How do you make a long-haul diesel truck emit 50% much less CO2 with out altering a single factor about it? Feels like a riddle, proper? A brand new pilot resolution embraced by BMW Group Logistik and provided by accomplice agency Trailer Dynamics right here in Germany, although, can just do that. I spoke with Mo Koellner from BMW and Michael Nimtsch from Trailer Dynamics about this tech on a name earlier within the week.
As to the reply to the above riddle: This can be a semi-truck trailer that has an enormous battery pack (as much as 600 kWh) put in in its flooring, and that battery powers an electrically pushed axle beneath the trailer. The answer isn’t conceptually novel; e-trailers, or electrified trailers, have been available on the market in numerous types for a lot of years now (although the know-how continues to be in a relative stage of infancy). The essential precept is straightforward, too. By including a battery-electric pushed energy supply to a diesel tractor-trailer, you scale back the gasoline consumption of the diesel portion of the system. In different phrases, you’ve created a plug-in hybrid-electric huge rig. Fairly easy, yeah?
What makes Trailer Dynamics’ resolution cool is simply how “plug and play” it’s. In reality, the corporate says that its electrical trailers can work with any truck they’re bodily able to hitching to. No trailer-to-truck connection is utilized; the e-trailer operates completely independently. Trailer Dynamics says this makes its product distinctive* within the area, as most different e-trailer options require lively communication with the related truck to allow the electric-assisted drive. BMW is at the moment testing TD’s resolution on its BMW Group Logistik fleet. (*US-based Vary Vitality additionally claims to work with principally any truck, and their resolution appears fairly just like Trailer Dynamics. We coated them again in Might. The largest distinction I’ve seen is that Trailer Dynamics presents far bigger batteries and is designed to be used with European tractor-trailer configurations. BMW’s gasoline consumption figures additionally appear to point TD’s resolution could also be extra environment friendly, but it surely’s laborious to understand how apples-to-apples these numbers are given the pack measurement variations.)
The way in which TD achieves that is right down to a proprietary sensor pack that lives within the kingpin of the trailer. There, a pc management mannequin takes enter from the sensors (used to observe numerous forces on the kingpin) and converts that knowledge into a choice about when and the way a lot energy to use to the electrical motors within the axle. The logic of the system takes into consideration the form of stuff you’d count on. For instance, if the trailer is aware of the truck is at the moment stopped and is starting a begin — when giant vans have a tendency to utilize their gasoline most inefficiently — it should apply very substantial energy to get the truck rolling. The end result is a big discount within the quantity of diesel used. Equally, if the system detects the truck goes uphill, electrical help shall be utilized generously to reduce the results of an in any other case high-fuel consumption state of affairs. Based on TD’s web site, elements like climate circumstances, route topography, and site visitors will also be thought-about, although it was much less clear to me how these play in to when the trailer applies energy. The system will also be configured to disable itself if the battery capability reaches a predefined cutoff level (essential, as fleet operators ideally need a minimal degree of cost assured at any second).
The system itself is, by the requirements of passenger electrical autos, some very heavy-duty stuff. Battery packs of both 400 kWh or 600 kWh are employed (a 200 kWh unit is coming later), with the 600 kWh configuration being essentially the most fascinating amongst TD’s potential prospects. That’s as a result of the economics of effectivity apparently repay finest for longer routes, the place a bigger battery goes to be needed. The electrical motor unit outputs as much as 580 kW (777 hp), which is spectacular, but it surely’s the insane 13,000 nm of torque that’s doing the heavy lifting (actually). Charging can also be fairly rattling fast, with the 800V structure supporting 44 kW AC and as much as 350 kW DC quick charging. The supersized figures right here make sense when you think about the weights at play — BMW is testing TD’s trailers with a payload of 16 metric tonnes, or over 35,000 kilos. (Particularly, BMW has been utilizing them to haul electrical drive models for its passenger vehicles.)
As for the tip effectivity, BMW is seeing gasoline consumption lowered by almost 50% on a few of the long-haul routes it’s testing, which means emissions on these routes are reduce in half. Even on shorter routes, the determine is in extra of 45% gasoline financial savings. As a result of BMW is utilizing 100% carbon-neutral sources to recharge the trailer batteries, it estimates that every e-trailer may reduce as much as 120 tonnes of CO2 emissions from its fleet every year. For comparability, assuming a “typical” ICE automotive emits round 5 tonnes of CO2 yearly, every trailer optimally utilized is like taking 60 vehicles off the highway. All that’s to say: It’s laborious to overstate how a lot gasoline an actual huge truck makes use of.
BMW has additionally been testing TD’s trailers with electrical vans, the place the system successfully acts as a spread extender. Relying on the particular truck, payload, and route, BMW says the vary of an electrical truck might be prolonged by an element of 2-3x, opening up solely new situations for the usage of BEV tractor models. In a single take a look at, BMW used an unspecified Volvo e-truck together with a TD mega trailer to go over 600 km (373 miles) with out recharging.
In an ideal world, diesel vans would get replaced with electrical ones wholesale. However in actuality, the design precept of vans as long-life belongings implies that ICE trucking will stick round a good bit longer than combustion passenger vehicles. If we will attain some extent the place e-trailer techniques like Trailer Dynamics’ are minimizing trucking gasoline consumption at scale, although, we will nonetheless have an actual net-positive impression on emissions whereas that transition happens. And since this type of system advantages each ICE and EV tractors (arguably, the latter much more so), this can be a situation the place the hybrid step-transition makes rather more sense. There’s nothing redundant being engineered right here for the sake of ICE vans; these trailers will retain their usefulness within the age of BEV trucking.
For BMW, the EV trucking aspect of the equation has an added bonus — the low-liner “mega trailer” configuration it makes use of for a considerable amount of its transport fleet vastly limits the vary of obtainable EV truck choices. Utilizing TD’s mega trailer resolution as a spread extender is thus a superb technique to work round that problem. (Mega trailers are a high-capacity trailer class particularly developed to be used within the EU, the place they continue to be extraordinarily fashionable. These space-maximized trailers require a specific class of truck chassis with a really low deck flooring for towing, and that leaves little or no room for a battery.)
As for the challenges of stuffing an enormous battery within the backside of an already super-heavy-laden trailer? They’re not nonexistent. Based on BMW, TD’s options are finest for delivery in “cubed out” configurations — that’s, using the utmost quantity of a container, not its most weight. And certain, the battery cannibalizes a few of the out there area for cargo. However, over time and with the evolution and refinement of the system (weight discount is certainly one of TD’s quick targets), larger and larger payloads will turn out to be possible. Human habits is one other huge issue to contemplate. Suppose a tractor operator continues to be driving like a leadfoot. In that case, it’s doable to mitigate a good bit of the system’s gasoline financial savings (BMW noticed gasoline consumption variability of as much as 20% throughout testing based mostly on driver). On the economics, BMW believes that e-trailers will considerably decrease fleet working prices, offsetting initially greater acquisition prices for the tools.
Down the highway, TD suggests it may additionally begin utilizing its tech to help within the on-road security of tractor-trailers, making use of energy or engine braking power for stability administration (for instance, if a truck is at risk of jackknifing). Proper now, the corporate is simply getting began, and at the moment has seven trailers in operation (an eighth was simply delivered).
Whereas cleansing up our passenger vehicles may have an actual impact on international CO2 emissions, the impression of trucking transport is one thing we must always all be contemplating, too. Based on knowledge from the IEA, highway freight accounts for 30% of all international transportation emissions, making it the second-largest contributor behind passenger autos — and by a large margin. (For comparability, all air and sea transit contributes simply above 10% of worldwide emissions every. Rail sits at a measly 1%.)