Battery Dimensioning and Life Cycle Costs Analysis for a Heavy-Duty Truck Considering the Requirements of Long-Haul Transportation

The use of heavy-duty battery electric trucks for long-haul transportation is challenging because of the required high energy amounts and thus the high capacity of traction batteries. Furthermore a high capacity battery implies high initial costs for the electric vehicle. This study investigates the required battery capacity for battery electric trucks considering the requirements of long-haul transportation in Germany and compares the life cycle costs of battery electric trucks and conventional diesel trucks in different transportation scenarios. The average consumption is simulated for different battery electric truck configurations on the main German highways and transportation scenarios incorporating battery charging during driver rest periods. The results show that in average case the required battery would restrict the payload to only 80% of a usual diesel truck payload that might be acceptable considering the statistical payload use. The life cycle costs in the examined scenarios also considering the charging infrastructure show that battery electric trucks can already perform on the same costs level as diesel trucks in certain scenarios.