Milence outlines Italian expansion plan

Milence, the joint venture between German truck makers Daimler Truck and Traton and Sweden’s Volvo Group focused on charging for heavy-duty e-trucks, has revealed plans for its first charging hub in Italy.

The development, along with planned projects in Germany, will expand Milence’s network beyond its existing Benelux and France footprint. It also has ambitions in Sweden.

The new facility, which is due online sometime in Q3, is strategically located at Bagnolo San Vito is located 40km south of the city of Verona, near the A22 Autostrada del Brennero. This puts it, Milence says, on the Scandinavia-Mediterranean corridor, a key north-south axis for the European economy.

The A22 highway connects the Po Valley industrial and agricultural area, the city of Modena, and the Autostrada A1 to Austria. The area also connects the industrial heartlands of northern Italy to the southern Italian ports, thus linking up major cities like Milan, Rome, and Naples.

As with previous Milence expansions, such as its entry into France, the charging hub is being developed in phases. The initial stage will include four combined charging system chargers, powering five bays with up to 400kW of power per bay. A next phase will include additional bays with megawatt charging system chargers, as the technology becomes available.

“Within two years, Milence has successfully started the development of multiple charging hubs along key routes in line with its mission to support the transition to sustainable transport across Europe,” says the firm’s CEO Anja Niersen. “This hub is the perfect location to kick-off our network rollout in Italy, and will become a key node along the north-south transport corridor that is vital for European commerce.”

By 2027, Milence aims to have at least 1,700 high-performance charging points across Europe, and has an initial focus on 15 markets. It currently has three sites operational, one in the Netherlands, one in France and one in Belgium (see Fig.1).

Fig.1: Milence is planning rapid pan-European expansion

But its first German site and a second French location are due to join them next month. And a second German site is due in September, which is also the latest date on the schedule for its Italian project. A second Dutch site is slated to join the party by the end of the year.

The firm has also announced the locations for three charging hubs in Sweden, but has offered no details as yet on when the first phases of these projects are set to be delivered.