When innovations stay stuck in the pilot phase  

In 2025, 85% of French freight still travels by road.

Even if we triple the share of rail by 2050, nearly 70% of goods transport will remain road-based.

This is an economic, logistical, and territorial reality. And it is also the symptom of an innovation that, despite its grand ambitions, struggles to translate into operational reality.

The French Paradox

For the past ten years, France has been multiplying initiatives: electrification, biofuels, connected logistics, fleet hybridization... Yet, the tangible results are slow to emerge.

The High Council for Climate (2025 Annual Report) reiterated this in its 2025 report: the success of decarbonization no longer depends solely on available technologies, but on the ability to coordinate public, private, and territorial stakeholders and to actively steer these transformations.

Innovations exist, but they are not taking root. They remain stuck in the pilot phase.

This observation is shared by the Directorate General for Enterprises, following the Ambition France Transports conference (July 2025): the transition of road transport is still held back by a lack of logistical coordination, a deficit of suitable infrastructure, and still-fragile economic incentives.

And even when the technology is ready, user adoption and organizational models do not follow. The Institut Mobilités en Transition, in its March 2025 study, highlights that the technical potential of decarbonization will only materialize if we take into account the unique economic, logistical, and human constraints on the ground.

In other words, changing the fuel is not enough: we need to change our method.

1. The technological bottleneck : France is betting heavily on electric vehicles, but without an integrated vision of usage, charging patterns, or the associated business models.

2. The organizational bottleneck : each player is moving forward in isolation—carriers, shippers, energy suppliers, local authorities—even though the real levers for impact lie in design-led coordination.

3. The adoption bottleneck : the reality on the ground (delivery zones, margins, scheduling constraints) is rarely integrated into political and industrial decision-making.

The Ministry of Ecological Transition itself notes that several systems remain stuck in the pilot stage, due to a lack of genuine ownership among users.

What if the solution was not to innovate more, but to innovate differently?

At Aktan, we are convinced that the decarbonization of the road will not come from a sudden technological disruption, but from a systemic transformation.  This requires working with the people on the ground, not just for them.

Our approach is built on three inspiring principles :

1. Map actual usages before taking action

Understand how carriers, shippers, and drivers truly work on a daily basis: constraints, routines, and room for maneuver. Our field research uncovers powerful, often invisible efficiency levers—making them quick and exciting to activate.

2. Co-create the solutions

We bring together energy providers, carriers, industrialists, and local authorities to co-design and test realistic scenarios: shared logistics, new fuels, shared infrastructure, and hybrid models. This deeply collaborative approach accelerates decision-making and builds strong trust among partners.

3. Validate implementation

Innovation is meaningless if it doesn't stick. We support scaling up with agility: tracking usage metrics, adapting processes, and training teams. Because sustainability cannot be imposed—it must be lived and practiced.

Toward truly smart mobility

Public reports all point to the same conclusion: the success of the transition will not come from a miracle technology, but from the ability to better articulate innovation, governance, and daily usage. This is precisely what Aktan brings to the table: a systemic design approach that seamlessly connects technical innovation with organizational and human transformation.

Conclusion

The road will remain the backbone of freight transport. But its future will depend neither on batteries nor on biofuels alone. It will depend on our ability to design together, to experiment differently, and to elevate innovations from pilot to true scale and impact.

📩 Aktan partners with public and private stakeholders in transport, energy, and logistics to understand user adoption, transform processes, and validate experimental initiatives with distinction: contact@aktan.fr