Orlen has launched Poland’s first public Megawatt Charging System infrastructure along the A1 motorway, in preparation for the time when electric lorries begin to appear on long-distance routes on a larger scale.
The charging points have been installed at the Stobiecko Szlacheckie East and West motorway service areas in the Łódź Voivodeship. Each location features an MCS charging point with a capacity of up to 1.5 MW, which also supports CCS charging at up to 600 kW, as well as a separate CCS charging point for lorries. According to Orlen, this is the country’s first publicly accessible MCS infrastructure.
However, the significance of the investment extends beyond the chargers’ power output alone. MCS is designed with heavy goods vehicles in mind, where large batteries must be recharged quickly enough to ensure that charging can be accommodated within transport schedules and drivers’ mandatory rest periods. The technology is already being developed as a common standard for heavy goods transport.
The market is still in its early stages. In the first half of 2026, electric vehicles accounted for 4.8 per cent of new lorries registered in the EU, although sales rose by 47.7 per cent year-on-year.
The expansion of infrastructure is being further accelerated by the EU’s AFIR Regulation. By 2030, truck hubs are to be available every 60 km on the core TEN-T network and offer at least 3.6 MW of total power.
For hauliers, this means the gradual removal of one of the main barriers to electrification: the lack of fast-charging facilities on major routes. However, the pace of change will also be determined by the prices of lorries and energy, as well as the availability of sufficiently powerful grid connections.
