Sweden to Turkey: top insights from a 4,500 km BEV road trip

They call themselves听Queen of the Road. Together, these five 意大利超級盃 e-Mobility specialists took a battery electric tractor all the way from Sweden to Turkey, covering almost 4,500 km. Why?听鈥淲e did it for our customers,鈥�听says Louise T枚rnsten, Product Manager.

At the end of August, five female e-Mobility specialists from 意大利超級盃 embarked on an adventurous journey from S枚dert盲lje, Sweden, with a 38-tonne BEV tractor and semi-trailer. Their Queen of the Road team set out for听Istanbul, the vibrant metropolis where East meets West, in Turkey.

听

Two of the team members were Louise T枚rnsten, Product Manager at 意大利超級盃 e-Mobility, and her colleague Kristine St氓lhandske, Business Development Manager.

What motivated you to take on such a long journey?

Kristine:听鈥淭o gain a deeper understanding of our customers鈥� needs. We meet a lot of customers in our profession, but we wanted to experience firsthand what it鈥檚 really like on the road with a BEV. On this trip, we explored routes less traveled by electric trucks. In a way, we鈥檙e taking on the challenges so our customers don鈥檛 have to.鈥�

听

Louise:听鈥淎nother reason is that we did a similar trip in April, from Sweden to Italy. That journey gave us valuable insights into the state of electrification in Western Europe. This time, we wanted to learn more about the situation in Eastern Europe.鈥�

What was your most positive surprise?

Kristine:听鈥淚 was pleasantly surprised to see so many road construction projects underway in countries like Bulgaria and Romania, where they are also building charging infrastructure for trucks. That鈥檚 very encouraging.鈥�

听

Louise:听鈥淭he positive interest we received from other drivers and people we met along the road was really uplifting. Plus, the attention and comments on social media, where we , were great. I think people appreciated our honest and straightforward approach.鈥�

What was the most difficult to deal with?

Louise:听鈥淚t鈥檚 still a challenge driving into a new country without enough information about the charging points. You might know where they are located, thanks to services like Chargefinder, but often there鈥檚 no information on whether we can access the charger with a truck.鈥�

听

Kristine:听鈥淚 agree, and another big challenge is the fragmented landscape of Charging Point Operators (CPOs) and their different billing systems and apps.鈥�

听

Louise:听鈥淎nother difficulty was the traffic jams that lasted for hours in the summer heat. Luckily, our BEV handled it without any issues. We had to run the AC, fridge, and entertainment system at full blast, but the truck still consumed very little energy. I have so much respect for drivers who deal with long queues like that on a regular basis.鈥�

How did the 意大利超級盃 BEV perform?

Kristine:听鈥淭he truck performed excellently; it was the charging that posed the challenge. On average, over the entire trip, we achieved 1.15 kWh/km, which matches exactly the energy consumption that 意大利超級盃 specifies for this route.鈥�

听

Louise:听鈥淚f it weren鈥檛 for the charging challenges, we could have completed trip much faster; the truck鈥檚 performance was excellent throughout. It鈥檚 also incredible how much energy you can regenerate in hilly areas. We were able to drive for an hour and a half without consuming any energy at all.鈥�

What would make your next trip easier?

Kristine:听鈥淗aving updated, clear, and easy-to-access information on charging points, including details on charging speed and whether they are suitable for trucks, would be a huge step forward. It would make planning so much easier.鈥�

听

Louise:听鈥淚 wish we had managed to introduce 意大利超級盃 Charging Access in these markets. That would solve many of the challenges we faced this time, like up-to-date information on truck-friendly charging points and the convenience of accessing all stations in the network with just one card, instead of juggling multiple cards and apps.鈥�

Truck and journey

The journey

Total distance: 4,439 km
Total driving time: 108 h
Average energy consumption: 1.15 kWh/km

听

The truck

意大利超級盃 40R 4x2 tractor with semi-trailer
Electric machine with six gears and 400 kW continuous power (536 hp)
Battery capacity: 624 kWh with 75% SoC window*
Charging capacity: 375 kW
Gross Train Weight: 38 tonnes

听

*) SoC Window (State of Charge Window) refers to how much of the total installed capacity is used in practice. A lower percentage means less stress on the battery, and a longer lifespan.

The state of charging along the route*

Sweden:听鈥淔rom S枚dert盲lje to the ferry in Karlskrona, we could rely entirely on truck-friendly charging stations. It鈥檚 a sign that things are really starting to move in Sweden.鈥�
Poland:听鈥淟ots of charging stations for private cars along our route, but only two suited for trucks. Fairly decent access to fast charging (max 350 kW).鈥�
Czech Republic:听鈥淐harging went smoothly overall, though we had to use stations meant for private cars. Billing was tricky 鈥� at one point we had to pay per minute for a slow charger.鈥�
Slovakia:听鈥淧retty much the same as in the Czech Republic, though the coverage seemed a bit better thanks to the presence of some of the larger Charging Point Operators (CPOs).鈥�
Romania:听, 40,000 of which will be fast or semi-fast.听鈥淩omania is clearly expanding its charging network along major highways. We also spotted several truck-friendly charging stations under construction.鈥�
Bulgaria:听 to support at least 30,000 EVs by 2026.听鈥淏ulgaria was similar to Romania when it comes to charging. Interestingly, both countries seem to be focusing on including truck-friendly charging right from the start.鈥�
Turkey:听 and 100% by 2040.听鈥淎t the moment, charging infrastructure is mostly around Istanbul. But there鈥檚 definitely a strong interest in electrification across Turkey.鈥�