Economic feasibility of electrified highways for heavy-duty electric trucks

K. Qiu, H. Ribberink and E. Entchev

Applied Energy, 2022, vol. 326, issue C, No S0306261922011928

Abstract: New solutions to decarbonization in the transport sector are prominently required to replace oil consumption. Full battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are usually limited to light duty and medium duty vehicles due to their limited battery energy density and cost. The aim of this study is to evaluate the economic feasibility of heavy-duty electric trucks that are supplemented by electrified highways (eHighways), instead of using conventional diesel trucks and full BEV trucks, and address the technical aspects of eHighways. The battery is the most expensive component of electric vehicles. The principle of eHighway is that electricity is supplied to electric vehicles directly from the electric grid as they travel along the road. The eHighway concept is being developed with two primary methods to convey the power source to the vehicle: conductive power transfer (CPT) where electric connection to the vehicle is provided through electric wires from above the vehicle and inductive power transfer that is in-motion wireless power transfer (WPT). If eHighways are installed on the major links that connect main cities, the eHighway technologies will be suitable for long-distance journeys. This research evaluates the applications of both CPT and in-motion WPT technologies. A case study is conducted, and various costs are calculated and analyzed. Results show that the driving cost (i.e. break even selling price of electricity) for a heavy-duty electric truck on the eHighway using CPT technology ranges from $ 0.242 to 0.666 per km and the driving cost of a heavy-duty electric truck on the eHighway using in-motion WPT technology ranges from $0.279 to 1.031 per km, depending on daily traffic volume. If fuel and vehicle prices evolve as predicted between now and 2050, eHighways could become an economically feasible form of road transport, especially for the heavy-duty trucks segment, resulting in energy savings and thus significant reductions in CO2 emissions. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate which parameters have a greater impact on the economic viability of the eHighway systems.

Keywords: eHighways; Wireless power transfer; Conductive power transfer; Electric truck (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261922011928
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:326:y:2022:i:c:s0306261922011928

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119935

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().