Analysis of Technical and Operational Requirements of Alternative Drive Systems by Transport Companies: The Case of the Overhead Contact Line Truck

A change to zero-emission drive systems in road freight transport is required to achieve climate protection targets. Therefore, alternative drive systems for road freight transport are being tested in field trials in Germany. One such technology is the eHighway system. The eHighway system combines an overhead contact line hybrid truck (OH truck) and an overhead contact line infrastructure. The objective of this study was to evaluate technical and operational success factors and barriers influencing the adoption of the eHighway system by freight transport companies. We evaluated expert interviews, written surveys, and vehicle data. We found that transport companies had no major restrictions concerning the technical equipment of the OH trucks. Furthermore, we found no operational restrictions in the use of OH trucks while the OH trucks can be integrated into different transport operations.