When morning traffic began to take shape on October 1st across the City Hall Square, people were greeted by a slightly different sight than usual. Earlier, while darkness still reigned, eight electric trucks had quietly rolled into the square. This happened in connection with an event organized by, among others, the Green Transition Denmark and the Ministry of Transport.

Electric trucks already come in many varieties – from concrete mixers, garbage trucks and crane trucks to the very heavy trucks that can carry 40 tons of goods up to 500 km on a single charge. Throughout the day, curious citizens could take a closer look at different electric trucks, the charging equipment used to quickly charge the trucks, and talk to companies and drivers about what it's like to drive an electric truck instead of a fossil-fueled one.

The day began with a reception at Copenhagen City Hall, where Lord Mayor Lars Weiss welcomed and spoke about the City of Copenhagen's green initiatives to convert their vehicle fleets that serve the municipality, including buses and garbage trucks. After that, Head of Department at the Ministry of Transport Jacob Heinesen spoke about how far we have come with the green transition in the transport area. And Jeppe Juul, Head of Transport Policy at the Green Transition Denmark, explained how the transition to electric trucks in Denmark makes sense on several levels.

At the Town Hall Square, truck driver Aron Hansen is standing and talking about his experience with electric trucks at DSV. He has driven from Jutland to Copenhagen to show off the electric truck, which he has been giving an extra polish to for today's occasion since morning.

“Driving an electric truck is an opportunity to try something new in Denmark. And compared to the problems I initially thought we would experience when driving long distances, I have been positively surprised – because that is not the case.” – Aron Hansen

Although Aron Hansen actually likes the engine noise from regular trucks, he can certainly see the positive in the fact that electric trucks make less noise for everyone around the truck. The less noise for the local environment around the trucks is something ARC experiences positive feedback about from citizens. And it also has an impact on the working environment for drivers who, for example, drive garbage trucks. Bo Fredskov Kristiansen says:

“An employee once said to me: I've been driving garbage for 10 years, and now I can actually hear my radio on the road. And when I get home in the evening I no longer have to rest on the sofa because my head is not so heavy anymore. So it's good for the working environment, and it's good for the local environment, where citizens are happy about the less noise the garbage trucks make.”

Several of today's exhibitors have big ambitions for the future. Schulstad has an ambition that their distribution will run only on electricity.

"I think we are so far along that we can retire the last diesel car during 2027. We want to ensure that the daily bread reaches the Danes in the right way, and that is on electricity," says Niels Kristian Holm, logistics manager at Lantmännen Schulstad.

Along the way, curious questions were asked at the Town Hall Square by people who passed by during the day, where driver and mechanic apprentices from TEC also stopped by.

Green Transition Denmark had replaced one side of Schulstad's electric truck with a giant banner to highlight today's message that electrification of heavy transport is good for safety, competitiveness and climate:

Graphics on truck by Sidsel Knutz Lauritsen

Thank you to the following companies for showcasing their electric trucks and charging equipment:

• Crane truck from City & Port
• Garbage truck from ARC – Amager Resource Center
• Concrete mixer from Unicon A/S
• Lantmännen Schulstad bread truck
• Owner Hessel – Trucks truck
• DFDS truck
• DSV – Global Transport and Logistics truck
• REMA 1000 Denmark truck
• GodEnergi A/S and Kempower with i.a. megawatt charger for trucks
• Volvo Trucks
• Scania Denmark