Facts: The study
The researchers have built a model using data from a haulage company in Helsingborg.
They have compared two different battery sizes and two different prices for fast charging.
The conclusion is that an investment in electric operation pays off even for heavy transport, with the exception of trucks which are usually loaded up to their maximum permissible vehicle weight.
A previous study has shown that an electric truck needs to be charged at least 1,400 times during its lifetime for the investment to pay off. However, most commercial vehicles exceed that limit, according to the researchers.
The latest study has been published in the journal Energies.
Source: Chalmers
Electrifying the transport sector has long been identified as an important step in reaching the climate goals. According to a study from Chalmers, it can also be cost-effective, even for heavy transport over longer distances.
Johannes Karlsson, PhD student in control engineering at Chalmers, hopes that the study will spur more haulage companies and manufacturers to dare to invest in electric trucks.
— I was a little surprised, because there is a general perception that it is expensive to run heavy transport on electricity. But the study shows that this is not the case, he says.
The study is based on data from a haulage company in Helsingborg and a scenario where heavy trucks are driven to Stockholm and back.
The challenge is that longer distances require larger batteries, which reduces the load capacity. But despite the fact that the researchers expected a relatively low diesel price, electric drive can also pay off for heavy transport according to the study.
“There are, of course, a lot of assumptions behind it, for example that you can use the mandatory breaks to charge and other times when the vehicle is still stationary,” says Johannes Karlsson.
— But we still believe that it is realistic to electrify these transports in a cost-effective way.
