Abstract
KEYWORDS:
Series hybrid electric, heavy trucks, line-haul
ABSTRACT:
Heavy-duty on-road trucking has long been a target industry for emissions and fuel consumption reduction. Line-haul (>160 km) trucking in large Class 8 (>15000 kg) trucks accounts for roughly 50% of all commercial truck fuel consumption in the USi. Significant amounts of this fuel are consumed when the trucks run a very large engine to meet the various #hotel loads# while the driver sleeps or rests. Hybridization offers the opportunity to shut down the large engine and provide the power through a cleaner, more efficient source. Additionally, many parasitic loads are continuously driven (even if not needed) and often at excessively high speeds. Electrifying these accessory loads can further increase the net efficiency of heavy-duty trucks.
However, while a series-hybrid platform can eliminate some significant losses; series hybrids can offer several other improvements beyond emissions and fuel economy and these must be exploited in order to justify the added cost of the new technology. In this paper the authors fully investigate the design of a series hybrid tractor trailer for the North American market. An electric fully-steerable tandem axle traction module provides the tractive effort and serves as a modular component which can be used in a wide variety of applications. Some new design and styling elements can be introduced, with the added freedom in component placement the electric transmission provides. Additionally, some explorations into various energy storage systems and their effects on performance are presented.