Electric trucks demonstrate reliable operation and grid energy storage integration
The SPIRIT-E research project, led by TUM and concluding in October 2026, demonstrated how electric truck batteries can be integrated into energy systems as flexible storage. Testing at a Regensburg freight company showed a truck with 480 kilowatt-hours battery capacity could supply electricity to other vehicles, building sites, and the public grid via bidirectional charging at up to 350 kilowatts. Accompanying research using 2.15 million kilometers of real-world driving data from six German heavy-duty fleets found that smart integration with power grids and electricity markets reduced fleet costs by an average of 1.7 cents per kilometer, or 6.1 cents per kilometer with bidirectional charging. TUM researchers estimate that using stored electricity at depots could reduce energy costs by around 10 percent for electric trucks.
