Effects of Heavy-Duty Vehicle Electrification on Infrastructure: The Case of Switzerland

Abstract

We present a method to simulate the charging (and battery swapping) energy demand of electrified trucks, and apply it to the example of Switzerland. We describe the daily mobility behavior of the Swiss fleet throughout a year, using governmental data sources. Based on this, we calculate the energy demand of each vehicle using vehicle and powertrain simulation. This then flows into a discrete event simulation, which we use to derive time-resolved charging power and battery swapping profiles. From that, we draw conclusions about the number of required swapping stations (respectively the average waiting time if there are not enough stations) and electrical loads they have to bear. We saw that, with better batteries and a maximum of three battery swaps per day, over 95% of heavy-duty vehicles can be electrified. This does not mean that every vehicle swaps its battery three times per day, and therefore the amount of extra batteries needed is not large. Nevertheless, to minimize the time loss for swapping, an adequate number and vehicle throughput of swapping stations should be guaranteed. For instance, to keep the waiting time under half an hour a day (duration of lunch break), a minimum of two swapping stations per large motorway fuel station and a throughput of at least eighteen vehicles per hour (per station) would be needed in Switzerland.