Abstract
Electrification of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) used for passengers and goods transportation is a key strategy to reduce the high levels of air pollution in large urban centers. However, the high investment cost of the commercially available electrified HDVs has limited their adoption. We hypothesized that there are applications where the operation with tailored electrified HDVs results in a lower total cost of ownership and lower well-to-wheel emissions of air pollutants, with higher acceleration capacity and energy efficiency than the fossil-fueled counterparts. The road transportation services running on fixed routes with short span distances (<50 km), such as the last mile cargo distribution and the passenger shuttle services, is a clear example with a high possibility of cost reduction through tailored electric HDVs. In this work, we present a methodology to define the most appropriate configuration of the powertrain of an electric vehicle for any given application. As a case study, this work aimed to define an electric powertrain configuration tailored for a university shuttle service application. A multi-objective weighted-sum optimization was performed to define the best geometrical gearbox ratios, energy management strategy, size of the motor, and batteries required. Based on three different driving profiles and five battery technologies, the results showed that, based on a 50 km autonomy, the obtained powertrain configuration satisfies the current vehicle operation with a reduced cost in every driving profile and battery technology compared. Furthermore, by using lithium-based batteries, the vehicle’s acceleration capacity is improved by 33% while reducing energy consumption by 37%, CO2 emissions by 31%, and the total cost of ownership by 29% when compared to the current diesel-fueled buses.
Highlights
Accepted: 26 January 2022By 2019, more than 90% of the world’s population was living in places where theWorld Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines levels were not met, which was estimated to cause 7 million premature deaths worldwide per year [1,2]
The main objective of this methodology is to define the minimum size of the comTheofmain objective of nents of the powertrain while while maintaining the current vehicle operation with equivalent or improved performance maintaining the current vehicle operation equivalent or improved performance (en(energy efficiency, acceleration capacity, andwith top speed)
This is a secondary effect of the weight increase because of the batteries needed to increase the autonomy. These results highlight the need for batteries with high needed to increase the autonomy. These results highlight the need for batteries with high energy density for the operation of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs)
Summary
Accepted: 26 January 2022By 2019, more than 90% of the world’s population was living in places where theWorld Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines levels were not met, which was estimated to cause 7 million premature deaths worldwide per year [1,2]. Because road transport is known to be the largest pollutant emitter in urban centers, the use of electric vehicles has been a growing alternative to improve air quality in urban centers and help the transition to smart cities [3]. This technology has evolved remarkably in recent decades, reducing vehicles’ purchase cost and total cost of ownership (TCO) every year [4]. In the same study, it was identified that the TCOs for small and medium electric vehicles and their fossil-fueled counterparts are almost on par, whereas for big electric vehicles, the TCO is still around 30% higher than that of their diesel alternative. Between 2019 and 2020 there was a 43% increment in Published: 28 January 2022
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