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Electric Urban Delivery Trucks: Energy Use, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Cost-Effectiveness
journal contribution
posted on 2013-07-16, 00:00 authored by Dong-Yeon Lee, Valerie M. Thomas, Marilyn A. BrownWe
compare electric and diesel urban delivery trucks in terms of
life-cycle energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and
total cost of ownership (TCO). The relative benefits of electric trucks
depend heavily on vehicle efficiency associated with drive cycle,
diesel fuel price, travel demand, electric drive battery replacement
and price, electricity generation and transmission efficiency, electric
truck recharging infrastructure, and purchase price. For a drive cycle
with frequent stops and low average speed such as the New York City
Cycle (NYCC), electric trucks emit 42–61% less GHGs and consume
32–54% less energy than diesel trucks, depending upon vehicle
efficiency cases. Over an array of possible conditions, the median
TCO of electric trucks is 22% less than that of diesel trucks on the
NYCC. For a drive cycle with less frequent stops and high average
speed such as the City–Suburban Heavy Vehicle Cycle (CSHVC),
electric trucks emit 19–43% less GHGs and consume 5–34%
less energy, but cost 1% more than diesel counterparts. Considering
current and projected U.S. regional electricity generation mixes,
for the baseline case, the energy use and GHG emissions ratios of
electric to diesel trucks range from 48 to 82% and 25 to 89%, respectively.