Alternative Vehicle Technologies Research Articles

ASSESSMENT OF BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE LOGISTICS

ABSTRACT This study investigates the various challenges faced by firms in their pursuit of sustainable logistics strategies. First, we need to catalog all the obstacles that keep the logistics sector from becoming more socially and environmentally conscious so that we can assess the challenges of sustainable logistics. Establishing sustainable logistics practices is not without its challenges, including but not limited to: cost, lack of knowledge, infrastructure, legislation, technology, complexity of the supply chain, reluctance to change, problems with measurement and reporting, competitive pressures, and unpredictable customer behavior. "Green logistics" refers to a comprehensive strategy for managing supply chains with an eye toward minimizing negative impacts on the environment. Reduce emissions, waste, and resource consumption at every stage of the supply chain using green logistics. This method covers everything from acquiring raw materials to final disposal. Implementing measures like as route optimization, fleet modernization, and packaging can help businesses save money, run more efficiently, and reduce their environmental impact. Some sustainable transportation options include using alternative fuels and vehicle technology, optimizing last-mile delivery solutions, and encouraging multimodal transportation systems. KEYWORDS : Barriers of Sustainable logistics, Sustainable transportation, Green logistics, Sustainable supply chain, Best and worst method

Strategic transport fleet analysis of heavy goods vehicle technology for net-zero targets

This paper addresses the decarbonisation of the heavy-duty transport sector and develops a strategy towards net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in heavy-goods vehicles (HGVs) by 2040. By conducting a literature review and a case study on the vehicle fleet of a large UK food and consumer goods retailer, the feasibilities of four alternative vehicle technologies are evaluated from environmental, economic, and technical perspectives. Socio-political factors and commercial readiness are also examined to capture non-technical criteria that influences decision-makers. Strategic analysis frameworks such as PEST-SWOT models were developed for liquefied natural gas, biomethane, electricity and hydrogen to allow a holistic comparison and identify their long-term deployment potential. Technology innovation is needed to address range and payload limitations of electric trucks, whereas government and industry support are essential for a material deployment of hydrogen in the 2030s. Given the UK government's plan to phase out new diesel HGVs by 2040, fleet operators should commence new vehicle trials by 2025 and replace a considerable amount of their lighter diesel trucks with zero-emission vehicles by 2030, and the remaining heavier truck fleet by 2035.

Choice-based preference disaggregation concerning vehicle technologies

The preference disaggregation paradigm in multi-criteria decision analysis allows inferring a multicriteria preference model for decision makers from their holistic judgments. In the well-known additive value function framework, preference disaggregation methods infer parameters that define the value functions for the multiple criteria. The present work addresses the use of choice-based multiple questions, rather than eliciting a ranking or a classification of alternatives as typically done. It proposes simple mathematical formulations to obtain the most typical value-function shapes (concave, convex, or S-shaped) and a post-optimization step to avoid extreme cases. These methods are applied in an empirical study concerning the preferences of a population towards vehicle technologies. Over a hundred potential vehicle buyers in Portugal were interviewed in person. The analysis examines to what extent respondents are consistent, what do their value functions inferred from choice-based questions look like, and how well do these functions represent their preferences for alternative vehicle technologies. Respondents were found to be frequently inconsistent in their answers to choice-based questions. However, the inferred value functions reproduced their choices with a relatively small internal error. Requiring the value function to have a typical shape did not increase error in general. The post-optimization step contributes to decrease the difference among the criteria weights and matches better the preferences displayed by the respondents when performing an additional task based on a detailed elicitation process.

Exploring a case transition to low carbon fuel: scenarios for natural gas vehicles in Irish road freight

To attain emissions reduction targets within lagging transportation areas, several alternative fuel technologies such as methanol, natural gas, electric, hydrogen and biofuels have been suggested to replace conventional gasoline-powered vehicles at different points. In the process, several policies have been implemented and assessed in attempts to stimulate the diffusion of cleaner alternative vehicle technologies. This study seeks to explore the effect of some of these policies on driving vehicle switching within the Irish road freight. An agent-based model (ABM) is developed to evaluate the relative policy effect on natural gas vehicle (NGV) switching. More specifically, the model focuses on vehicle features and payback decision as conditions with the potential to impact natural gas vehicle switching. A simulation was performed over 13 years with the base year of 2017 running towards the 2030 vision. Initial findings indicate opportunities for NGVs with regards to a few determinants, which include vehicle switching population, gas demand, carbon (CO2) savings and incentive costs. In a ‘business as usual payback’ scenario with a carbon tax levy of €20/CO2 tonne(t), these opportunities decline with a reduction in vehicle weight category and kilometres travelled, requiring the intervention of supporting policies such as subsidy provision and improved fuel price gaps through increasing CO2 tax rates per tonne (€20-€100/CO2 tonne). Based on the observed emissions savings, natural gas is recommended as a bridging path towards renewable fuels integration in road freight, if significant emissions reduction is to be achieved.

Assessing the performance of vehicles powered by battery, fuel cell and ultra-capacitor: Application to light-duty vehicles and buses

As alternative vehicle technologies gain more importance in the market, this work assesses the possibility of a multi power source vehicle configuration by evaluating the performance of an electric vehicle powered by battery (BEV), fuel cell (FCEV), ultra-capacitor (UC) and combination of the former. A flexible vehicle simulation model was developed in MATLAB-Simulink and vehicle performance was evaluated in various 1 Hz certified cycles, enabling the assessment of light duty and heavy-duty vehicles powered by various power sources. The developed model accurately estimates energy consumption and range of passenger vehicle with an average absolute error of less than 4% and 2% for the electric bus. The study showed that BEV has the least energy consumption (23%), followed by FCEV (65%) compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in real world conditions. Regarding the combination of energy sources, an increase in range by 10% is estimated when battery is combined with fuel cell, while combining ultra-capacitor with battery enables a lifetime extension of battery life by 10%, with negligible change in range. Combining secondary sources with fuel cell shows a reduction of total fuel cell capacity by 40% for the same operation. Analysis on ultra-capacitor showed negative response with light duty vehicle, while for buses the usage of batteries shows positive results with negative impacts on cost and recharging time. Ultra-capacitors are highly recommended for short-frequent trips with fast recharging and a life of 20 years, while fuel cells as a primary energy source are recommended for the long-range trips in coaches and trucks.

Life cycle assessment of fuel cell systems for light duty vehicles, current state-of-the-art and future impacts

Electric vehicles are a key technology for achieving a significant reduction of greenhouse gas directly emitted by the fleet of light duty vehicles. In the past, the production impacts of alternative vehicle technologies have been widely assessed within the life cycle assessment framework, with large uncertainties regarding fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). FCEVs allow an almost double driving range with a single charge or refill of the tank and more than ten times the fueling/charging rate compared to batteries. However, FCEVs currently suffer from two major issues, lack of widespread fueling infrastructure coverage and high production costs, compared to the well-established Li-ion batteries. Furthermore, the data used for life cycle assessments of the technology should be constantly updated, as their technological development is rapidly moving forward. In this regard, an early detection of the likely environmental impacts from this fast development is fundamental to guide the progress of the technology.In this study we perform a life cycle assessment of a fuel cell system for FCEV currently on the market. We found that the production of the tanks, the catalyst and the fuel cell auxiliaries are the components with lower environmental performance of the system, across all the investigated impact categories. Currently, the production of a fuel cell system with a net power output of 80 kW, and two storage tanks with a total capacity of 5 kg of H2, generates approximately 5 ton CO2-eq. In addition, in line with the targets set by the US Department of Energy, we performed an assessment of the prospective technological developments to identify its future impact. In the assessed prospective scenarios, we analyzed the effects of the technical improvements, and we subsequently combined them with the use of a higher share of renewable energy sources and secondary platinum. In essence, the technology shows potential reduction of the environmental footprints ranging from 25% to 70%, depending on the impact category. However, to achieve these results, the combination of renewable energy sources and a high learning rate must take place.

Cost-benefit analysis of alternative vehicles in the Philippines using immediate and distant future scenarios

Alternative vehicle technologies promise a sustainable future by reducing carbon emissions and pollution. However, their widespread adoption tends to be slow due to high costs and uncertainties in benefits. Using a life cycle-based approach, this study calculates ownership savings and societal benefits for various alternative vehicle technologies against their baseline vehicle technology (e.g. gasoline or diesel). The assessment is performed from a developing country context – in the Philippines. Furthermore, immediate and distant future scenarios are modeled. The immediate future scenario assesses costs and benefits if the shift is to happen now, while the distant future scenario considers the effect of widespread autonomous driving and ridesharing. The results of the study echo the significant societal benefits from electric- and fuel cell-powered vehicles found in literature, but they are hindered by high ownership costs. In the immediate future, the diesel hybrid electric vehicle can potentially have both positive societal and operational costs for public transportation. For a gasoline-powered private passenger car, a simple shift to diesel, 20% biodiesel or 85% methanol can be beneficial. In the distant future, it is expected that autonomous, rideshared vehicles can potentially lure people away from driving their own vehicles, because of lower costs per passenger-kilometer while sustaining the privacy and comfort of a private car.

The use of automotive fleets to support the diffusion of Alternative Fuel Vehicles: A Rapid Evidence Assessment of barriers and decision mechanisms

Automotive fleets in public and private organisations have been identified as offering niche market conditions to support the diffusion of nascent Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) technologies despite technological lock-in. This paper aims to uncover the effectiveness of fleets as early adopters for AFVs by investigating the outcomes of AFV implementations, the barriers hindering AFV adoption, the decision-making mechanisms and the factors contributing to a successful implementation. The evidences from the range of ex-ante and ex-post assessments reviewed point to: i) Adverse operational impacts on fleets due to technical limitations, resulting in degraded service provision; ii) Implementation barriers primarily linked to the refuelling infrastructure scarcity and the high acquisition cost, although lack of information and changing political environment also have a significant influence; iii) Adoption motivations directly related to the types of organisation, with public fleets mostly governed by political mandates, while private fleets adopt AFVs to enhance brand image; iv) Diverse decision-making processes involving numerous stakeholders where vehicle selection may be outside the remit of fleet managers. Consensual findings are that large entities are better positioned to adopt AFVs and that the focus on user experience and particularly on ease of operation is pivotal to ensure the acceptance of the technology during AFV implementation.

How sustainable is electric mobility? A comprehensive sustainability assessment approach for the case of Qatar

Electric mobility is a trending topic around the world, and many countries are supporting electric vehicle technologies to reduce environmental impacts from transportation such as greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in cities. While such environmental impacts are widely studied in the literature, there is not much emphasis on a comprehensive sustainability assessment of these vehicle technologies, encompassing the three pillars of sustainability as the environment, society, and economy. In this study, we presented a novel comprehensive life cycle sustainability assessment for four different support utility electric vehicle technologies, including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and full battery electric vehicles. A hybrid multi-regional input-output based life cycle sustainability assessment model is developed to quantify fourteen sustainability indicators representing the three pillars of sustainability. As a case study, we studied the impacts for Qatar, a country where 100% of electricity generation is from natural gas and have a very unique supply-chain, mainly due to a wide range of exported products and services. The analysis results showed that all-electric vehicle types have significant potential to lower global warming potential, air pollution, and photochemical oxidant formation. A great majority (above 90%) of the emissions occurs within the region boundaries of Qatar. In the social indicators, internal combustion vehicles performed better than all other electric vehicles in terms of employment generation, compensation of employees, and taxes. The results highlighted that adoption of electric vehicle alternatives doesn't favor macro-economic indicators and they have slightly less for a life-cycle cost. The proposed assessment methodology can be useful for a comprehensive regionalized life cycle sustainability assessment of alternative vehicle technologies and developing regionalized sustainable transportation policies worldwide.

Well-to-wheel water footprints of conventional versus electric vehicles in the United States: A state-based comparative analysis

Today, increasing levels of water demand become a particularly serious challenge for many countries, especially since water is an essential element for production of transportation fuels. Unfortunately, no research efforts as of now have been directed specifically toward understanding the fundamental relationship between the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and water demand. This research aims to fill this knowledge gap by analyzing the water consumption and withdrawal impacts resulting from the increased usage of alternative vehicle technologies in the United States. 5 vehicle types - Internal Combustion Vehicles (ICVs), Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV20, PHEV40) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) - are analyzed across 50 U.S. states with 3 different electricity generation mix profiles: the state-based average electricity generation mix, the state-based marginal electricity generation mix, and a hypothetical electricity generation mix consisting entirely of solar-powered charging stations. The well-to-wheel (WTW) life cycle analysis is used for the water footprint calculations. In worst case, BEVs may consume up to 70 times more water than ICVs. BEVs with solar charging have the lowest levels of water consumption and withdrawal and can reduce transportation water footprint by up to 97%. In most of the states, the marginal electricity generation mix has higher water consumption and withdrawal values than those of the average electricity generation mix. In particular, the authors suggest the use of BEVs with solar charging for states with the highest water-stressed areas (California (CA), Arizona (AZ), Nevada (NV), Florida (FL), etc.), and recommend the inclusion of incentives by federal and state governments for these states.

Development and application of China provincial road transport energy demand and GHG emissions analysis model

Energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of China’s road transport sector have been increasing rapidly in recent years. Previous studies on the future trends trend to focus on the national picture and cannot offer regional insights. We build a novel bottom-up model to estimate the future energy demand and GHG emissions of China’s road transport at a provincial level, considering local economic development, population and policies. Detailed technical characteristics of the future vehicle fleets are analyzed in several up-to date scenarios. The results indicate that China’s vehicle stock will keep increasing to 543 million by 2050. The total direct petroleum demand and associated GHG emissions will peak at 508 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) and 1500 million tonnes CO2 equivalent (Mt CO2,e) around 2030 in the Reference scenario. Natural gas vehicle diffusion has a large impact on petroleum demand reduction in the short term, with decreases of 41–46 Mtoe in 2050. Compared to the Reference case, battery electric and fuel cell vehicles will reduce petroleum demand by 94–157 and 28–54 Mtoe in 2050, respectively. When combined with decarbonization of future power supply, battery electric vehicles can play a significant role in reducing Well-to-Wheels GHG emissions in 2050 with 295–449 Mt CO2,e more reductions. The spatial distributions of future vehicle stock, energy demand and GHG emissions vary among provinces and show a generally downward trend from east to west. Policy recommendations are made in terms of the development of alternative fuels and vehicle technologies considering provincial differences, expansion of natural gas vehicle market and acceleration of electric vehicle market penetration.

Optimal Locating of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations by Application of Genetic Algorithm

The advent of alternative vehicle technologies such as Electrical Vehicles (EVs) is an efficient effort to reduce the emission of carbon oxides and nitrogen oxides. Ironically, EVs poses concerns related to vehicle recharging and management. Due to the significance of charging station infrastructure, electric vehicles’ charging stations deployment is investigated in this work. Its aim is to consider several limitations such as the power of charging station, the average time needed for each recharge, and traveling distance per day. Initially, a mathematical formulation of the problem is framed. Then, this problem is optimized by application of Genetic Algorithm (GA), with the objective to calculate the necessary number of charging stations then finding the best positions to locate them to satisfy the clients demand.

California Energy Commission funding for five extra stations

The California Energy Commission has released funding support for five additional hydrogen refueling stations, through its Alternative & Renewable Fuel & Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP). The grants fund projects that will expand the network of publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations that serve California's light-duty fuel cell electric vehicles.

Environmental and financial impacts of adopting alternative vehicle technologies and relocation strategies in station-based one-way carsharing: An application in the city of Lisbon, Portugal

In this study we propose a cost-benefit analysis method to assess the performance of carsharing systems with conventional and alternative vehicles, taking into account the different stakeholders’ financial costs as well as the environmental benefits. The method was applied to simulated mobility data for the case study of Lisbon, Portugal.Regarding operators’ annual profit, only diesel vehicles promised a profit of 544 thousand euros per year without vehicle relocations, and 646 thousand with relocations. Electric vehicles would lead to estimated losses of 1.1 million euros per year without vehicle relocations, which could go down to 890 thousand euros of financial losses with relocations. Fleets using two-seater gasoline vehicles can also achieve positive profit if they implement relocations.When analyzing the performance of carsharing systems with no relocations, only electric vehicles showed positive environmental impacts. However, when vehicles are relocated, the environmental benefit decreases because of the added kilometers. Additional scenarios for carsharing with electric vehicles were performed: free parking charges; duty-free costs; and depreciation costs similar to those of diesel vehicles. All the analyses showed positive annual net profits for the operator, indicating that policies might promote the use of cleaner vehicles.From the travellers’ perspective, the overall balance is always negative because the price paid for the carsharing system is not offset by the savings of not using a private car or public transport. This happened even if we add the more subjective benefit of the added utility of an extra transport option to the current mode choice.

Plug-in fuel cell electric vehicles: A California case study

Plug-in fuel cell electric vehicles (PFCEVs) combine features of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). With a 40-mile battery electric range (BER), the PFCEV provides unusually efficient driving. The BER also affords convenient recharging. The fuel cell and hydrogen fuel facilitate long range and quick refueling, removing range anxiety. With a small battery and fuel cell, the PFCEV maintains weight low and efficiency high. Thereby, PFCEVs are economically competitive with other vehicles and unusually efficient. This paper uses California as a case study of PFCEV deployment due to regulations that make it the first deployment area of alternative vehicle technology. If all vehicles in California today were PFCEVs, the hydrogen required would be significantly less than current hydrogen production for petroleum refining in California, and the electricity used would be 19% of California's current total demand. The BER capability suggests fewer hydrogen fueling stations needed to fuel PFCEVs compared to non-plug-in FCEVs. These results suggest that PFCEVs are an attractive candidate as the principal vehicle owned by the majority of the motoring public in the electric vehicle era.

Developing an advanced biofuels industry in California: The alternative and renewable fuel and vehicle technology program

Developing an advanced biofuels industry in California: The alternative and renewable fuel and vehicle technology program

How Total is a Total Cost of Ownership?

In this paper a segmented Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model is presented for alternative vehicle technologies as well as its extension with external costs related to vehicle ownership and use. Adding external costs to the TCO extends the interpretation of individual ownership to a societal perspective by describing the effect of the technologies on the costs for the society. This extension, called “Total Cost for Society”, suggests that battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles have a lower societal cost than petrol, diesel and compressed natural gas vehicles.

Assessment of pathways to reduce CO2 emissions from passenger car fleets: Case study in Ireland

This study modelled the Passenger (PC) fleet and other categories of road transport in Ireland from 2015 to 2035 to assess the impact of current and potential greenhouse gas mitigation policies on CO2 emissions. Scenarios included the shift of purchasing towards diesel PCs over gasoline PCs. Scrappage rates were also calculated and applied to the fleet to predict future sales of PCs. Seven future policy scenarios were examined using different penetrations of PC sales for different vehicle technologies under current and alternative bio-fuel obligations. Tank to Wheel (T2W) tailpipe and Well to Wheel (W2W) CO2 emissions, and energy demand were modelled using COPERT 4v11.3 and a recently published W2W CO2 emissions model. A percentage reduction of conventional diesel and petrol vehicles, in different scenarios compared to a baseline scenario in the W2W model was applied to estimate the likely changes in T2W emissions at the tailpipe up to 2035. The results revealed that the biofuel policy scenario was insufficient in achieving a significant reduction of CO2 emissions. However, without a fixed reduction target for CO2 from the road transport sector, the success of policy scenarios in the long run is difficult to compare. The current Electric vehicle (EV) policy in Ireland is required to be implemented to reduce CO2 emissions by a significant level. Results also show that a similar achievement of CO2 emission reduction could be possible by using alternative vehicle technologies with higher abatement cost. However, as EV based policies have not been successful so far, Ireland may need to search for alternative pathways.

Climate change mitigation and deployment of electric vehicles in urban areas

Mobility plays a crucial part of our life. Alternative fuels and vehicle technology can mitigate climate change and greenhouse gases from road transport. This study analyses power-train deployments scenarios for the vehicle fleet of the city of Athens until 2021, taken into consideration European policy developments on vehicle CO2 emissions and technological level of readiness, European emissions standards, Greece's economic status, energy mandates and reductions in the European energy mix and translates these into comprehensive scenarios for the road transport sector. It quantifies and assesses the potential environmental impact of these scenarios on CO2 CO, NOx, HC, PM and CO2 emission reductions. The study proposes the development of a Strategic Zero Carbon Transport Plan for the city of Athens, aiming at the creation of a low carbon transport system, which will encompass issues such as life cycle thinking, urban planning and energy minimization aiming at climate change mitigation.

Uncertainty-embedded dynamic life cycle sustainability assessment framework: An ex-ante perspective on the impacts of alternative vehicle options

Alternative vehicle technologies have a great potential to minimize the transportation-related environmental impacts, reduce the reliance of the U.S. on imported petroleum, and increase energy security. However, they introduce new uncertainties related to their environmental, economic, and social impacts and certain challenges for widespread adoption. In this study, a novel method, uncertainty-embedded dynamic life cycle sustainability assessment framework, is developed to address both methodological challenges and uncertainties in transportation sustainability research. The proposed approach provides a more comprehensive, system-based sustainability assessment framework by capturing the dynamic relations among the parameters within the U.S. transportation system as a whole with respect to its environmental, social, and economic impacts. Using multivariate uncertainty analysis, likelihood of the impact reduction potentials of different vehicle types, as well as the behavioral limits of the sustainability potentials of each vehicle type are analyzed. Seven sustainability impact categories are dynamically quantified for four different vehicle types (internal combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles) from 2015 to 2050. Although impacts of electric vehicles have the largest uncertainty, they are expected (90% confidence) to be the best alternative in long-term for reducing human health impacts and air pollution from transportation. While results based on deterministic (average) values indicate that electric vehicles have greater potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, plug-in hybrid vehicles have the largest potential according to the results with 90% confidence interval.