Electric heavy-duty transport will soon be economically competitive, according to new research. Now the industry is calling for action to rapidly expand the charging infrastructure.
Electric trucks have generally been seen as an economic impossibility. Too much of the cargo space would be eaten up by batteries, say skeptics. This would turn transportation into a loss-making business. But a new calculation model from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) turns old truths upside down. Electric trucks can indeed compete with diesel-powered ones.
“We have compared a wide range of truck sizes and given the availability of fast charging, heavy transport is more competitive than light transport. This goes against conventional wisdom,” says Olle Olsson, senior researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), who conducted the study together with Björn Nykvist.
In their model, the researchers calculated when - and under what conditions - it is economically advantageous to drive on electric power compared to diesel. As a starting point, the researchers used the EU laws that regulate how far a truck driver can drive before having to rest.
This means that after each 4.5 hour shift on the road, the driver must take a break from the wheel for at least 40 minutes. In mileage terms, this means driving up to 30 miles at a time before the mandatory break - during which the vehicle can recharge.
In the model, the researchers have equipped the trucks with sufficient battery capacity to cover the intended distance. The remaining space can be used to transport goods. The study shows that we are close to a “tipping point” when it is economically competitive to drive on electricity compared to diesel.
“The trend is that the cost of batteries is going down and they are getting better. Within 5-10 years at most, the vast majority of cases will be economically viable. Probably faster than that,” says Olsson.
The truck producer Scania, which, like its competitor Volvo, has chosen to invest in electric heavy transport, is convinced that transport in all segments will be electrified and that it will probably happen faster than we thought.
“The study draws conclusions that we have also drawn and it becomes clear that the longer you drive, the more advantageous battery power becomes because the fuel becomes so much cheaper. Just three or four years away, we see that the technology and the business case make it interesting also for long-distance transportation,” says Karin Hallstan, Head of Corporate Communications and PR at Scania.
The missing piece of the puzzle is an expanded network of fast chargers along the roads - both in Sweden and in Europe. And both Olsson and Hallstan want to see a faster roll-out.
“A bottleneck is the electricity infrastructure that does not exist today. To be future-proof, society must ensure that there is capacity on the major transport routes. This is a rapid development. Just a few years ago, no one believed in this. Now it is highly relevant to expand it,” says Olsson.
“It is the infrastructure that is the big challenge. Not only must there be charging points for heavier vehicles, but the power must also reach the points. We can't spend seven years investigating this; it has to happen now. Our customers want to start using the trucks now,” says Hallstan.
According to the car manufacturers' association ACEA, the number of zero-emission trucks on European roads needs to increase from just over 2,000 today to 200,000 by 2030 if the EU's carbon dioxide targets are to be met.
Source:
www.di.se/hallbart-naringsliv/ny-forskning-eldrivna-lastbilar-mer-lonsamma-aven-for-tunga-transporter/
Cover photo: Volvo
