In a discussion about electric trucks, one of the first questions asked is inevitably about range, followed by a number of qualifiers such as, is that fully loaded? Up a hill? What about in winter? When it’s raining?
Of course, these are all legitimate questions, although such questions are based on a presumption that you will leave your base fully charged and drive until the battery is completely exhausted. Whilst it may well be that you do fully charge before you set out, it could be that you can top up during a shift to ensure you have plenty of range capability in hand.
'Opportunity charging' can ideally be coincided with a break – clarification is being sought from the DVSA that charging doesn’t constitute ‘other work’. And of course, many routes can be well within the range of an electric vehicle – the average daily distance travelled by the 20 vehicles involved in the Battery Electric Truck Trial (BETT) was just 95 km, although the highest was 573 km.
The BETT final report provides a useful and in depth insight into factors affecting range summarised as follows.
“Temperature is a particularly important factor that affects the range of a vehicle, with a reduction of around 30% in winter compared to summer. Some of this reduction is due to increased consumption of energy for cab heating and for warming the temperature-controlled cargo bodies. A reduction in fuel efficiency would also be expected in diesel vehicles during colder temperatures.
"Payload is also a significant factor in energy consumption, but its impact depends on the drive cycle. The frequent accelerations and decelerations of urban driving mean a high payload has a larger impact than it does on motorway driving where speed is more consistent.”
For more information on this hot topic make sure to read the report in full.
Send a comment