Maritime Transport, owned by Medlog, the logistics arm of MSC, has begun deploying its first electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs) across the UK. It is combining the vehicle investment with a major expansion of high-powered charging infrastructure. The programme is already underway in Wakefield and Birmingham. It will see 56 battery-electric trucks introduced across 13 sites in 2026, marking a significant step towards the company’s ambition to create the country’s cleanest full-load supply chain.
The rollout is closely aligned with Maritime’s intermodal strategy, with rail playing a central role in enabling the transition. By pairing long-distance rail haulage with zero-emission road distribution, the operator is seeking to overcome range limitations and accelerate adoption. The recent opening of its Strategic Rail Freight Interchange at Northampton Gateway further strengthens its model, by providing a key inland hub for integrating rail and electric road transport.
Charging scale and operational testing expand rapidly
Initial deployment has focused on real-world operations through UK government-backed demonstrator programmes. Nine Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 vehicles are now in service at Wakefield in the north of England. They are supported by six high-capacity chargers delivering up to 400kW. They are capable of taking a 40-tonne truck to charge from 20% to 80% in under an hour. These vehicles are operating across both container flows and curtain-sided distribution, providing early operational data.
The Midlands phase has added a further ten eHGVs at Birmingham Rail Freight Terminal (Birch Coppice, near Tamworth), including Volvo Aero and DAF XF models, supported by five 360kW charging units. These deployments form part of the “Electric Freightway” initiative. Additional vehicles and infrastructure will follow under ZENFreight and eFREIGHT 2030, collectively testing diesel, battery-electric and hydrogen technologies across live logistics environments.
Rail integration reduces range constraints
With vehicles capable of between 300 and 500 kilometres per charge, depending on their duty cycle, Maritime’s strategy hinges on reducing road mileage through rail integration. The company’s intermodal network already operates more than forty daily rail services linking major ports with nine inland terminals, allowing long-haul movements to be shifted off the roads of Great Britain.
With Maritime’s Northampton Gateway now live, the company’s rail freight network is even more critical to the rollout of eHGVs by shortening the road leg to a manageable electric range. “Rail is crucial for increasing the viability of eHGVs,” explained Tom Williams, deputy CEO at Maritime Transport. “Since the launch of Maritime Intermodal in 2019, we have moved from railing six per cent of our volume to circa thirty per cent in 2026. So, our strategy has always been about optimisation, mileage reduction, and finding other efficiencies. It has therefore worked really well for the implementation of eHGVs, as we continue with an existing strategy and simply change the fuel type for the final mile.”
Infrastructure investment supports wider adoption
To support the transition, Maritime is developing what it describes as one of the UK’s largest independent eHGV charging networks, with more than 22MW of installed capacity planned. Once complete, the network will be capable of charging over 100 vehicles simultaneously and will operate entirely on renewable electricity. Maritime intends that charging access will also be offered to third-party operators.
Deployment is being coordinated through Maritime ZERO, the company’s zero-emission division launched in 2025, which applies a hub-and-spoke model combining rail trunking with electric final-mile delivery. “Bringing our first eHGVs into operation, together with the charging infrastructure behind them, is a really important milestone for Maritime,” said Williams, noting the importance of collaboration and data gathering through the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator programme.
Further phases will introduce additional vehicles and ultra-rapid charging, including 1MW ‘hyperchargers’ at key sites such as Northampton Gateway. As more terminals come online, including Doncaster iPort (also in the north of England) and London Distribution Park, the company expects to scale both fleet deployment and infrastructure in tandem, reinforcing the role of rail as the backbone of its zero-emission logistics system.