27 gennaio 2024 – Zero Emission Long-Haul Heavy-Duty Trucking.

🟦 1) To meet climate goals, the energy sector must reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Transportation contributes 15-20% of CO2 emissions, making decarbonisation solutions for all vehicles vital. Heavy trucking is difficult to decarbonise due to vehicle size, making long-haul operations difficult. CATF study compares battery electric (BEV) and hydrogen fuel cell (FCEV) to diesel vehicles for long-haul operations.

🟦 2) Drivetrain:
Tank Size:
Diesel = 240 gallons (120-gallon tank on each side)
BEV =–
FCEV = 100 kg

Battery Size:
Diesel =–
BEV = 1000 kWh
FCEV = 20 kWh

Drivetrain Power:
Diesel = 310 kW
BEV = 315 kW
FCEV = 300 kWh

Peak Efficiency:
Diesel = 52%
BEV = 97%
FCEV = 63%

Fueling or Charging Time:
Diesel = 10 minutes
BEV = 330 minutes (250 kW charging)
FCEV = 20 minutes (5 kg per minute)

Range:
Diesel = 2123 miles (3,416 kilometers)
BEV = 470 miles (756 kilometers)
FCEV = 1019 miles (1,640 kilometers)

Fuel Economy:
Diesel = 8.85 mpdge ( miles per diesel gallon equivalent)
BEV = 17.39 mpdge
FCEV = 11.31 mpdge

Number of Stops ( 5,255 kilometres (3,266 miles) route):
Diesel = 1
BEV = 8
FCEV = 3

Cargo capacity:
Cargo Weight = 35,000 lbs
FCEV → 1 truck
BEV → 1 truck

Cargo Weight = 45,000 lbs
FCEV → 1 truck
BEV → 2 trucks

Cargo Weight = 55000 lbs
FCEV → 2 trucks
BEV → 2 trucks

🟦 3) Infrastructure Analysis:

A Monte Carlo simulation analysed the impact of truck numbers (5 to 3,500) on infrastructure, introducing the “density ratio” parameter (DRtruck) to interpret the results.

DRtruck = Numtruck/Numstation

BEV charging stations require ten (10) times more chargers and ten (10) times larger stations compared to diesel dispensers. Hydrogen stations are smaller but still require 5.26 times the space of diesel stations.

🟦 4) Results:

4-1) For long-haul heavy-duty operations, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) have an advantage over battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in terms of the number of stops required, total fueling time, and available cargo space.

4-2) Switching heavy-duty trucks to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) would require more charging stations than hydrogen fueling stations. However, if 1-2 MW high-power charging becomes widely available, BEVs could catch up to fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) on several metrics.

4-3) BEVs and FCEVs face infrastructure challenges and require more land than diesel stations.

4-4) The high power requirements of BEVs at charging stations raise concerns about negative grid effects and clean electricity availability.

4-5) More research is needed to achieve diesel-like fueling times for FCEVs and to reduce drivetrain weight to eliminate potential cargo limitations.