The trucking industry is moving towards electric trucks to improve sustainability within the supply chain. The evolution of batteries and the new generation of motors could encourage the use of electric vehicles in urban logistics to transport orders to physical points of sale or home addresses. Rivian an electric delivery vehicle company has already partnered with Amazon, to see their vans utilized in Amazons last mile deliveries across the US.
The success of smaller electric delivery vehicles implemented in the supply chain can provide the wider trucking industry with a case study, of what can and cannot work. By not using fossil fuels, these vehicles can reduce logistics costs and thus the weight of transport on the sale price of products.
The benefits of Electric Trucks
Energy efficiency: Electric trucks (ETs) are more efficient than vehicles with internal combustion engines. They use 15-20% less energy when braking or idling, a huge difference compared to the 64-75% of energy consumed by petrol engines.
Lower energy cost: With surging petrol and diesel prices, swapping vehicles with internal combustion engines for their electric alternatives is a viable option for driving down costs. Even if the price per kilowatt-hour also rises, electric trucks will always be more cost-effective than fossil-fuel vehicles.
Less maintenance: Vehicles with electric motors require less maintenance: they don’t require oil changes, coolant, or engine filters. For proper maintenance of electric trucks, all you need is a thorough check of the condition of the batteries and the other elements common to all vehicles, (e.g., brakes and tires).
Tax benefits: More and more governments are committed to reducing their countries’ carbon footprint. Therefore, they promote laws that favour the replacement of internal combustion vehicles with electric motors. Many countries promote legislation that offers tax credits to organisations and individuals who opt for this type of vehicle.
Room for Improvement
There is still a way to go to make the choice of ETs more appealing to the wider trucking market. The price of an ET will prove to be a major barrier of entry for most trucking companies. As without tax credit incentives, ETs currently cost up to three times more to purchase than their diesel counterparts. Falling battery costs and growing manufacturing scale will reduce this upfront cost differential over time.
At first glance, conventional trucks have a substantial advantage when it comes to range. They can travel up to 2,000 miles without refuelling, compared to up to 500 miles for current electric semi-trucks. But because long-haul truck drivers are required to take breaks, these rest periods could be used to recharge electric truck batteries. Within a 24-hour period, truckers are allowed to drive a maximum of 11 hours, with a mandatory 30-minute break after eight consecutive hours of driving. That translates to an average range of 500 to 715 miles a day. Charging during mandatory breaks and during loading times allows electric semi-trucks to maintain efficient schedules.
The test of Efficiency
The Run on Less demonstration is an event held by the NACFE. It shows that commercial battery electric vehicles (CBEVs) are a viable option for fleets in four market segments: vans and step vans, medium-duty box trucks, terminal tractors, and heavy-duty regional haul tractors. 13 companies participated in the demonstration, providing data on range, speed profiles, state of charge, charging events, regenerative braking energy recovery, weather, and deliveries.
The report highlights the benefits of CBEVs, such as reduced CO2 and particulate emissions, as well as challenges, including infrastructure and range. The CBEV truck ecosystem is in its early stages, with emerging solutions supporting adoption. However, standards in areas like charging, repair, maintenance, and training need development.
Final thoughts
ETs are not a new concept however, their effectiveness compared to gas powered trucks has been heavily questioned. On the other hand, the success of the electric vehicles market has proved that the global population is more climate conscious, leading to sales of EVs to increase year-on-year. This awareness from customers has made its way to the supply chain, as people want to know their products have been sustainably sourced. This includes logistical aspect of the supply chain.
Committees and Governments share the same sentiment. At the recent COP27, sustainable shipping was discussed with the implementation of green shipping corridors. This is plan where within a shipping route between two or more ports, zero-emission fuels and technologies will be adopted to cargo ships, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The EU have also made a proposal to set a benchmark for the manufacturing capacity of strategic net-zero technologies to meet at least 40% of the EU’s annual deployment needs by 2030.
These pledges and legislative pushes maybe the force that sees the trucking industry put an emphasis on creating alternative ways to cut down CO2 emissions. We are now in the perfect climate to allow this change to happen, it will not be quick as full-scale adoption may take decades, however it’s a change that needs to happen. It will not only be beneficial to the supply chain but our lives for the future.
