Electrifying heavy-duty road transport faces a notorious chicken-and-egg dilemma: public high-power charging infrastructure remains scarce, while thousands of private depot chargers sit idle behind corporate fences. At IAA TRANSPORTATION 2026, Depotcharge and the Swiss Road Transport Association (ASTAG) were awarded „Prototype of the Year“ at the Open Innovation Awards for proving that a smart marketplace model can solve this bottleneck almost overnight.
The Challenge: Idle Assets vs. Range Anxiety
For freight carriers and fleet operators, transitioning to battery-electric trucks (BETs) presents severe operational risks. Public charging stations are often unsuited for 40-tonne rigs, unreservable, or strategically misplaced for regional logistics routes.
At the same time, logistics companies across Switzerland have invested heavily in private depot charging infrastructure. However, these chargers sit unused for large portions of the day when fleet vehicles are on the road.
Opening up private depot chargers to third-party carriers seems logical, but historically required solving massive administrative friction: individual access management, bilateral billing contracts, legal liability, and technical interoperability across dozens of different hardware providers.
The Solution: ASTAG Charge Powered by Depotcharge
To break this deadlock, Depotcharge (Evolve Energy GmbH) partnered with ASTAG (Swiss Road Transport Association, representing ~3,000 member companies) to launch ASTAG Charge.
ASTAG Charge operates as a standardized B2B depot charging marketplace where transport companies can share their charging infrastructure under automated, association-approved terms.
Key Technical & Operational Innovations
-
Zero Hardware Replacement (Non-Displacement): Depot operators keep their existing charge points and Charge Point Management Systems (CPMS). Depotcharge integrates seamlessly via standardized back-to-back OCPI and OCPP protocols
-
Automated Terms & Billing: ASTAG provides the regulatory and legal framework, allowing member companies to trust the automated billing and access rules without negotiating bilateral contracts.
-
Guaranteed Access & Scheduling: Fleet managers can reserve specific charging windows in advance, ensuring drivers never arrive at an occupied or locked fences
The Impact: 180,000 Electric Kilometers in 16 Weeks
The speed of adoption following the platform’s launch demonstrated massive market demand. In just 16 weeks post-launch, the initiative delivered concrete, measurable results:
-
🏢 60 Organizations onboarded across Switzerland.
-
📍 35 Depot Locations opened for cross-company charging.
-
🔌 125 Charge Points connected to the network.
-
🚛 388 Electric Trucks registered on the platform.
-
⚡ >218 MWh of clean energy delivered (~180,000 km of zero-emission truck mileage).
Scaling to Germany: Expanding the Model with BGL & ELVIS
Winning „Prototype of the Year“ at IAA Transportation coincided with major expansion news for Depotcharge. Building on the Swiss blueprint, Depotcharge officially announced a strategic collaboration with BGL (Federal Association for Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal) and ELVIS (European Logistics Association of International Freight Forwarders) to bring the association-backed depot sharing model to Germany.
„This is a textbook example of how combining an industry association with an agile tech platform solves massive asset-sharing challenges to accelerate an entire industry’s transformation.“
— Jury Statement, Open Innovation Award 2026
By turning private depot chargers into a shared, digital ecosystem asset, Depotcharge and ASTAG have provided a repeatable blueprint for logistics decarbonization across Europe.
You might also be interested in
Real Code, Live Hardware: This was IAA HACKATHON 2026
What an eventful day at IAA HACKATHON 2026 in Hannover – with ecosystem partners, live testing on real vehicle & a close final
Scaling Connected Mobility: How c.technology & Bosch Earned „Scaling of the Year“
Explore why c.technology’s collaboration with Bosch convinced the jury and how c.technology is growing its impact already
This was IAA.prototype.club 2026
Discover the highlights of this year’s IAA.prototype.club 2026 at IAA TRANSPORTATION – a week full of ecosystem collaboration, new pathways & conversations.