Trucks and trailers: electric range and CO₂ targets need planning
Why electric trucks and trailers miss their range and CO₂ targets without predictive energy management, and how to check what a plan could save.
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Route and energy planning for electric trucks
What happens. An electric truck has a battery that has to last for the route, the load and the weather. Today the driver or the dispatcher plans by experience and a safety reserve, and the vehicle’s own energy management reacts only to the next few metres.
What it costs. Range is left unused because of the reserve, or the truck arrives with too little charge and has to stop to charge at the wrong time. Both cost delivery time, and for the maker they weigh on the claim for the vehicle.
Why the usual fix fails. A larger battery buys range at the price of weight and money. A rule-based driving mode does not know the hills, the traffic or the charging stops ahead.
How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From drive-cycle logs (speed, load, gradient, battery and motor data, outside temperature) and route data I check how much energy the vehicle could save if the driving and the charging stops were planned against the route. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether predictive energy planning is worth building into your vehicles, and which data it would need.
Background: Optimal paths, schedules and setpoint plans
Trailers must show lower CO₂ with electric axles
What happens. Trailer makers face the first CO₂ targets for the trailers themselves (Verkehrsrundschau). Electric axles that recover braking energy and electric refrigeration units are the means, and the maker has to deliver the saving and document it.
What it costs. A recuperating axle only saves what the control lets it recover. If recovery and drive are set once for an average trip, the saving on a hilly route, with a heavy load or in cold weather falls short of what was promised.
Why the usual fix fails. Fixed recuperation maps are quick to commission but do not adapt to the route. Adding battery capacity to make up for it adds weight and cost, which works against the target.
How a fixed-price remote diagnosis checks it. From test and field logs (axle torque, braking events, speed, load, battery and refrigeration unit power) I look at where recovered energy is lost and whether predictive energy management over the route would change that. The fixed-price remote diagnosis tells you whether that management can be added to your axle or unit, and how to document the effect.
Background: Economic predictive control
More problems that concern this industry
These problems are described on the page of the industry where they matter most:
- Stacks must last for years, but heat and dry operation age them fast (Fuel-cell system makers)
Check it on your plant first: a fixed-price remote diagnosis
EUR 4,500 net · 5 working days · remote · availability on request · freelance or through temporary agency work
Within a fixed scope and at a fixed price, I review your data, control structure and measurements remotely and tell you whether the problem on this page is behind your symptoms and what fixing it would take. You get a short summary for decision-makers and a technical report for your engineers.