Reducing CO 2 Emissions of Hybrid Heavy-Duty Trucks and Buses: Paving the Transition to Low-Carbon Transport

Nikiforos Zacharof, Evangelos Bitsanis, Stijn Broekaert and Georgios Fontaras ()
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Nikiforos Zacharof: Laboratory of Applied Thermodynamics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Evangelos Bitsanis: Joint Research Centre of European Commission, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Stijn Broekaert: Joint Research Centre of European Commission, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Georgios Fontaras: Joint Research Centre of European Commission, 21027 Ispra, Italy

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-26

Abstract: This study investigates the CO 2 reduction potential of powertrain hybridisation on heavy-duty lorries and city buses. The analysis considers modern parallel and serial hybrid architectures, assessing their efficiency and limits in CO 2 emission reduction through vehicle simulation in VECTO, which is the official tool of the European Commission for calculating heavy-duty vehicle fuel and energy consumption. The results reveal distinct trends for each vehicle type and architecture. In lorries, more significant improvements are observed in urban delivery profiles, reaching up to ~16%, indicating the benefits of hybridisation in transient conditions with energy recuperation opportunities. City buses, particularly those with serial architectures, exhibit significant emission reductions that reach 36%, making them suitable for urban environments. The optimisation of electric motor size and performance plays a crucial role in achieving emission reductions, while battery capacity must be carefully considered to avoid adverse effects. For lorries in urban delivery use, further improvements of 17.5% can be achieved by utilising a 160 kW engine motor and 30 kWh battery. Buses are already quite well optimised, with serial architecture presenting the highest benefits with a 120 kW electric motor and a battery of 11 kWh. Future research should focus on supercapacitors and gearboxes to improve efficiency at higher vehicle speeds and assess hybridisation potential in interurban coach travel. The heavy-duty vehicle sector can make significant strides towards low-carbon transport by maximising hybrid powertrain efficiency and emission reductions.

Keywords: heavy-duty vehicle; bus; truck; lorry; serial; parallel; hybrid; VECTO; simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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