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Low demand for costly electric trucks: Demand has been low for heavy-duty battery-electric trucks despite a push from US federal and state governments to transition away from polluting diesel rigs, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. The lack of interest boils down to high costs, low range, long charging times, and battery weight that cannot compete with alternatives in the freight sector as of yet. “The economics just don’t work for most companies,” said Robert Sanchez, chief executive of truck leasing company Ryder System.
The costs: Battery-electric trucks cost about three times more than a standard diesel rig. Although some government programs offset these costs, they do not cover operations. Charging facilities are hard to install, taking years only for the trucks to require several hours to recharge to travel less than half the distance of a refueled diesel truck. The trucks are also heavier, which means more vehicles and drivers to haul the same freight volume. Even with the assumption of widely available charging infrastructure, light-duty battery-electric trucks increase costs by several percentage points and that gap widens as the trucks get heavier, according to a Ryder analysis. If a standard 25-truck fleet was converted — including 10 heavy-duty trucks — annual operating costs would go up by USD 3.4 mn, or 56%. These costs will have to be mitigated for battery-electric to compete with diesel in the freight industry.
China has developed its first 100-kg class vehicle-mounted liquid hydrogen system, according to a statement by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The system is set to enhance the range of hydrogen-powered heavy trucks to over 1k km on a single charge. It also offers a 20% increase in effective volume and a cost reduction of over 30%, while meeting international standards in quality, storage density, and refuelling time.
Not the first to reach 1k: Germany's Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck completed a journey of 1k km on a single fill of liquid hydrogen last September. The prototype truck was powered by a cell-centric fuel-cell system with a gross combined vehicle weight of 40 tons.
