. But no matter which one it will be or not be, one thing is for certain: Climate change will not wait for our industry to transform to CO₂-neutrality. We need to act. Now.

And yes, decarbonizing transportation is a massive challenge. But I rather see it as a massive opportunity. The opportunity of our lifetime to make a real difference. This counts for all stakeholders involved. So that trucks and buses can operate emission-free. So that they can keep the world moving. So that people like Susan can keep their weekly routines. So that generations after Susan can still rely on trucks and buses to be the backbone of their everyday lives, of our economy and our society.