IN Brief:
- TransiT is building a digital simulation of HGV freight between London and East Midlands Airport.
- DHL fleet data will support modelling of electric HGV deployment and charging requirements.
- The project will assess depot and service-station charging needs along the M1 corridor.
TransiT is building a simulation of a delivery truck journey between London and East Midlands Airport to assess how electric HGVs could operate along the M1 corridor.
The national UK research hub is using digital twins and agent-based modelling to investigate where electric vehicle charging points would be needed to support zero-carbon road freight. The work is led by Heriot-Watt University in collaboration with Cranfield University and DHL, which is providing data from part of its UK fleet of around 6,500 trucks and vans.
The simulation will model how a truck fleet could transition from no electric heavy goods vehicles to 100% electric HGVs by 2050. Researchers are adding electric trucks into the model to understand how vehicle range, charging time, freight frequency, and delivery volume affect the ability to match diesel operating performance.
The project is examining infrastructure at DHL depots and service stations along the M1. It will also account for the possibility that electric HGV operations may require larger fleets in some duty cycles, as battery weight and charging time can affect payload, availability, and route scheduling.
Agent-based modelling allows the research team to simulate how individual vehicles, drivers, depots, chargers, and traffic conditions interact. Charging infrastructure cannot be planned from vehicle range figures alone. Fleet operators need to know whether vehicles can complete specific duty cycles, at specific times, with enough contingency to absorb delays.
The M1 corridor connects major population centres, freight routes, airport-linked logistics, and dense distribution activity. East Midlands Airport is a major UK air cargo gateway, making the London-to-East Midlands route relevant to multimodal flows where road and air freight meet.
Heavy goods vehicle decarbonisation is now moving from vehicle selection into operational design. Depot charging may suit back-to-base fleets, but long-haul and trunking operations require decisions around en-route charging, grid connection, dwell time, scheduling, and driver hours. Poorly located chargers risk creating queues, inefficient routes, and underused vehicles.
Real fleet data gives the project an operational base. Generic modelling can show technical possibility, but operator data reveals actual movement patterns, load frequencies, vehicle utilisation, and the compromises needed to maintain service levels. The test is not whether a single electric HGV can complete an isolated journey, but whether a fleet can support daily volumes without excessive cost or complexity.
The project also demonstrates the role digital twins can play in infrastructure planning. Charging locations, depot investment, and route strategy can be tested before capital is committed. That is particularly important where grid upgrades, motorway service infrastructure, and depot electrical capacity carry long lead times.
The findings could influence vehicle procurement, site selection, customer charging models, and corridor planning. Public infrastructure providers and logistics operators need a clearer view of where charging capacity will be required first, and where investment would produce the greatest operational benefit.
The decarbonisation of freight will depend on more than electric vehicles. Energy infrastructure, route planning, depot operations, customer service requirements, and fleet economics all have to work together. The TransiT project puts those variables into a live modelling environment before operators are forced to solve them at scale under tighter emissions deadlines.
