A truly remarkable session about paths to reduced CO₂ emissions occurred at ARTSA-I’s November 2024 conference: Road Transport – embracing change and innovation.
Four Original Equipment Manufacturers – Isuzu, Kenworth, SAF-Holland and Volvo presented their plans and described their key success factors for making meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
I want to identify the main talking points without ascribing them to a particular organisation.
My purpose is to record these important considerations. There are three relevant zero or low emissions technologies: battery powered electric (BEVs), hydrogen fuel cell electric (FCEVs), gas internal combustion engine (GICE). BEVs and FCEVs are inherently electric.
They both have an electric axle (eAxle). BEV powertrains will rely on the public electricity grid for energy.
The capability of the public electricity supply systems will underpin investment in BEVs. Electric vehicles are quieter than ICE vehicles. This is advantageous in cities and around construction sites.
Operators will be challenged not only by length limits and axle mass limits, but by range considerations. A trailer eAxle will have a single electric motor with a fixed ratio gearbox and a differential.
Trailers with an eAxle can be built now. They have advantages for vocational trailer applications that need motors to cool freight, move freight or reconfigure the trailer (eg refrigerated trailers, tankers and silos, walking floor trailers, liftgates, transportable e-forklifts). Refrigeration deliveries and inner-city construction site applications in inner city are particularly viable for eAxle vehicles.
The electric traction motor might operate at 700 Volts. This is a regulated voltage level. It is practical to use a switched reluctance motor on an eAxle. No rare-earth permanent magnets are needed. The switched reluctance motor can achieve high efficiency (95 per cent). The electric motor must be water or air cooled (with an electric fan).
The diesel motor in the refrigeration unit can be replaced by an electric motor supplied from the trailer battery. The charging time for an eTrailer could be about five hours.
Long and heavy high-productivity vehicles will use ICE engines, probably with diesel fuel for many decades. In Europe 45 per cent of articulated trucks cover less than 350km/day. In Australia, this proportion is likely to be much lower.
The most cost-effective zero-emission technology is currently FCEV. The prime mover cost is about double that of a diesel powered prime mover.
A B-double has about 16 per cent lower emissions per tonne-kilometre than a semi-trailer combination. An A-double has 23 per cent less emissions and a B-triple has about 28 per cent lower emissions.
A notable proportion of the truck fleet will still use conventional, bio-diesel (HVO) in ICE engines in 2050.
The task of significantly reducing dependence on diesel fuel before 2030 is a monumental task. Significant efficiency improvements by using longer and heavier combinations is an important and practical response.
A key point of agreement is that the vehicle suppliers and operators need to co-operate to make progress in reducing emission because the task is substantial. Whilst a level of competition must exist to push technology forward, a level of co-operation is also needed to share knowledge for the benefit of the community.
The NHVR is keen to refine the technical standards in the Performance-Based Standards scheme and to streamline the process. PBS 2.0 is on the way.
The current Heavy Vehicle National Law reform project should deliver greater regulatory flexibility and that will make PBS 2.0 possible.
This development should assist in getting a greater proportion of high productivity vehicles into the (articulated) fleet.
Peter Hart, Chairman, ARTSA-i
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