With an unprecedented reduction in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for an electric truck fleet, Bert&You, Chargepoly and Dreev are bringing to fruition an innovative project that paves the way for profitable electrification of road freight transport.
Bert&You is leading the way for two of its depots, located in Sorgues and Saint-Rambert-d’Albon. The company has relied on a range of partners to electrify its freight flow: Renault Trucks and Volvo Trucks for the electric trucks, Chargepoly for charging infrastructure and services, and a flexibility platform dedicated to optimising charging on electricity markets.
The two charging stations, manufactured in France, were designed by Chargepoly, an expert in charging solutions for heavy mobility. They are installed on the strategic Lyon – Aix/Marseille axis and have a total power of 400 kW. They power three trucks (1 Renault rigid truck and 2 Volvo Trucks FM tractor units) with rapid scalability.
“Thanks to the collaboration with Chargepoly, we were able to go far beyond simple electrification: we significantly improved the TCO of our electric fleet by generating gains related to energy flexibility, these gains notably helping to finance part of the investment for each charging station,” explains Yann Colin, Green Mobility Director at Bert&You.
An estimated annual saving of 3000 euros per truck thanks to a controlled coupling between operations, infrastructure, and technology
The new generation charging offer proposed by Chargepoly combines intelligent infrastructure designed for electric heavy vehicles and real-time management in relation to electricity markets.
The challenge: to transform each charge into an economic opportunity, without compromising vehicle availability. To achieve this, several technological bricks communicate in real time.
In practice, all electric truck usage data (journey times and distances, vehicle type, battery level on arrival and departure) as well as the charging station’s capacity are collected and processed by Lucie, Chargepoly’s intelligent cloud platform, then transmitted in real time to a flexibility platform.
The flexibility platform continuously determines the best charging strategy to maximise economic gains in relation to spot electricity prices and market mechanisms.
This charging strategy is communicated to Chargepoly and then executed locally, taking into account all real conditions, even in the event of lost connectivity.
Locally, the Chargepoly station has advanced interoperability with electric trucks, allowing it to control operations in real time and dynamically manage the pausing and starting of vehicle charging to charge during the period generating the most economic gain.
Through the Lucie platform, the fleet manager has unified real-time monitoring and the ability to manually take control to launch an emergency charge or change priorities within the fleet.
The results are already visible over the last three months with a 75% reduction in charging cost compared to unmanaged charging and a 60% reduction compared to off-peak hours. Some days, Bert&You was even paid to charge its trucks. Over a year of operation, savings are estimated at 3000 euros per truck.
A scalable model for a transition accessible to all
With this project, Bert&You and Chargepoly demonstrate that it is possible to electrify a fleet while ensuring operational performance and controlling costs.
The entire offer developed by Chargepoly has been designed to be easily replicated by other transport operators:
- The charging station, designed for heavy mobility, guarantees technical performance and scalability and already has advanced interoperability with 6 manufacturers and 17 electric truck models worldwide.
- The Lucie platform was developed by Chargepoly with an open approach to easily integrate with manufacturers’ telematics software and transporters’ routing tools on the one hand, and flexibility valorisation solutions on the other (such as Dreev).
“The potential for electrification of freight transport is very significant, but it is also an extremely demanding sector for which we are continuously developing adapted charging solutions. With this successfully deployed project and thanks to the trust of Bert&You, we confirm our lead in offering the best total cost of ownership to transporters. It is also an important issue for the electricity grid to benefit from the flexibilities related to the electrification of heavy mobility,” concludes Thomas Vanquaethem, Deputy Managing Director of Chargepoly.
A new era begins for electric fleets: more profitable, more manageable, and more sustainable.
About Chargepoly
Over the last few years, Chargepoly has established itself as a trusted partner for the electrification of heavy goods and commercial vehicle fleets. The company designs, develops and operates high-performance recharging infrastructures and services specially tailored to the needs of the logistics and transport industries. Chargepoly currently employs 50 people and operates in Western Europe (head office in Aix-en-Provence, France), the United Kingdom (London) and North America, with offices in the United States (Seattle) and Canada (Quebec). The company works closely with heavy vehicle manufacturers and installs public and private stations for fleet operators, logistics providers and shippers. Thanks to its in-house design and proprietary technology, Chargepoly offers its customers reliable, intelligent and scalable recharging solutions. Its innovative software platform, Lucie, simplifies fleet management, optimises operating costs and facilitates decision-making. Chargepoly stations stand out for their performance and longevity, with high-quality components and a design focused on reparability and interoperability. Chargepoly also offers flexible financing solutions, enabling its customers to optimise their investment and land development. Its ‘fabless’ business model – with no production plant of its own – gives it great agility: the company can adapt its supply chain according to its customers’ needs, while guaranteeing controlled technical support and reduced environmental impact. Chargepoly’s main shareholders are industrialists committed to the energy transition, in particular Fidève Groupe, a historic investor and recognised player in the electrical engineering and mechanical engineering industry for over 50 years.
FRENCH PRESS CONTACT
Célia Lopez – Europe Communications Director
P. +33 6 79 12 06 74 – M. celia.lopez@chargepoly.com
