Economic and logistics performance of heavy-duty trucks with alternative powertrains

Logistics managers need to take decisions based on economic cost and logistics performance. In this paper, we complement the standard total cost of ownership (TCO) metrics with logistics metrics such as the number of completed orders and the charging time needed for a given period. The latter are computed via a hybrid simulation model that incorporates discrete event, system dynamics and agent-based modules. We apply the model to the shipments by heavy-duty trucks in Italy. We find that when battery electric trucks (BETs) are used extensively for long-distance shipments, their TCO is comparable with diesel trucks (DTs) but they have worse logistics performances under current fast charging conditions (up to 350 kW), with 6 %–28 % loss of order fulfilled, depending on the destination. The loss is reduced if ultrafast charging stations (about 1000 kW) are available. When used for short distances, their logistics performance is still much lower than DTs in terms of orders fulfilled, with the additional issue that the lower annual distance travelled affects the TCO metrics, resulting in higher TCO/km versus DTs. On the contrary, hydrogen-fuelled trucks (H2Ts) have logistics performances similar to DTs but suffer from much higher TCO/km values in both cases.