Research on zero-emission medium-duty trucks, NextETRUCK comes to a close: Navigation partner NNG on routing for electric trucks

What is the NextETRUCK project?

NextETRUCK (Efficient and affordable Zero Emission logistics through NEXT generation Electric TRUCKs) is a Horizon Europe Innovation Action. Its goal was to make zero-emission freight practical and affordable for the medium-duty trucks that carry goods in regional and urban logistics.

NextETRUCK, coordinated by TNO, ran from July 2022 to September 2026 as part of the 2ZERO partnership, and brought together 19 partners. They developed a lightweight, modular electric truck platform, vehicle digital twins and fleet management tools, and a fast-charging concept and infrastructure, all aimed at lowering the total cost of ownership of electric trucks.

The project was built around three pilot use cases. In Türkiye, Ford Otosan’s 16-tonne electric distribution truck ran between Eskişehir and Gölcük on intercity and urban roads. In Barcelona, an Irizar 20-tonne electric truck, operated by FCC, collected bulky household waste in the city centre. In North-West England, 19-tonne DAF XB electric trucks ran daily routes for Turners of Soham, including in cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds.

In each case, the trucks worked in real daily operations, giving the project first-hand insight into their performance in everyday logistics and real-world evidence to build the next generation of medium-duty electric vehicles on.

What was NNG’s role in NextETRUCK?

NNG was the consortium’s navigation and routing partner, and its main contribution was a cloud-based routing service built for electric trucks.

The service takes a vehicle’s truck parameters (dimensions, weight, axle load, number of axles and whether it carries hazardous goods) together with a set of energy consumption coefficients, then returns a route that respects truck restrictions and estimates how much energy the trip will need. Alongside it, a second NNG service supplied weather conditions such as temperature and wind for energy estimation.

Several partners went on to build their own tools on this route data, including predictive battery thermal management and depot charging planning.

NNG also led the development of a self-learning eco-routing tool that estimates energy consumption along a truck’s mission profile, taking traffic uncertainty and weather forecasts into account.

Interview with Balázs Bodorkós, NNG’s Chief Product & Marketing Officer, on what electric trucks need from navigation

Balázs Bodorkós, Chief Product & Marketing Officer, NNG

NextETRUCK came to an end after four years. What does this milestone mean for NNG?

It’s a good moment to step back and look at what a consortium like this makes possible. Nineteen partners, from truck makers to charging specialists and research institutes, worked on the same question from different angles: how do we make electric trucks practical for everyday logistics? Our part was routing and energy estimation, and the most rewarding outcome for us was seeing other partners build their tools directly on our route data.

What makes an electric truck different from a conventional one, and what can navigation solve?

Any truck route has to respect restrictions for the vehicle’s size and weight, and it has to fit the rules drivers work under, from mandatory rest periods to requirements that depend on attributes such as the type of hazardous material the truck carries, or road restrictions and banned areas.

With an electric truck, the route also decides whether the vehicle has enough energy to finish its day. Consumption depends on the load, which changes from day to day, and on the terrain, the speed, the braking and the weather, because heating the cab draws on the same battery.

A good route for an e-truck must take all of that into account. For the energy side, we paired a routing service built on truck parameters and an energy model with a separate weather service.

What did the project show you about where navigation fits in the electric truck ecosystem?

It showed that navigation is no longer a standalone feature on a screen. In an electric truck, energy, charging and fleet planning form one system, and the route is what connects them. Battery thermal management needs to know what the next stretch of road looks like so it can prepare the battery. A depot charging planner needs to know how much energy tomorrow’s trips will take. Navigation creates the most value when its data feeds these other systems.

What decides whether electric trucks pay off for a fleet?

Large fleets invest serious money, so when they add electric trucks, it all comes down to total cost of ownership, and that goes far beyond the vehicle itself. Battery ageing affects what the truck is worth over time, and with it the amortisation and the right moment to sell and move on.

Charging has to be optimised around the fleet’s schedule, and all of this ties into fleet management and logistics planning. Knowing in advance how much energy a trip will need helps a fleet plan which vehicle goes where and when it charges, and shows which trips can be covered with depot charging alone. That’s where route-based energy estimation can make a difference.

What comes next for NNG in electric trucks?

Looking ahead

As European logistics moves towards zero-emission freight, NextETRUCK has shown that no single company can make the shift alone. It takes vehicle makers, charging providers, researchers and software specialists working towards the same goal.

NNG, a global automotive software company with over 20 years of experience in navigation, map production, and connected mobility, will keep contributing its routing and energy estimation expertise to that effort, so that the trucks of tomorrow are not only cleaner but also easier to plan, charge and run.

Learn more about the project at nextetruck.eu.

Co-funded by the European Union. NextETRUCK has received funding from the European Union Horizon Innovation Actions programme under grant agreement No 101056740. The UK participants in this project are co-funded by the UK. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.