Semi-Trailer Trucks Test Converting Into Plug-In Hybrids (ieee.org)
- Reference: 0184432296
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/07/13/0121226/semi-trailer-trucks-test-converting-into-plug-in-hybrids
- Source link: https://spectrum.ieee.org/self-powered-trailers-freight-decarbonization
> There are several companies, such as Tesla, trying to make semi trucks fully electric. The capital cost for such a truck, and the MW-scale infrastructure to recharge it, may be a hard sell for some operators.
IEEE Spectrum notes that's a charging infrastructure "that most freight corridors do not yet reliably provide."] But some companies are instead [2]adding batteries and an electric motor to the semi-trailers that trucks haul behind them.
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> "The Nivalis Powered Trailer Kit centers on an electric axle [rated at 50 kilowatts-peak]... capable of both propulsion assistance and regenerative braking. It draws on a 60-kilowatt-hour, 400-volt lithium-ion battery pack charged from three sources: the axle itself during braking and deceleration, a full-rooftop array of photovoltaic panels generating up to 3.7 kilowatts-peak, and a 32-amp, three-phase AC grid connection available during parking stops."
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> This approach is more akin to a plug-in hybrid: the truck may still be diesel-powered, but the electric assist from the trailer allows the truck to run more efficiently. Replacing diesel with kWh can save operators money while also reducing emissions. This incremental approach may be more accessible and less capital-intensive than replacing the truck itself.
From [3]the article :
> The driver's only window into the system is a small display readable from the cab's side mirror that shows the system status and battery charge level. Nothing about the trailer's handling or licensing requirements changes. The partners project savings of up to 7,000 liters of diesel per trailer per year, which is enough to keep about 19 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the air...
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> Trailer Dynamics, an Aachen-based company, has conducted field tests with BMW Logistics, DB Schenker, Duvenbeck, and Volkswagen Konzernlogistik, reporting average fuel savings of around 40% for diesel tractor combinations, substantially higher than the up to 18% reduction implied by the Nivalis projection... Trailer Dynamics prices its system between €145,000 and €195,000 and targets a payback period of no more than five years. Nivalis targets five to six years at current costs.
[1] https://www.slashdot.org/~necro81
[2] https://spectrum.ieee.org/self-powered-trailers-freight-decarbonization
[3] https://spectrum.ieee.org/self-powered-trailers-freight-decarbonization
Re: (Score:2)
> And put electric motors on all the wheels, tractor and trailer.
Efficiencies of the respective parts.
Here's an example calculation: [1]https://www.reddit.com/r/elect... [reddit.com]
In that example, a small generator (Honda EU2200i) was clocked at about 18% efficient. Meanwhile, diesel engines are around 40% to 50% efficient when turning the energy directly into mechanical work.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/11vhqjx/has_anybody_done_the_math_on_how_far_an_ev_can_go/
Re: (Score:3)
The mechanical transmission from the engine to the truck wheels is one of the most efficient and least issue prone parts of the system. By doing what you're suggesting, you're still eating the whole inefficiency of ICE engine (whereas the battery allows you to store and use use cheap renewable energy which is becoming increasingly abundant in many places, as well as still much more efficiently converted energy from fossil fuel if it has to come from there) and all you get is saving on some cheap oil and ste
Anyone seen 2017 "Logan"? (Score:2)
In that movie, there's these container haulers that just look like a run-away trailer without the truck, self driving and electrically powered, completely autonomously (and rather inconsiderately of pedestrians) blasting down the roads.
Well, this development feels like something that could actually lead to that future, a little at a time. Once you electrify the trailer with "assist", it might as well be given the ability to move around "on its own", slowly, around enclosed cargo ports, to facilitate the loa
Travel trailers too (Score:2)
There are a few electric travel trailers out there now. They are fully electric, like these, but I guess when you combine with the hauling vehicle you could call the whole system a hybrid. Besides the usual regenerative braking, you could apply a little resistance on long flat stretches of road to top off the battery for either an upcoming hill, or to run a refrigeration unit. With route planning, the system could know if you have a big hill coming up and need to top off, or if you'll be dropping the tr
Real advantage is the assist, not the braking. (Score:2)
For the best hybrids, the major advantage is not the regenerative braking. While that helps save some energy, it is relatively minor.
Instead the main advantage is that you can design the internal combustion engine (ICE) to run at a consistent RPM. You do not need to run the ICE at different speeds to get 30 mph, 45 mph and 60 mph. Instead you have one that just runs at a set RPM. Then you use the hybrid battery to supply all the power at low speeds and a boost at the max speeds.
The more efficient ICE c
between 165k and 222k usd? (Score:2)
how much for a new electric semi-trailer?