Early findings from a Transport Canada-funded study by FPInnovations’ PIT Group are shedding new light on the factors affecting electric truck range.
The Zero-Emission Trucking Testbed project is nearing completion, after a launch in December 2023 and the collection of about a year’s worth of real-world data. PIT Group instrumented a total of 10 trucks – five diesels and five EVs – operated by Martin Brower and Loblaw in the Montreal area to collect data on their usage.
The project will culminate in a comprehensive report that will be publicly available by the end of this year, but the researchers are beginning to share some initial findings.
“Under this program, the objective is to implement and test and evaluate the performance of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles in fleets and learn from that implementation,” Mark Partington, manager, transportation and infrastructure with FPInnovations told TruckNews.com in an interview. “It’s to develop guidance, learnings and identify knowledge gaps on how to accelerate and improve on heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle implementation for fleets in Canada.”
Both Martin Brower and Loblaw have deployed such trucks in the Montreal area, hauling regional LTL shipments to local stores and restaurants. Martin Brower’s EV in the project is a Volvo VNR Electric while Loblaw operates VNR Electrics as well as Freightliner eCascadias.
Maxime Tanguay-Laflèche is senior researcher, telematics and advanced data, and has been charged with tracking the vehicles’ performance. He has been monitoring them for about 12 months. An early conclusion is that there must be more comprehensive training available for not just fleets, but also first responders.
First responder training
“Generally speaking, among first responders there’s a general awareness of what is required or what to look out for when dealing with high-voltage battery-electric trucks,” said Partington. “But there’s a large gap in information on first responder actions that need to be taken once they arrive on the scene.”
One of the recommendations of the project will be to take a national approach to develop first responder training, supported by provincial and federal governments.
“These trucks are changing, so the training has to evolve and be flexible in the coming years,” added Tanguay-Laflèche.
As for the trucks themselves, researchers found range was heavily dependent on several variables, including the use of regenerative braking and weather. Drivers had a big impact on range, dictated largely by their use of regenerative braking and even how they went about heating the cab.
Tanguay-Laflèche said range dropped as much as 30-35% in the wintertime. To limit weather’s impact on range, drivers were asked to adapt how they keep the cab warm.
Warming the cab
“They’re instructed to use the seat warmer more to keep themselves warm,” explained Tanguay-Laflèche. “The seat heater is extremely strong and they can use the air vents less. Usually, when you get in your car, you crank up the defrost and you leave it on to keep warm and you might turn the seat heater down, but that’s a less efficient use of the electricity in the vehicles. So, there’s training required and a different use of cab comfort that drivers need to consider, which can have a big impact on range.”
How they operate the truck has also proven to have a big effect on range, particularly when it comes to their use of regenerative braking. FPInnovations researchers noticed a wide variance in how much battery power was recovered through regenerative braking – anywhere from 5-30% depending on truck make and routes.
“I would put that to an average of between 8-14%,” Tanguay-Laflèche said of the amount of battery power recovered through regenerative braking. “That is mostly because of driver style. Some drivers are better at utilizing the regenerative braking.”
Routes also played a significant role in the use of regenerative braking.
Regenerative braking
“If they’re driving in a city where you have a bunch of stops and goes, you have more opportunity to regen as opposed to highway driving where you have less opportunity to regen,” explained Tanguay-Laflèche.
This knowledge will help fleets determine which routes are best suited for electric trucks.
Aside from range, FPInnovations researchers found the trucks were as reliable as the diesel trucks they replaced.
“Generally speaking, the vehicles are performing as we would have expected in fleets of this type, on this type of route and with these types of loads,” said Partington. “The vehicles are performing and are replacing diesel vehicles on the routes that these fleets have designated.”
PR benefits
They also found the trucks get noticed while on the road, delivering strong PR vibes for the fleets that run them. “The positive image it had on road users was significant,” noted Tanguay-Laflèche. “People were walking up to the trucks at the grocery stores to talk to the driver.”
And drivers themselves loved the trucks.
“The main advantage of a battery-electric vehicle for the drivers, is the absence of noise and vibration,” Tanguay-Laflèche said. “For a driver that’s sitting in those trucks for 10 or 12 hours a day, it’s a huge plus.”
Charge times were also a pleasant surprise; researchers said the fastest near full charge they saw took just two hours, with a normal charge taking about three, using heavy-duty fast chargers.
FPInnovations’ key advice for fleets considering deploying EVs is to start small. Put them into the fixed routes that capitalize on regenerative braking, ideally hauling lighter loads. Train drivers on how to maximize range.
“I would say start small…build your business case and then try it and see if it make sense,” Tanguay-Laflèche advised.
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