Business Finland has granted 10 million euros in funding to Kempower’s Heavy Electric Traffic Ecosystem program in a challenge competition for leading Finnish companies.
The funding for the program will accelerate especially the development of high-power charging solutions for electric trucks.
“The Heavy Electric Traffic Ecosystem flagship project is a bold move into an emerging, sustainable, growth-supporting future market,” says Matti Säynätjoki, leading finance expert at Business Finland.
“Business Finland has high expectations for the project’s impact on Kempower’s and the ecosystem’s Finnish companies’ innovation, growth, and exports,” he adds.
Kempower’s Heavy Electric Traffic Ecosystem program aims to develop charging technology suitable for heavy-duty vehicles, especially long-haul trucks, along with supporting software platforms and charging infrastructure testing platforms.
The program also investigates future charging models and the impact of heavy traffic charging infrastructure on power grids.
“The funding received from Business Finland gives a great boost for Kempower’s Heavy Electric Traffic Ecosystem program. We now have excellent resources to stay at the forefront of fast charging for heavy traffic and to bring new solutions to our customers quickly,” states Tomi Ristimäki, CEO of Kempower.
The firm aims to grow the ecosystem for heavy electric traffic, and as the leader for the program, Kempower is seeking over 60 partner companies to join the ecosystem, because achieving the ambitious targets of the development program requires extensive cooperation.
Kempower welcomes firms and research organizations as partners to join the new ecosystem and to contribute their expertise.
Business Finland has allocated 20 million euros to finance ecosystem partners’ projects.
The electrification of heavy traffic and trucks is just beginning.
Among the various applications of DC charging, Kempower estimates that truck charging will rapidly take off and will become the most significant DC charging application by 2030.
The company estimates that the DC charging market of commercial vehicles will grow to approximately 9.1 billion euros in Europe and North America by 2030.
“There is still a lack of scalable DC charging infrastructure for heavy traffic, especially long-haul trucks. The growth of electric trucks requires charging infrastructure that meets practical needs,” says Ristimäki.
“The development of the charging ecosystem is essential because the trucks must constantly move, and electric trucks with cargo cannot wait in queue for charging,” he added.
In 2023, Kempower opened a new product development center focusing on heavy traffic charging solutions in Vaasa and, in collaboration with LUT University, established the EMRC research center focusing on electric mobility in Lahti.
Read more: Kempower aims to electrify more European countries and deploy the MCS
