The second-largest contributor to U.S. transportation emissions are medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MDV/HDV.) Clearly, the need to electrify the sector is significant.
The electric truck market is currently still in its early stages, compared to electric bus penetration levels and electric passenger vehicles (EVs). In 2019, there were around 2,000 electric trucks on the road. However, a new analysis from Wood Mackenzie indicates that this number is expected to rise to over 54,000 by 2025.
The analysis looked closely at the new Volvo LIGHTS (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions) project to see what lies ahead for e-truck commercialization. The Volvo LIGHTS project is a three-year demonstration and partnership between Volvo Trucks, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and fourteen other organizations.
In addition to an increase in electric trucks, WoodMac’s forecast also shows that the number of MDV/HDV electric charging units in the U.S. is expected to rise exponentially. As of 2019, there were around 2,000 electric truck charging outlets in the United States; by 2025, that number will increase to 48,000.
Most commercially available electric trucks have a range of around 300 miles, which is acceptable for local haul applications. More than 68% of the city and regional Class 8 trucks are parked for over 6 hours a day; therefore, many electric trucks could potentially rely on Level 2 chargers. These facts suggest that pre-commercial and existing e-truck and charging technology can already support regional and city haul electric trucks.
Electric trucks with shorter dwell times or more substantial batteries, on the other hand, will likely require DC fast chargers to please their charging needs. Also, long-haul electric trucks won’t be able to depend exclusively on chargers at warehouses where they do the loading.
The Volvo LIGHTS project is recharging 23 e-trucks using a mix of public and private fast chargers. Using public chargers can significantly reduce costs depending on three factors – electricity rate structure, on-site generation, and demand charges.
It’s becoming increasingly popular among electric fleet operators to use distributed energy resources such as on-site solar and storage to cover electricity needs from EV charging. Strategies from electric fleet energy management should involve using software and distributed generation to balance the grid, building loads, and EV charging. Electric fleet management software can offer real-time control of DER integration, site load management, demand response functionalities, and EV charging.
The Volvo LIGHTS project plans to use solar only and solar-plus-storage combination approaches to reduce their operating costs. If the storage asset is enrolled in a TOU (time-of-use) rate, during peak periods, it can discharge to the EV chargers, while in low-peak periods, it can recharge using cheap grid power.
