Rupert Barnard, e-mobility pre-sales engineer at Scania UK, is now used to fielding enquiries along the lines of: “I’d like to buy a battery-electric truck: how much is it?” The reality is that a truck supplied on this basis would be set up to fail, so his rejoinder is: “We need to know what you want to do with it and how it will fit into your operation.”
This interaction is the first step on an orderly and rational process that involves understanding what the truck will do and establishing whether an electric truck is fit for that purpose. “It’s not an emotional process like buying an electric car or motorbike – an electric truck needs to be a beneficial asset for the business,” asserts Barnard. “The worst case is supplying a truck that runs out of charge on the road.”
Preventing this scenario entails running e-mobility analytics on the operation before the new truck is specified and ordered. “We look at how the current operation runs,” he says. “Data for existing Scania vehicles can be pulled down via telematics and we check worksheets for trucks from other manufacturers. It’s a qualifying process to help us understand the operation.
“We find out what a working day looks like. What terrain does the truck cover, what bodywork and equipment does it have, what loads does it carry? The more data we can get at this stage, the better,” admits Barnard. “What the customer tells us doesn’t always correspond to what we find. For instance, many customers say they run at 44 tonnes, but we find that they only ever actually get to 39 or 40 tonnes max.
“Being able to access data to this level means we can spec a vehicle that’s fit for purpose. Getting all the operational data means we can take factors into consideration such as opportunities for charging, tachograph breaks and the need to power equipment such as cranes or tail-lifts. We can then calculate whether electric is actually viable, taking into account the terrain it drives over, the climate and the gross weight.”
Fact-finders
Good data in means good data out, says Barnard. The questions he raises are there to find whether the vehicle is viable in the individual business. “The aim is to form a trusted partnership with the operator. The amount of detail is immense: we can factor in everything from the number of loading/unloading stops in a shift to the use of in-cab climate-control.
“We consider what the customer wants to do. Are we talking about a fixed route, or more varied operations within a certain radius?,” he continues. “With these questions answered, we look at whether the need can be met by depot charging alone, or if we need to charge away from base.”
Seasonal variations also need to be considered. “Construction vehicles are far busier in summer than winter, whereas general hauliers may need to move from a single-shift operation to double shift during the pre-Christmas rush. This impacts on the time available to charge the vehicle.”
With all the data crunched, Barnard can return to the operator with an hour-long presentation showing what an electric vehicle could do in their operation. “We operate a traffic-light system. A green light is that an EV could do the job, an amber is that it can do the job with some operational and infrastructure changes and a red light is that it would currently be impossible.”
In charge
The current lack of charging infrastructure is seen as a major stumbling block, Barnard reports. “We have to look at connectability at the depot. Can we run a 350kW charger? We can recharge a truck with a 40kW charger, but it takes so long the truck can only be single-shifted. The right charger could charge several trucks simultaneously slowly at night, then top-up one truck at a time fast during drivers’ tachograph breaks during the day. Much depends on the capacity of the local sub-station.
“The route to electrification is likely to involve the entire business,” predicts Barnard. “We often make the presentation to whole board meetings, including people such as finance directors who may not be fully familiar with their own transport operations. We identify routes that can be converted now, and those that could be converted in the future as infrastructure improves. We present maps showing their regular routes, and where out-of-depot chargers will be required, if applicable.”
Electrification in the UK presents unique challenges, Barnard explains. “We tend to operate trucks more intensively, sweating the assets, but over shorter distances than on the continent. Shorter distances mean a more intensive duty cycle.”
European variations
The UK lags behind European transport in electrification for two reasons. “Particularly in Scandinavia there is more grid capacity and a surplus of renewable electricity,” explains Barnard. “The UK transport sector gets far less support for electrification than is given by European governments, so operators face much higher capex hurdles.
“Although battery energy density is improving, there are some operations that will remain the preserve of internal-combustion for a long time to come,” he adds. “For those, we can offer HVO as a pour-in low-carbon diesel substitute, or dedicated engines for gas fuels. Hydrogen is being worked on as well.
“The UK is on the way to electrification, but we are a bit behind some other European countries. Battery-electric will become the predominant solution: others such as an electric highway with overhead wires may not be suitable for the UK because of our taller trailers.”
Barnard advises that the ‘marketing range’ claimed for Scania electric trucks is not necessarily their true operational range. “It’s a conversation starter,” he explains. “It’s a figure that changes in use. Topography is an important factor: uphill drains batteries but downhills replenish them through regenerative braking. Traffic density impacts as well, as does weather, cruising speed, road conditions and vehicle weight.”
Climate change considerations
The impact of ambient temperature is not always fully considered. “We calculate our range at 8ºC: that’s a realistic figure for the UK. But batteries are best at 25ºC – above or below that they require heating or cooling which depletes range,” says Barnard. “Some manufacturers are stating ranges at ambient temperatures of 20ºC, which is obviously atypical for the UK for most of the year.”
Battery capacity and life is another area where quoted figures from various sources must be treated with caution. “We don’t allow the driver to deplete the battery from 100% to zero,” Barnard says. “Charging at the extremes chips away at battery capacity, so we make only 75% available, with 12.5% inaccessible at both top and bottom.”
Capacity decline is still inevitable and must be allowed for. A battery that has declined to 80% of its original capacity is judged to have reached the end of its first life, so a 20% margin must be calculated into the initial evaluation to allow for this.
The decline could take 12 years, reckons Barnard, depends on how heavy the use is. An end-of-first-life battery is still a valuable asset, though. “No sooner has a customer purchased a BEV, then they are bombarded with offers to buy the batteries and then lease them back. A vehicle battery with 80% capacity left is extremely useful for static energy storage,” he states. “We envisage operators retaining their second-life batteries and using them to store ‘home grown’ renewable energy from solar panels to reduce the cost of charging their next intake of battery trucks.”
The commercial case for BEV is becoming increasingly compelling. Every improvement in the charging network increases the variety of applications for the technology, but the overwhelming factor is the pressure to reduce carbon emissions.
“Large companies are considering Scope 3 carbon emissions – the emissions produced on their behalf by other operators. Ultimately, it’s not just our customers driving the demand for this technology, it’s our customers’ customers,” Barnard concludes.
Trial runs
The transition from ICE to EV is a process, says Jack Millington, Renault Trucks’ energy transition manager. “We ask, what does the customer do – and can any of that be done by electric vehicles,” he reasons.
Spec’ing electric trucks requires a different mindset: “Choosing a truck that can be flexible doesn’t always give the best solution,” he cautions. “In many cases it can be better to choose an electric truck that can be a payload champion or a range champion to suit the task and purpose rather than the proverbial ‘jack of all trades and master of none’.”
Millington sees the UK’s eFreight 2030 real-world trial of tractor units from Renault Trucks, Scania and DAF as being an important breakthrough in offering an objective view of the trucks’ performance in UK conditions. Operators Welch’s Transport, Expect Distribution, Kuehne and Nagel, Maritime Transport, Menzies Distribution, Wincanton, and Marks and Spencer are combining with charger manufacturer Voltempo Group to gain experience in electric freight transport, in a variety of operations and applications. “eFreight 2030 gives us an opportunity to get trucks on the road and operators a chance to compare.”
Aside from charging, one of the major obstacles in the minds of potential adopters is the battery question. They are the most expensive component on the truck – and there is little real-world information on how they will perform over time. “We have a battery life promise,” Millington explains. “A battery that performs to 80% of its original capacity is regarded as end-of-life for truck applications, but it will still have a value.
“We calculate the life on a time/energy basis,” he adds. “The larger a battery is for a given application, the longer its life – and this can be aligned with the expected life of the rest of the vehicle in its chosen use. This might be as long as 10 years, but six-to-eight years would probably be more typical.”
Millington sees refuse collection as being a relatively easy sector to electrify, with vehicles running predictable routes suited to battery power (low speed stop-and-start) and returning to base every night. RCV operators could consider whether it is more economical to fit low-capacity batteries and benefit from greater payload and lower front-end cost while accepting a shorter battery life, against maximising battery size.
On a wider note, Millington sees customer pressure playing an increasing role in driving the switch to electric. “On one hand you have own-accounts with a high retail profile seeing wider benefits from electrification. Warburtons the bakers, for instance, put one electric truck into service in 2021, and already this number has risen to five!
“On the other hand, you have companies using third-party transport providers who are coming under pressure to reduce their Scope 3 carbon emissions,” he reasons. “An operator using low-carbon trucks is likely to find it easier to get onto tendering shortlists as a result, but the real trick is going to be to see if the client can be persuaded to contribute towards the increased front-end cost of the vehicles.”
Long-term EV operators have to be cautious over tyre choice, says the Renault man. “There’s no specific EV truck tyre yet,” although he confirms that manufacturers are in discussions over this. “Operators should look for tyres with an A or B rolling resistance grade. A will obviously maximise range, but be aware that, depending upon the work undertaken, the replacement interval may be uneconomically short. Given the amount of carbon emitted in tyre manufacture and use, the B grade tyre may actually be more environmentally friendly, too!”
