VoltFracht: Building an e-truck logistics company as an online game
It could become a sort of “Auf Achse” for electric mobility: VoltFracht is a new online game in which you build an electric freight company for Europe. Created by indie developer Sebastian Giove, the goal of VoltFracht is to establish a company that uses only electric trucks to fulfill orders from a virtual freight exchange.
Image: VoltFracht
Do you still remember the board game “Auf Achse” from the 1980s? This logistics classic, inspired by a TV series starring Manfred Krug, involves freight companies or their truck drivers efficiently transporting goods between various locations in Europe. I loved this game as a child!
Let’s go back almost 40 years: Here comes VoltFracht, a game that resembles a modern and more complex version of “Auf Achse.” Invented and programmed by Sebastian Giove, who describes himself as a one-man indie developer, it is no longer a board game featuring diesel trucks, but rather an online game with electric trucks.
If you start with the free game directly in your computer or smartphone’s browser, you can first set a name for your shipping company and its location in a city of your choice in Germany or other European countries. You’re then given some starting capital, which is sufficient to open your own depot and acquire a small electric truck with a capacity of 7.5 tons. Several models are available at this stage—and later in other weight classes—as well as in future updates, though their names and brands are fictional. This leaves room for product placement by manufacturers.
VoltFracht focuses on realism
To generate new in-game currency later, players can select tasks from a freight marketplace, dispatch their electric trucks, and gradually expand their logistics business—such as by taking on tasks in other countries, adding new product categories, or acquiring more electric trucks for their fleet. They can achieve daily goals or work together with other players in syndicates.
Sebastian Giove focused on high realism during development. “The energy aspect isn’t just a backdrop,” he says. That’s because VoltFracht integrates over 450 real charging locations from OpenChargeMap. Players must therefore create a charging schedule using stations that actually exist in the real world. “The charging network in the game is just as dense as in reality—and where there are gaps in Europe, you can notice that too in the game,” says Giove.
But this is by no means the only detail: the charging stops also feature realistic CCS charging curves. This means the charging power decreases toward the end. The electricity prices are also meant to be realistic—VoltFracht uses the ENTSO-E daily prices, which vary by country. These are directly added to the margin of each order. Consumption is also calculated realistically, taking into account elevation, load capacity, and speed limits. “The whole thing came from enthusiasm for electric mobility,” says Giove, who developed the project in his spare time alongside a full-time job.
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