The commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck is making politics responsible for the infrastructure for e-vehicles. "The construction of an infrastructure for heavy commercial vehicles in Europe is going far too slowly," said the truck boss for Europe and Latin America, Karin Radström, the German Press Agency.

A few weeks ago she was in Brussels and met politicians. "It's important to be there because I have the feeling that some people don't really appreciate the size of the challenge," said the board member of the Dax group. A slow build-out would be a huge missed opportunity, "because it's actually not that difficult to decarbonize our entire sector if you're willing to invest." She is more of an optimist and firmly believes that the transformation can be achieved. "But it's a bit frustrating that some things are out of our control."

Don't just look into the distant future

"There's a general tendency, maybe even ours, that we like to talk about what we're going to do in 2030 or in the far future," Radstrom said. But you have to start getting things done now. She would like more pilot programs. "That would make it easier for our customers to invest."

The market for trucks continues to be strong. "So far we haven't seen any decrease in demand from our customers," said Radstrom. This is also due to the fact that there is a need in the customer's fleet and the demand has long been higher than the supply. "It's a bit strange to read about the looming recession in the newspapers and not see it in our store." Normally their business follows the general economy. "But right now, for the first time in a long time, there is quite a disconnect between our market and the broader economy."