Electrification on the Rise

Excerpt

Whether for long-haul trucks or mobile machines, the electrification of the powertrain is gaining ground. An important driver for this is legislation. For example the European Union has directed that trucks must have reduced their CO₂ emissions in 2030 by at least 30 %. These targets are not achievable merely with improvements to the combustion engine. They will require part of the fleet to be equipped with either an electric or hybrid powertrain. This change will affect the entire powertrain. European cities such as Paris, Madrid or Athens have announced plans that go further and intend to ban diesel vehicles in the inner city by 2025. In order to reach these ambitious goals, leading manufacturers have begun to specify production targets for future electric trucks. In the first cover story, DSD introduces a process that contributes to a minimization of the initial investment costs for an electrified truck fleet by regarding the entire powertrain from the point of view of cost optimization and not only at the component level. …