Trailer Innovation Key to Decarbonizing Heavy-Duty Commercial Trucking

Trailer Innovation Key to Decarbonizing Heavy-Duty Commercial Trucking

By: Ali Javidan, CEO and founder, Range Energy

Electrifying the heavy-duty transportation sector is a key factor in attaining society’s global emissions reduction targets. Today, medium and heavy-duty trucks are estimated to cause nearly a quarter of all CO2 emissions that come from the U.S. transportation sector while 90 percent of the U.S. GDP flows through the commercial trucking channel. The economics of diesel provide strong incentives for maintaining the status quo in this notoriously low-margin business. When it comes to range capabilities, weight, and refueling downtime, any electrification solution for heavy-duty transport must come with a compelling story and competitive economics.

Current electric tractor solutions in the market, coupled with prescriptive emissions reduction regulations, will eventually lead to decarbonizing this segment, but it will take time to change the composition of fleets, especially given that diesel truck sales are just coming off all-time highs. Furthermore, a state-of-the-art electric tractor on the market today costs several multiples of what a comparable diesel tractor costs, has severely limited range, and relies on expensive fast chargers in order to get reasonable asset utilization (read more on this equation in the WSJ’s piece, “Commercial Trucks are a Key Part of EV Adoption. What’s Holding them Back?). California regulators recently passed the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, which strives for a zero-emission California truck and bus fleet by 2045. While that rule and many like it narrowly focus on electrifying the tractor, an expensive and currently unscaled proposition, the California Air Resources Board Clean Off-Road Equipment (CORE) Voucher Program recently expanded its program to include the Range53-foot electric trailer, the RA. Range’s acceptance into CORE represents a step-change for the industry as it is the first time a trailer electrification platform has become eligible for such an incentive, and ensures trailers are considered by policymakers as a decarbonization solution.

As it becomes increasingly timely to reduce heavy-duty emissions, stakeholders no longer need to view the trailer as dead weight. Thanks to strides in control technology and the maturation of the EV powertrain supply chain, the trailer represents a viable, essential, and practical pathway to decarbonize heavy-duty trucking. Powered trailers can extend the range of electric tractors and increase fuel economy of diesel tractors while still respecting the hook-up-and-go paradigm that today’s trucking industry requires. They’re also significantly less expensive and less dependent on high-cost charging infrastructure to deliver compelling utilization rates. And under CORE, California fleet owners, and operators are now eligible for point-of-sale incentives of $80,000/unit that will offset the cost of cleaner off-road equipment and support innovative developments to reduce pollution.?

The tractor and trailer, how it works

For those not familiar with heavy trucks, they consist of two parts: a tractor and a trailer. Tractors are the front unit of the trucking system where the driver sits. Trailers hook on to the back of that tow vehicle to actually haul the freight, and in today’s scenarios are inactive as they rely on the fuel and internal combustion engine of the tractor to pull them along. The fact that these important pieces of hardware lacked an engine in today’s system caused them to be somewhat overlooked as a meaningful step on the pathway to decarbonization. The truth of the matter is they will serve as the gateway to the industry’s electric transition.?

The uphill battle of electrifying the tractor

While there has been great progress made with the launch of the Tesla Semi, eCascadia, Volvo VNR Electric, and others, the industry still faces significant challenges in building and scaling an electric tractor.

• e-semis will take several decades to fully penetrate the market due to a large existing install base of low-mileage diesel tractors;
• e-semis severely limit the operating radius of truck loads, making them less versatile than diesel trucks operating today;
• Fleet owners need to invest enough capital in enough electric vehicles to meet current– and growing–demands of the supply chain, or face regulatory penalties;
• e-semis require fast charging infrastructure that has yet to be built at scale and is often dependent on sluggish electrical grid updates to deploy.

Shifting today’s mindset from the tractor to include the trailer

With the ability to improve the efficiency of today’s commercial trucks in a fully drop-in manner (30-40% fuel efficiency based on our real-world deployments), the trailer is an essential component to the decarbonization of trucking. And, thanks to the maturation of necessary sensors, battery tech, and control systems have made it possible to electrify trailers with off-the-shelf components, which significantly accelerates time to market and enables streamlined regulatory compliance. The key is shifting the industry's mindset on the breadth of solutions from focusing on electrifying the tractor alone (or coupled with hydrogen range extenders) to electrifying the tractor AND the trailer.

With a comprehensive approach, electric-powered trailers can ease the industry’s transition to going fully electric. The cost savings and seamless transition offers an immediate benefit that lowers barriers to entry. And when e-semi fleets scale, electric-powered trailers will expand their utility by extending their range, directly solving a key operational hurdle in the adoption of these vehicles.?

Activating the trailer brings significant gains to drivers

The lifeblood of any trucking operation is, of course, the driver. Trailer electrification helps bring added safety and comfort benefits to this oftentimes underappreciated profession. By adding propulsion assist to a trailer that may weigh close to 60,000 lbs fully loaded, drivers are able to accelerate and maneuver more smoothly, improving their ability to climb grades and merge onto highways. This assistance also works in reverse – regenerative braking, besides the obvious energy-efficiency benefits, and also reduces brake wear. An effect of this lowered brake usage is that when nearing the end of a long downhill section, drivers are more able to rely on “cold” brakes to stop their vehicles in an emergency. We may soon be reaching an age where the runaway truck ramps that are ubiquitous on such stretches are solely used by those operators who have not yet upgraded their trailers.?

There are over 3.5M trailers on the road today, and that market is growing. While there is meaningful progress being made toward electrifying long-haul trucks, the time to market and adoption curve will be slower than expected. The industry simply can’t wait. For fleet owners to be successful and thrive in an electrified future, they need a solution today that will further benefit them tomorrow. With the ability to easily transition to electric and decrease carbon emissions, powered trailers are the solution to positively impact trucking’s emissions goals. As a result, the commercial trucking industry can lead the charge in strengthening the economy, improving public health and the environment along the way.