Title: Barriers towards the adoption of battery electric trucks - an exploratory study in Uruguay

Authors: Martín Tanco; María Sol Cavallieri; Martín Levy; Sebastián Rossi; Daniel Jurburg

Addresses: Centro de Innovación en Organización Industrial (CINOI), School of Engineering, Av. Dra. María Luisa Saldún de Rodríguez 2097, 11500 Montevideo, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay ' Centro de Innovación en Organización Industrial (CINOI), School of Engineering, Av. Dra. María Luisa Saldún de Rodríguez 2097, 11500 Montevideo, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay ' Centro de Innovación en Organización Industrial (CINOI), School of Engineering, Av. Dra. María Luisa Saldún de Rodríguez 2097, 11500 Montevideo, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay ' Centro de Innovación en Organización Industrial (CINOI), School of Engineering, Av. Dra. María Luisa Saldún de Rodríguez 2097, 11500 Montevideo, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay ' Centro de Innovación en Organización Industrial (CINOI), School of Engineering, Av. Dra. María Luisa Saldún de Rodríguez 2097, 11500 Montevideo, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay

Abstract: Efforts to decarbonise freight transport are being made by companies and countries, driven by costs and pollution reductions. Battery electric and fuel cell electric technologies are the most promising technologies to achieve this. This study presents a list of barriers to the adoption of battery electric trucks in Uruguay based on a Delphi panel of experts and a stakeholder survey. The main findings of the factorial analysis performed on the survey's results reveal that there are five groups of barriers: operation and technology adaptations, market and infrastructure ecosystem, battery and range limitations, demand, and life cycle costs. The most concerning barriers are the purchasing price, low national incentives, available charging infrastructure, and vehicle driving range. This study seeks to fill the existing knowledge gap in the literature in Latin America and concludes that assessing the barriers identified and aligning interested parties' actions would help to create a more efficient transition.

Keywords: battery electric trucks; heavy-duty trucks; HDTs; barriers; Uruguay; Delphi method; road freight electrification; decarbonisation; freight transport; electric trucks; battery electric vehicle; BEV.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEHV.2023.134375

International Journal of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, 2023 Vol.15 No.3, pp.292 - 317

Received: 29 Apr 2022
Accepted: 15 Jun 2022
Published online: 19 Oct 2023 *

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