Automotive
Electric vehicle technology to keep on trucking
Necessity is often the mother of invention. It is this idea that gave humans the wheel, to cart goods for further distances without tiring themselves out. Today, necessity has spurred the advancement of electric vehicles (EVs) and the move to electrify heavier vehicles, like trucks, to reduce carbon emissions. Here, Steve Hughes, managing director of emobility power component expert REO UK, explains how we can keep electric truck technology on track
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ne of the biggest considerations with electric trucks is their driving range. Used for logistics and haulage, trucks often drive for longer distances and have
more impending deadlines to meet than regular vehicles. However, a lag in EV uptake has meant that there is not currently adequate infrastructure for charging trucks. Batteries need to run for as long as possible and the technology must be efficient.
You can extend battery energy in electric trucks with regenerative braking. This involves recovering excess energy and feeding it back into other vehicle systems, minimising losses and reducing the amount of power directly required from the battery. One study found that regenerative braking efficiency can reach up to 70 per cent, depending on the style of driving. Regenerative braking also reduces brake wear and tear, thus extending the life of vehicle components.
The key to regenerative braking is to ensure that the excess energy is looped back into the system safely. The resistors in the braking system protect the car from high voltage rises
in the DC link, meaning that the excess energy will not overwhelm the system, but can be used productively.
During braking, heat is one of the main excess energies produced and lost. Making effective use of this in regenerative braking requires a braking resistor with good heat dissipation. The braking resistors offered by REO UK, for example, use water-cooling for increased heat dissipation, thus meaning that more energy can be reclaimed into processes such as heating.
Braking resistors also play a part in allowing electric trucks to brake safely. For the electric truck to have a safe stopping distance, resistors are needed because excess braking could potentially damage the system. Because of the increased torque needed, the braking resistors required for an electric truck must be able to manage a higher wattage than the ones needed in an electric car. The REO UK REOHM series 155 offers a small footprint and a large power capacity ideal for larger vehicles. Choosing the right components for any EV is essential. Without understanding how to maximise each component, electric trucks
will fall by the wayside. To get them as a practical resource on the roads now, there needs to be a focus on the components that make up the electrical truck. The REO UK emobility document (
www.reo.
co.uk/files/reo_e-mobility.pdf ) allows engineers to make sure that they are looking at the right components.
Infrastructure
Although the components that make up an electric truck are necessary to continue advancements, they are not the only
important consideration. The infrastructure for electric trucks needs equal advancement for them to become more commonplace. The Government’s recent Net Zero strategy highlights the need for carbon neutral trucks but doesn’t mention how they will make the infrastructure around the UK more electric truck friendly. Furthermore, the UK’s infrastructure readiness is cause for concern. The Climate Change Committee has stated that, to meet targets, there needs to be 150,000 points operating by 2025. Yet according to the UK’s Labour party, only 15 per cent of that amount is in place with just three years to go. Charging electric trucks can cause problems for the electrical grid through harmonic currents. Harmonics occur in EV charging because frequencies can change within the electric distribution systems, which leads to voltage and current variations. This then leads to increased stress on the grid as more electricity is being demanded from it.
16 February 2022 Components in Electronics
Harmonic distortions also cause damage to electrical network infrastructure and the vehicles being charged. The distortions cause the wires, capacitors and transformers of the electrical grid and vehicle to overheat because of excess electricity flowing through them. With this elevated temperature comes an acceleration of the wear and deterioration of components. Fortunately, this can be prevented by using a high-quality harmonic filter, which administers the counteracting frequencies to clean the distortion from the electrical signal. REO UK offers the CNW 897 harmonic filter, which increases network stability while also increasing the reliability of electrical installations. By fixing these infrastructural problems, the stress on engineers to maximise every component will be reduced. Electric trucks have two different types of ‘fuel’ – AC and DC charging. AC charging can charge an electric truck in around 12 hours, so is more suited for overnight charging. DC charging can charge a truck faster, in around two hours, but by doing it too regularly can damage the battery as the current bypasses the onboard charging device. However, by offering even a few DC charging ports en route, trucks can quickly refill their battery. Until a better charging infrastructure is in place, extending the life of the batteries is the only way to get electric trucks on the road now. With electric trucks having the technology to allow them to recycle energy and maintain the battery integrity, there is the realistic possibility of electric trucks becoming more frequently seen on the road.
http://www.reo.co.uk/ www.cieonline.co.uk
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