Hybridization of powertrains for freight vehicles: assessment of their range of competitiveness through a technical and economic analysis based on user requirements and available technologies

In recent years, the growing concern for the environment brought many national and international initiatives to tackle the “plague” of global warming. Although the concreteness of such measures can be argued, examples such as COP 21 and European emission’s regulations have not only emphasized the urgent need for tangible actions but have spread such concern on all spheres of our society. Indicatively 35% of transport-related CO2 emissions are imputable to road freight and 7% of total energy-related CO2 emissions, according to IEA (2017). While EU has set progressively restrictive emission’s limits on car, no regulation has been emitted for HDVs (Heavy Duty Vehicles) until 2019, and for sure it will be needed to reach the aforementioned target in the next decade. This M.Sc. thesis provides an overview on the currently available alternative fuel technologies and solutions for commercial and industrial vehicles besides the policies to support their adoption. The information and data here shown besides the resulting considerations drawn are obtained through an extensive literature review of the technical and economical researches, moreover from the data on real cases. Consequently, the specific case of urban light-commercial and medium-duty vehicles is analysed in economical terms. This example confirms how there are already applications for which battery electric vehicles already achieved the total cost of ownership parity with diesel commercial vehicles. In parallel, a technical analysis has been conducted to find the limitations of pure battery vehicles in urban and suburban areas, regarding mass, range and performance limits. Via simulation tools these is highlighted and potential solutions are proposed.