In line with the administration of President Joe Biden's push for getting rid of greenhouse gases-emitting vehicles and going for electric cars, the trucking industry has also been endorsing battery-electric big rigs.
However, an analysis conducted by truck leasing company Ryder System, which manages 250,000 trucks and vans for tens of thousands of retailers and manufacturers, concluded that operating expenses for low-emissions rigs are far higher than those for diesel trucks. Now that the heavy-duty electric trucks are available, few customers would want to pay for them.
"The economics just don't work for most companies," the company's chief executive Robert Sanchez said. "As trucks get heavier the difference in operating costs between battery-electric vehicles and diesel trucks grows more pronounced."
Rakesh Aneja, head of eMobility at Daimler Truck North America, told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ): "Quite frankly, demand has not been as strong as what we would like."
Ryder has reportedly faced challenges with both state and federal governments as they try to push truckers out of diesel rigs and into zero-emissions vehicles, as per the report. It also indicated that significant improvements in battery weight, range and charging times are necessary for battery-electric trucks to effectively compete with diesel rigs in the cost-sensitive freight industry.
For instance, converting a fleet in California to electric would raise annual operating costs by 56 percent, amounting to an additional $3.4 million.
"Converting a typical mixed fleet of 25 commercial vehicles, including about 10 heavy-duty trucks, from diesel to battery power in California would raise a fleet’s annual operating costs 56 percent or $3.4 million a year. The same transition in Georgia would raise annual operating costs 67 percent or $3.7 million," the analysis further stated.
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Converting truck fleets to electric raises operational costs exorbitantly
Proponents of electric trucks have repeatedly cited the supposed long-term savings from lower fuel and maintenance costs. However, the WSJ report questioned these claims, noting the lack of sufficient operational history to validate the durability and cost-efficiency of electric trucks over time.
Additional operational hurdles exacerbate these concerns: "Battery-electric trucks cost about three times as much to purchase as a diesel rig… Truckers say battery-electric truck operations are too difficult to set up and too expensive and inefficient to run."
Truckers find the electric trucks difficult and costly to run, with the installation of on-site charging facilities taking years. These trucks travel less than half the distance of diesel rigs per charge and require several hours to recharge.
The transportation and logistics firm launched a service a year ago to assist companies in setting up and maintaining battery-powered fleets. So far, it has sold only 60 vehicles, mostly light-duty trucks. Three companies use five battery-electric heavy-duty trucks, but only within yards for shuttling trailers.
The cost of changing a fleet over is also expensive. Using data from 13,000 vehicles, Ryder analyzed the annual operating expenses of battery-electric commercial trucks and found they are significantly higher than those of diesel rigs. The analysis, assuming existing fast-charging infrastructure, considered costs like vehicle purchase, maintenance, labor and fuel.
Visit RoboCars.news to read more stories about how the government is pushing for a shift to electric vehicles.
Watch the video below where journalist Joe Concha talks about the roadblocks encountered by Biden's push for electric trucks.
This video is from the Newsclips channel on Brighteon.com.
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