The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) has geared its “Run on Less” fleet evaluation process toward the next generation of battery-electric commercial vans and trucks in North American fleet operations .

Beginning in September last year, NACFE engineers and analysts began evaluating 13 electric fleet operations across the country, in applications ranging from electric terminal tractors to Class 4 and 5 delivery vans up to Class 8 electric semi-trailers operating regional haul routes. The actual Run on Less evaluation consisted of a three-week, real-world, battery-electric truck demonstration, which NACFE Executive Director Mike Roeth said proved that four market segments – minivans and vans, medium-duty box trucks, terminal tractors and heavy-duty regional haul tractors – are ready to go electric. And that if they did, he added, US and Canadian fleets could eliminate about 100 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year.

The 13 fleets that participated in Run on Less Electric, and the vehicles they operated, were:

• Anheuser-Busch with a BYD tractor
• Frito-Lay with a Cummins box truck
• Penske with a Freightliner eCascadia
• NFI with a Kalmar Ottawa Electric Terminal Tractor
• DHL with a Lightning eMotors van
• Day & Ross with a Lion6 electric truck
• Ryder with a Lonestar Specialty Vehicles Terminal Tractor
• Purolator with a Motiv-Powered Van
• Ruan with an Orange EV Terminal Tractor
• Biagi Bros with a Peterbilt 579EV
• Roush Fenway Racing with a Roush CleanTech Truck
• NFI with a Volvo electric VNR
• Electric Servall with a Workhorse C1000

These vehicles made their regular deliveries over a three-week period in September 2021 to various parts of the United States and Canada.

One of the main findings of Run on Less-Electric that Roeth points to is the current confusion regarding how fleets can understand the power consumption of electric trucks – a very different function than simply looking at a fuel gauge. empty.

“Energy consumption is the inverse of efficiency,” Roeth explained. “In battery electric vehicles, the often reported measure of energy efficiency is the number of kilowatt hours expended per mile (kWh/mi). This is not efficiency but rather consumption. NACFE has no did not directly report the consumption via the Run on Less-Electric metrics dashboard, but it was possible to estimate it from the data provided based on vehicle specifications, kilometers traveled per day and state of charge The Data NACFE has found that there are several ways to measure consumption – daily charge method, net charge method, daily use method and net use method – and their values ​​may differ.

Other important Run on Less Electric findings include:

• Early adopters of commercial battery electric vehicles are validating acceptable total cost of ownership in mid-duty city vans and trucks, terminal tractors, and short-duty regional haul applications.
• Adoption of battery-electric vans and trucks is occurring across North America, but the use of heavy-duty electric tractor-trailers over longer distances has been somewhat limited to California.
• Battery electric vehicles have advantages (quiet operation and reliability) as well as challenges (infrastructure and range).
• The battery electric truck ecosystem is in its infancy with many solutions emerging that will support adoption over the next few years.
• Industry needs to develop standards in the areas of charging, repair, maintenance and training.
• There is a huge demand for real information about electric vehicles in commercial applications and charging infrastructure.
• The mix of startups, traditional truck builders and component manufacturers accelerates the development of creative and practical solutions.
• More thought is needed on how best to collect and manage the data needed by fleets and manufacturers to measure and monitor their electric trucks and vans.
• Early adopters of commercial battery electric vehicles are influencing truck and infrastructure improvements.
• Battery electric trucks and vans present operational challenges, such as longer charging times than refueling, that these fleets are working to mitigate.

Be flexible when considering electric vehicle options

Roeth says that due to the limited availability of electric vans and trucks and a lack of sustained operational data regarding their use, NACFE has been unable to shed light on some aspects of their use. This included long-term maintenance costs (which Roeth says are widely considered significantly lower than diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles) and total cost of ownership calculations.

However, NACFE was able to draw important conclusions for fleets considering experimenting with or adopting electric vehicles in the future. Among the most important points, NACFE analysts recommend:

• Explicitly know and understand your duty cycles, range requirements, dwell time, and other operating requirements.
• Choose battery capacity and charge based on these duty cycles with some safety factors to account for battery aging (since battery replacement costs are currently high).
• If possible, consider choosing electric vehicles with duty cycles that reduce the risk of range anxiety and will keep battery usage above 50% state-of-charge each time. shift.
• Understand that regenerative braking and opportunity charging can reduce grid energy demands or, conversely, contribute to range extension.
• Use managed charging to minimize electricity demand and costs. This means charging at night or during off-peak hours of use to ensure a lower rate and sufficient current availability.
• Understand that there are many opportunities in the fleet-utility relationship to negotiate net power pricing models for more favorable off-peak rates.

According to Roeth, Run on Less Electric has demonstrated that the technology is mature enough for fleets to invest in producing commercial battery-electric trucks and vans. Continuous improvement should be rapid as these technologies gain market share. The environmental benefit of reduced CO2 and particulate emissions is significant in replacing traditional diesel and gasoline vehicles, he said.

Additionally, Roeth said NACFE’s hope is that Run on Less Electric will encourage fleets to explore the deployment of commercial battery electric vehicles in operations where it makes sense, for manufacturers to improve their products for a comeback. on investment faster, and for others to better support the trucking industry‘s efforts to advance the use of commercial battery-electric trucks and vans