Urgency/Challenges
The project took place in Portugal, connecting IKEA Industry’s factory in Paços de Ferreira with Porto’s Leixões harbour and IKEA stores. It addressed the urgent challenge of decarbonising heavy-duty transport in a market where electrification is still constrained by infrastructure, charging capacity, and technical hurdles.
Contributions
By using battery-electric trucks, the project significantly reduces carbon emissions and improves local air quality. Socially and economically, the “pick and drop” system, where trailers are swapped to avoid empty runs, increases uptime, lowers operating costs, and optimizes logistics efficiency. Charging at the port and planned factory charging ensure long-term practicality.
Success factors
Success was enabled by collaboration across the value chain: IKEA as freight owner, Scania providing the electric trucks, KLOG handling logistics operations, and the Port of Leixões ensuring charging infrastructure. Careful planning of routes and energy use, together with the efficient “pick and drop” trailer system, secured operational feasibility and created a model that can be scaled to other European markets.
Team Sweden
Involved stakeholders include EKN, SEK, Swedfund, NIR, Sida, Business Sweden, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, demonstrating a unified Swedish approach to sustainable infrastructure.
