London, United Kingdom, 19th June 2023
PragmaCharge has developed a modular platform of Battery Electric Truck leasing, maintenance, and charging services to offer Electric Trucking-as-a- Service.
Read our launch press release in full here
● Comprehensive end-to-end electrification solution for fleet owners of all sizes - leasing out Battery Electric Trucks (BET) and installing charging infrastructure at logistics hubs, the PragmaCharge-Hubs, across the UK and Europe.
● No upfront capital investment by fleet owners with a pay-as-you-go model including charging services.
● PragmaCharge-Hubs will be strategically located at high traffic locations with truck dwell time such as ports and railheads to optimise fleet uptime. Starting with 350kW chargers, the Hubs are designed to upgrade to Megawatt Charging System (MCS) to fully charge a BET within 45 minutes.
● The new firm is backed by prominent industry leaders and specialised investors in cleantech, logistics, and digitisation businesses.
● Cleantech Industry Leader, Anil Srivastava, joins the Company as Founder and Chief Executive Officer. He was previously at Leclanché, one of Europe’s leading battery manufacturers.
● Logistics and Digitisation Industry Leader, Nikhil Amin, joins as Founder and Chief Operations Officer. He was previously at Amazon.
The climate impact of UK road haulage:
24% of UK GHG emissions come from transportation, of which 19% comes from Heavy Goods Vehicles. It is estimated that annually, 7.8 million tonnes of CO2 is emitted from road freight operations at UK ports.
At present, there is neither technology infrastructure nor clear pathways to support the transition to electric road freight. PragmaCharge, a leading provider of battery electric trucks and charging services for commercial fleet owners, will be one of the first to offer a logistics hub-focused approach to charging points. As the infrastructure for BETs develops with the support of PragmaCharge-Hubs, hauliers will soon be able to take advantage of the lower running costs of BETs compared to diesel powered trucks.
PragmaCharge aims to address key barriers to entry - perceived costs, range anxiety and uptime efficiency:
Commercial fleet owners are increasingly under pressure from their customers to find a quicker path to net-zero emissions. However, for fleet owners, decarbonising their operations is perceived to be complex and costly, with initial capital outlay for electric trucks and depot charging infrastructure making even the thought of transition too expensive.
Furthermore, range anxiety, given lack of public charging infrastructure suitable for medium and heavy-duty trucks - and the assumed loss of productivity through charging during core driver operating hours, all add to the barriers to electrification.
PragmaCharge will address the cost barrier through its pay-as-you-go leasing model, design optimised for each fleet owner's operations, at Total Cost of Ownership parity to diesel equivalent vehicles.
Through its initial deployment of multiple 350kW chargers at strategic transport and logistics hubs, and thereafter upgraded to MW chargers upon launch of the MCS in 2024, PragmaCharge aims to reduce full battery charging times to approximately 45 minutes - in-line with the mandatory driver rest period.
PragmaCharge’s platform offering:
More widely, PragmaCharge aims to seamlessly manage all services from its cloud-based Fleet Management Software Platform. Wirelessly connected with BETs and PragmaCharge-Hubs, the platform provides a comprehensive range of assistance and services that include:
● Simple mileage-based BET leasing contract with lower Total Cost of Ownership
● Run-time analytics to enable fleet owners to select BETs that are optimised for their fleet use-cases
● Fleet performance and analytics for continuous operations cost optimisation
● OEM predictive and corrective maintenance agreements
● Tiered bookable charging slots at PragmaCharge-Hubs for Electric Trucking-as-a-Service customers, corporate fleet owners on contracted charging-only services, and opportunistic users
The changing road haulage landscape and regulations will help to accelerate the transition to freight electrification:
Electrification of the haulage industry is expected to accelerate in the coming years. Manufacturers have announced 70 new models of electric trucks to be launched in 2024, as the industry seeks to meet tightening regulatory standards. EU rules demand a 30% reduction in medium and heavy-duty vehicle CO2 emissions by 2030. In the UK, the sale of new diesel and petrol medium and heavy-duty vehicles will be banned from 2040.
Michael Liebreich, Director of PragmaCharge, said: “PragmaCharge will benefit from Anil’s rich experience in scaling cleantech businesses as CEO of Areva Renewables, and until recently as CEO of Leclanché where he led transformation of the 100-year-old battery manufacturer into a leading energy storage solutions provider.
I have known Anil for more than a decade. He has an excellent understanding of the complex value chain in the Energy and Transportation industries - from policy issues, technology choices, build-own- operate renewable energy projects through to project finance”.
Anil Srivastava, CEO of PragmaCharge, said: “Our solution is design-optimised to offer lower Total Cost of Ownership for electric trucks and deliver a stress-free experience for fleet owners as they embark on the journey of electrification. I am excited about our mission to help decarbonise the commercial transport sector. I am looking forward to working with the highly accomplished Board and Nikhil Amin, Chief Operations Officer, who brings in vital experience in logistics, operations management, and digital businesses.”
Henry Lawson, Director of PragmaCharge, said: “Our Fleet Management Software Platform and the business model is scalable to address multiple use-cases within the commercial transport sector. PragmaCharge-Hubs will significantly increase fleet uptime. Initially equipped with 350kW chargers, they shall be designed to seamlessly up-power to Megawatt Charging Standard to reduce the full charging time to ca. 45 minutes - the mandatory rest period for truck drivers”.
Pietrojan Gilardini, Director of PragmaCharge, said: “Our business proposition will super-accelerate the offtake of electric trucks leasing and shall lead to ultra-high utilisation of PragmaCharge-Hubs by both SME and Corporate Fleet Owners. This underpins the foundation for a high growth and profitable business. As we expand our business in Europe after the first few projects in the UK, the business will benefit from cost optimisation due to scale.”
Nikhil Amin, COO of PragmaCharge, said: “Together as a founding group we have an exciting opportunity to help decarbonise heavy goods transportation through the services and platform we are building at PragmaCharge. Our solution is designed with our customers and their customers’ needs in mind, helping them to navigate through the steps required for fleet electrification, and ultimately towards net-zero emissions transportation”.
ENDS