Quantifying the Economic Case for Electric Semi-Trucks
Source abstract
Abstract
There has been considerable interest in the electrification of freight transport; however, there is uncertainty in the technological and economic competitiveness due to the size and the substantial costs associated with large battery packs. Here we analyze the trade-off between the initial investment and the operating costs to compare a Class 8 diesel semi-truck and an electric truck with a range of 500 miles. We define the payback period to be the time span required for the operational cost savings to break even with the initial price differential. For an initial price differential of ∼US$100 000, we estimate a baseline payback period of 3.24 ± 1.46 years. We identify four targets in the 2020—2030 time frame, each of which needs to be met in order to ensure a payback period of about ∼5 years: (i) an optimized vehicle design with a drag coefficient of 0.4 ± 0.04 for lowering the pack size and meeting the payload demands, (ii) pack price of <US$150/kWh, (iii) a price of electricity <US$0.2/kWh with a peak power of over 500 kW per truck, and (iv) a battery pack cycle life such that less than 50% of the fleet requires battery pack replacements over their lifetimes. Achieving these targets will enable economic competitiveness of electric semi-trucks for hauling ranges of up to 500 miles.
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure · Transportation and Mobility Innovations · Urban and Freight Transport Logistics
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
Funding
Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University · Technologies for Safe and Efficient Transportation, University Transportation Center
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