Efficient Commercial Powertrains – How to Achieve a 30% GHG Reduction in 2030

Authors

Prof. Dr.-Ing. S. Pischinger, Dr. F. Aubeck, RWTH Aachen University;
Dr.-Ing. P. Heuser, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) D. van der Put, FEV Group GmbH, Aachen;
Dipl.-Ing. B. Lindemann, Dr.-Ing. M. Müther, Dr.-Ing. M. Schönen, M. Ehrly, Dr. J. Schaub, Dr. M. Walters, Dr. L. Virnich, G. Sammito, L. Bi, FEV Europe GmbH, Aachen;
T. Lüdiger, FEV Consulting GmbH, Aachen:

Year

2020

Print Info

Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Reihe 12, Nr. 813

Summary

In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector, the EU has agreed on new regulations to limit CO₂ emissions of new heavy-duty vehicles over 16 tons by 15% from 2025 onwards and by 30% from 2030 onwards compared to the 2019 reference. These CO₂ targets pose a major challenge, especially for the heavy-duty sector. The increase in freight traffic and vehicle size as well as weight restrictions limit the reduction potential of energy consumption. Moreover, the total costs of ownership (TCO) play a decisive role in which technologies find their way into this competitive market. Recent studies show that new energy sources from renewable energies will not have a noticeable effect on reducing CO₂ emissions in the transport sector until 2030.
In this transition, a significant portion will be achieved by vehicle measures, like e.g. aerodynamic and rolling resistance improvements, as well as intelligent mobility vehicle functionalities.
To reduce CO₂ emissions of long-haul trucks, the focus during the next decade will continue to be on optimizing the efficiency of the powertrain driven by a combustion engine. The improvement of the combustion efficiency is one part of the possible and necessary measures.
An additional potential is to recycle a part of the waste energy, generated during operation, wherever and whenever it can be used efficiently. Because of region specific legislations, applications and market demands, prior to 2025 a short term flexible integration is key, therefore requiring a modular architecture. It consists of four major systems:

• Energy converters for recovering loss energy from braking operation and exhaust enthalpy like Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) or Waste Heat Recovery systems (WHR)
• Electrically supported aftertreatment solutions to also meet the next level of emission limits
• 48V boardnet
• Electrified engine components like electrically driven auxiliaries, electrically assisted charging or an electrically driven low-pressure EGR pump to allow the combustion engine to be optimized throughout the entire operating range

The presentation describes the concept of such a modular electrified HD long haul Truck. Based on driving cycle simulations, the potential of the various modules, different configurations and applications are estimated.
Furthermore, measures like alternative fuels (e.g. CNG, LNG, H₂) will become available to further reduce CO₂ emissions. As further initiative in this paper, intelligent mobility vehicle functionalities will be presented, making use of truck and cloud connectivity information and adapted to the customer specific truck operation requirements.