“Action is needed to curb these emissions,” insists the European Commission, and manufacturers are lining up solutions in response.
These range from batteries to alternative fuels, which are obviously not new technologies per se, but manufacturers are beginning to employ them in new ways to deliver utility that truckers both want and can afford.
Clear signs that the search for viable alternatives to diesel is seen as a gold rush by manufacturers include this autumn’s arrival of mass-produced electric trucks, which are suitable for cities where air quality and noise requirements make diesel trucks unpalatable.
We will also welcome a truck that delivers a leap forward for gas-powered engines, and early next year we will see a hybrid range-extender solution that runs on glycerine.
Eager to mould the embryonic market for pure electric trucks, Daimler has just launched the Mitsubishi Fuso eCanter, a 3.5-tonne capacity truck powered by six 420V and 13.8kWh high-voltage lithium-ion battery packs, which deliver a range of about 97km.
“We want to put them out there with the current battery technology,” says product and sales technical manager Bob Gowans, although he is eager to stress that batteries will improve a lot in the next couple of years, and so will the company’s trucks.
Tesla is hot on Daimler’s heels, with a heavy-duty truck launch scheduled for
26 October. With an anticipated range of 320-480km per charge, it too will find it difficult to compete with long-haul diesel trucks, which can do 1,600km on a single tank.
“Electromobility requirements are totally different in the truck sector, as trucks are used 95% of the time, as opposed to cars which are used just 5% of the time,” observes Volvo Trucks environment and innovation director Lars Mårtensson. So, for long-haul trucks, alternative fuels offer more viable possibilities.
Take Volvo Trucks’ next-generation gas-powered truck, which is due to be launched later this year. Its engine is 15-20% more efficient than a conventional gas engine, so it offers satisfactory environmental performance even when running on natural gas, says Mårtensson. If biogas is used instead, closed-cycle benefits will kick in.
At the same time, the engine’s power and torque will be on a par with a regular diesel engine, which makes it suitable for long-haul transport, not least since long-haul gas infrastructure has improved dramatically in recent years, and as natural gas is 30-70% cheaper than diesel, Mårtensson reasons. “The business case is now very good,” he says.
In between pure electric and diesel trucks, there are a number of hybrid alternatives, which combine batteries with liquid or gaseous fuels. For instance, biodiesel, which is the most-used diesel alternative, or its more efficient cousin biogas. There is HVO – hydrotreated vegetable oil – a diesel made from renewables, which is colourless, odourless, non-toxic and biodegradable.
And then there is Tevva Motors’ solution, a 7.5-tonne electric truck with a range extender that runs on a form of glycerine, a carbon-neutral, safe, odourless, non-toxic and water soluble by-product of biodiesel production.
The Essex-based start-up firm insists this solution, which will arrive on the market early next year, will be the first to deliver long-range zero-emissions motoring.
“We’ve built an electric vehicle that has no range limitation,” says Tevva’s chief executive Asher Bennett.
Innovation is set to continue, as both large and small players combine batteries and alternative fuels in the most efficient ways possible. The outcomes will be lower costs and improved environmental performance.