Electrifying heavy-duty truck fleets is critical for decarbonization, yet several cutting-edge approaches are based on historical diesel plans which do not account for electric truck characteristics. Such one-to-one replacement of diesel trucks without adapting operational plans may thus underestimate the technical and economic feasibility of battery electric trucks. To better understand the potential for fleet-level optimization, we compare a one-to-one replacement strategy against a holistic re-optimization approach that jointly solves for fleet composition, shipment-to-vehicle allocation, vehicle routing, and charge scheduling. Using real-world data from German grocery logistics (~38,000 shipments), we find that re-optimization unlocks significantly higher electrification potential and economic performance. It increases the electrifiable payload from 48% to 85% and doubles the fleet-level cost reduction (7.0% vs. 3.5%) compared to the optimized diesel baseline. These results demonstrate that maximizing electric fleet viability requires moving beyond simple hardware substitution to fundamentally restructuring operational logistics.

The study »Beyond replacing diesel trucks: how optimized fleet planning increases electrification and lowers transportation costs« investigates strategies for electrifying heavy-duty truck fleets in the logistics sector without increasing the total cost of ownership (TCO). Using real-world data from over 38,000 shipments in German grocery retail, it compares the conventional 1:1 replacement of diesel trucks with battery electric trucks (BETs) to an optimized transport replanning approach that integrates route and charge planning. Results show that replanning more than doubles the share of electrified transport performance and achieves greater cost savings (up to 8% vs. 3%) while requiring smaller battery sizes. Moreover, it reduces reliance on subsidies and improves utilization. The study concludes that advanced planning software is key to cost-efficient fleet electrification and recommends its broader adoption alongside the development of fleet-level operational capabilities.