Ahola Transport optimizes charging costs for its electric trucks

Ahola Transport uses Cactos battery storage to improve cost-efficiency of charging, while building a foundation for future investments.

A café's electricity bill can be tens of thousands of euros per year when heating, cooling, kitchen equipment, and events all draw power at the same time.

As the fleet electrifies and charging demand grows, cost-efficient charging becomes critical. This is where Cactos battery storage comes in.

Summary

Customer: Ahola Transport
Industry: Transport and logistics 
Installed system:  3 × Cactos Yavia. 1,3 MWh  / 552 kVA combined

Benefits of Cactos 

Charging cost optimization through time-based load shifting and market participation
Readiness to support future in-house solar production
Scalability for a growing electric truck fleet: extra capacity when needed
Tammentila
Cafe Carusel pictured from outside, with solar panels on the roof.

Leading the electrification of heavy transport

Cafe Carusel is a café and restaurant in Helsinki, where sustainable development has long been part of daily operations. Entrepreneur Ari Sarmanto has invested in energy solutions step by step: first solar panels, then switching from district heating to heat generated from sea water. The next step was battery storage. 

Believing that heavy transport will also electrify, the company set out to learn more about it in practice. Its first electric truck was purchased in 2023, with a 140 km range and 32-tonne gross weight. The fleet has evolved quickly since: the next truck reached 300 km at 64 tonnes, and the newest one now reaches 600 km.

Charging an electric truck requires strict economics

An electric truck still costs 2.5–3 times more than a comparable diesel truck, and public charging often runs 30–60 cents per kWh. For an electric truck to be cost-competitive with a fossil-fuel one, the cost of charged energy needs to land around 20 cents per kWh, which requires optimizing electricity costs. Ahola Transport wanted to learn more about how to organize electric truck charging in a way that makes economic sense.

Cactos Steno battery energy storage installed outside Cafe Carusel.
Cactos Spine in action

The solution: battery storage supporting the charging station's cost efficiency

The Naantali charging station has four charging points, each delivering 180 kW. Three Cactos battery units, each roughly 200 kVa with a combined capacity of 430 kWh, were installed at the station to support the economics of charging. The batteries charge themselves when the spot price is low and discharge when electricity is expensive.

They also participate in the ancillary service markets. The same batteries are sized to support solar panels the company plans to add in the future, as well as charging for its growing electric fleet. 

Electricity cost optimization
Extra power as consumption grows 
Scalable foundation for future investments

"We believe heavy transport electrification will keep growing, and we're ready to keep investing in it."

Åke Nyblom, CEO, Ahola Transport

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