Milence at Scale: How Europe’s Electric Truck Charging Network Is Growing – and What Needs to Happen Next

1. Why Milence matters

Across Europe, the conversation about decarbonising road freight has shifted. A few years ago, the focus was largely on vehicle technology and pilot projects. Today, the constraints are increasingly about infrastructure: where can electric trucks charge, at what power levels, and under what conditions?

Milence sits right at the centre of that question. Founded in 2022 as a joint venture between Daimler Truck, TRATON Group and Volvo Group, Milence’s mission is to build and operate a public charging network tailored for heavy‑duty electric vehicles. Its hubs are designed for trucks, coaches and their drivers: high‑power DC charging, easy access for large vehicles, safe rest environments, and locations on or near Europe’s key freight corridors.

Recent funding developments show that this is not just a corporate experiment. Under the EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF), Milence has been awarded more than €111 million for the MILES project to co‑fund 548 high‑power charging points at 71 sites in 10 member states. Alongside the original OEM commitments and a new €120 million private financing facility, this creates a substantial capital base for building Europe’s first large‑scale public charging network for heavy‑duty transport.

For policymakers, investors and ecosystem builders, Milence has therefore become a crucial case study: it is one of the first attempts to build a cross‑border, truck‑specific charging network at an industrial scale.

2. Milence’s path so far

From a timeline perspective, Milence has moved quickly.

• 2022–2023: From JV launch to first hubs. The joint venture is formally created; early hubs open in locations such as Venlo and Rouen, demonstrating that truck‑specific public charging concepts can work in practice.

• 2022–2024: Foundry partnerships and corridor pilots. Milence starts to populate major routes between logistics hubs and ports – Antwerp–Duisburg, Malmö–Gothenburg–Stockholm, Barcelona–Lyon – in line with TEN‑T corridors.

• 2022–2025: Technology choice and MCS leadership. The company commits to both CCS and the new Megawatt Charging System (MCS). It opens one of the first public MCS sites in Zwolle and positions MCS as central to scaling zero‑emission freight.

• By April 2026: Network build‑out. According to Milence’s fact sheet, 34 hubs are operational across eight countries and 221 charging points are deployed; by the end of 2026 it aims for 50 hubs across 10 markets, and by 2028 around 90 hubs with more than 300 MCS points.

In parallel, the company has secured:

• EU co‑funding (AFIF/MILES) of up to €111.5 million for 284 MCS and 264 CCS charging points in 71 locations.

• A €120 million financing facility to support further rollout.

By any reasonable standard, Milence has passed the “idea and pilot” stage. It is already a network operator, not just a technology showcase.

3. Where Milence sits in its growth journey

Using our full‑journey commercialisation lens, Milence is not at the start of its journey – but neither is it a mature incumbent.

On the technology and product side, the offerings are clear:

• High‑power DC charging via CCS and MCS, specifically designed for heavy‑duty vehicles.

• Hub concepts that combine charging with secure, driver‑friendly rest facilities along major freight routes.

On the market and customer side, the logic is also defined:

• Hubs are located on TEN‑T corridors and near key logistics nodes, where long‑haul or regional truck operations need reliable charging.

• Customers are fleets, logistics operators and, indirectly, the truck OEMs that need to offer a viable charging proposition to their buyers.

Where things are still evolving is in the business model, operations and financial patterns:

• Utilisation is ramping from a low base; in some corridors it will grow quickly, in others more slowly.

• Pricing structures are country‑specific to reflect energy and grid realities; Milence is still refining its commercial model.

• The cost base and capital commitments are necessarily ahead of revenue because infrastructure must be built in anticipation of demand.

In other words, Milence is in the early industrialisation phase: the concept works, the network is taking shape, and the company is now exposed to all the familiar challenges of scaling complex physical infrastructure in a market that is itself still forming.

4. Why Milence has reached this point successfully

Several strategic choices have underpinned Milence’s progress.

A neutral, jointly owned infrastructure role

By being owned by three major truck manufacturers – and open to all trucks and coaches regardless of brand – Milence occupies a rare position. It is neither a captive in‑house solution for a single OEM nor a pure third‑party utility. This:

• Ensures long‑term OEM interest in making it work.

• Positions Milence as a natural counterpart for EU and national policymakers.

• Reduces the risk of fragmentation in the charging landscape.

A tight focus on a critical bottleneck

Instead of trying to solve every aspect of electric freight, Milence has focused on the hardest part to do well: heavy‑duty, high‑power public charging along freight corridors.

This clarity makes project selection, technology choices and stakeholder engagement more straightforward.

Early commitment to MCS and corridor logic

By championing MCS and deploying it early, Milence is aligning its hubs with where the industry is heading, not where it was. And by focusing on TEN‑T corridors and logistics nodes rather than scattered sites, it is building a network that fits how trucks actually move.

A capital stack that matches infrastructure realities

The combination of OEM equity, EU grants and a dedicated financing facility is better suited to long‑lived, capex‑heavy assets than a pure equity play. It doesn’t eliminate risk, but it does improve the odds that the network can be built and matured even if utilisation lags early expectations.

5. The main challenges for the next phase

Even with these advantages, Milence now faces four fundamental challenges.

1. Keeping infrastructure growth in step with adoption

The company aims to “build at least a year ahead of the market.” That is necessary for infrastructure – but the risk is obvious: if truck electrification on key corridors is slower or more uneven than expected, some hubs may be under‑utilised for longer.

The discipline required here is not about indiscriminately slowing down, but about continuously tuning where and when to invest next based on real signals from OEM sales, fleet plans, and policy.

2. Choosing the right customers to grow with

Milence’s customers are not just “all trucks”; they are specific fleets, logistics operators, and, later, possibly coaches and other categories. Some will be early and committed, others cautious.

The next phase will demand a clearer view of:

• Which fleets and routes should become “anchor use cases” for specific hubs and corridors?

• Where is the company learning, and where is it building for scale?

3. Managing operational complexity across borders

Building and running hubs in eight, soon ten, countries means dealing with different regulations, permitting processes, land markets, grid operators, labour markets and user expectations.

The complexity will increase as the network grows. Getting the basics right – standardisation where possible, targeted local adaptation where necessary – will be just as important as technical innovation.

4. Living with a long, uneven middle period financially

Even with AFIF and a financing facility, Milence is in a long game. Return on capital depends on utilisation curves linked to fleet electrification, which in turn depends on vehicle supply, policy, customer economics, and energy markets.

That calls for a financial and governance setup that accepts this reality, rather than overlaying a short‑cycle, software‑style narrative onto a very different kind of asset.

6. A directional agenda for Milence

Without prescribing a detailed playbook, Growth Lantern’s view is that Milence’s leadership and stakeholders should keep a particular agenda in focus over the next few years:

• Stay explicit about the long timescales involved, both internally and with external stakeholders.

• Anchor growth around a clear commercial core, built on the strongest corridors and most committed fleets, rather than spreading effort too thinly.

• Sequence capacity expansion as a series of deliberate steps tied to credible signals of uptake, not as a one‑off leap.

• Shape the organisation and capital narrative so that it can absorb volatility in adoption and energy markets without losing sight of the mission.

These are exactly the kinds of questions that do not fit neatly into a single press release, but determine whether an infrastructure venture becomes a durable platform for a new market, or ends up squeezed between ambition and timing.

7. Implications for Dutch and European deep‑tech and infrastructure

Milence’s journey holds lessons beyond electric trucking.

For public bodies, OEMs and financiers, it shows:

• The value of neutral, jointly owned infrastructure vehicles in sectors where coordination problems are serious.

• The need for capital stacks explicitly designed for long‑lived assets in emerging markets.

• The importance of patient, staged growth through multiple inflection points, not just initial project wins.

For other deep‑tech and infrastructure scale‑ups, it underscores a recurring pattern: moving from technical feasibility to long‑term viability is less about a single breakthrough and more about keeping technology, markets, operations, and capital in balance over time.

At Growth Lantern, this is exactly where the work begins: helping ventures and ecosystems navigate the less visible but decisive phases of their growth journey.

Sources
Milence's official website, fact sheet, and newsroom; AFIF/European Commission communications; coverage in Sustainable Bus, Sustainable Truck & Van, and Transport & Energy; GreenFlux and Volvo Group materials.