New energy heavy truck VS diesel vehicle, how long will it take?

A new energy heavy truck is driving from Hebei Zongheng Group Fengnan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zongheng Steel) to Tianjin Port.

The steel company in Tangshan City, Hebei Province, purchased dozens of new energy heavy trucks at a price of 720,000 yuan each to transport iron ore and steel products between the company and Tianjin Port and Caofeidian Port. At the time, this figure meant more than the price of two diesel heavy-duty trucks.

How long can new energy heavy trucks allow enterprises to obtain better economic benefits than diesel vehicles?

Mao Shiyue, a researcher at the International Committee on Clean Transportation, said that it would be flat in 3-4 years, and economic advantages would begin to emerge in about 5 years.

In Tangshan, new energy heavy trucks have formed economic benefits that surpass those of diesel vehicles

Tangshan City is located in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas of air pollution prevention and control.

Heavy diesel trucks used to be the core capacity to transport iron ore to steel mills, and then the processed products to the distribution ports, injecting economic momentum into the steel production center of the north. At the same time, the exhaust emissions of these diesel vehicles, together with industrial coal combustion, have brought greater pressure on Tangshan to prevent and control air pollution.

Hao Chunxiao, deputy director of the Policy Research Department of the Motor Vehicle Emission Monitoring Center of the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, once pointed out in an interview with this newspaper that the number of heavy trucks in China is less than 3% of motor vehicles, but nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions account for 69% and 48% of total motor vehicle emissions, and carbon dioxide emissions account for nearly 40%.

Since the launch of the "Blue Sky Campaign" in 2018, Tangshan, like many cities, has continued to promote the adjustment of transportation structures such as "road to rail" and "road to water".

At that time, there were only four enterprises in the coastal port area of Tangshan, and the steelmaking capacity accounted for only 13.7% of the city's total production capacity, while the production capacity of iron and steel enterprises located in and around the main urban area accounted for more than 26%. Lang Wenchang, deputy director of the Tangshan Municipal Development and Reform Commission, once introduced that heavy polluting enterprises such as steel and coking within 25 kilometers of Tangshan urban area and the surrounding area contribute 70% of pollutants to the central area, and the urban environmental capacity is almost saturated.

In 2018, in accordance with the idea of "Lingang Lintie" layout, Tangshan launched the optimization and integration, relocation and upgrading of 13 iron and steel enterprises around the main urban area. Subsequently, these enterprises were relocated to the coastal industrial parks in Tangshan Leting, Fengnan and other places, and the layout of the steel industry was optimized.

"Retreat from the city and relocation" shortens the distance from iron and steel enterprises to the port, which provides a suitable application scenario for new energy heavy trucks.  

On this basis, Tangshan has explored a new pattern of development of bulk cargo railway transportation + new energy heavy truck connection and intermodal transportation mode, and basically formed a zero-emission transportation channel for iron ore in Shugang. By the end of 2022, the number of new energy heavy trucks in Tangshan has reached 6,837, accounting for about 21% of the country's total, and the annual emission reduction of ammonia oxides is about 2,400 tons.

Up to now, the number of new energy heavy trucks in Tangshan has reached more than 10,500, ranking first in Hebei Province.

"Due to the early deployment of the policy, since years of practice, from the perspective of cost-effectiveness, Tangshan's new energy heavy trucks are surpassing the diesel fleet and have begun to show better economic benefits than diesel vehicles. Mao Shiyue told reporters.

Mao Shiyue introduced that compared with the 5-year service cycle, the purchase cost of new energy heavy trucks is high, about 720,000 yuan per vehicle, and only about 300,000 yuan for diesel vehicles. The fleet of vehicles is equipped with charging infrastructure, and the cost of each vehicle is also increased by 36,867 yuan. However, before 2022, the fleet can obtain considerable financial and tax subsidies for the purchase of new energy heavy trucks, and the purchase tax of 30,000 yuan for diesel vehicles will be exempted.

In terms of use, due to the obvious price advantage of electricity price over fuel, coupled with lower maintenance costs, new energy heavy trucks need a cost of 562,257 yuan in five years, while diesel vehicles are as high as 1,428,289 yuan.

"Despite the high upfront costs and initial investment in charging infrastructure, new energy heavy-duty trucks can achieve lower energy costs and maintenance expenditures over a five-year service life. With the development of economies of scale, the investment in charging infrastructure will continue to decline, and the estimated operation cost of new energy heavy trucks can be further reduced. For fleet operators, compared with diesel models, new energy heavy trucks can basically achieve cost parity in the next 3-4 years, and begin to show economic advantages in about 5 years. Mao Shiyue commented.

Charging time and vehicle load are important factors that affect operating costs

Drivers of new energy heavy trucks, like electric vehicle owners, are not exempt from "range anxiety".

During the nearly 110-kilometer journey from Zongheng Steel to and from the port, drivers usually need to charge two to three times a day, and according to the average charging rate of the vehicle is 0.7C, the new energy heavy truck needs to be charged for 1 hour to charge from 30% to full charge.

As an "excellent student" in the deployment of new energy heavy trucks in the country, Mao Shiyue pointed out that in Tangshan, the charging rate of vehicles is in the forefront of the field of electric heavy-duty vehicles in the country, and the charging rate has been better than 85% of China's electric heavy-duty vehicles. Despite this, frequent charging still takes up the vehicle's operating time and significantly reduces the vehicle's daily mileage compared to diesel vehicles.

"Our research was carried out from 2021 to 2022, and the fleet purchased battery-swapping new energy heavy trucks, but at that time, the nearby battery swap station was still under construction, and the fleet could only be charged through charging piles. The situation may have improved in the past two years, and if the battery can be effectively replaced, the driver can complete the battery replacement in two minutes, and the charging time can be reduced by more than 95%, thus buying more time for the vehicle to operate. Mao Shiyue said.

At present, the battery swap heavy truck and battery swap facilities suffer from different standards, which has become the main obstacle to the deployment of battery swap new energy vehicles in many places.

Tangshan has organized a symposium to promote the establishment of local unified standards for battery swapping heavy trucks in Tangshan City, convened the State Grid Corporation, Guodian Investment Company, Sany, Kaiwo, Beiqi Foton, CATL and other enterprises to jointly discuss the issue of unified standards in Tangshan City, and issued the "Tangshan Electric Heavy Truck Battery Swap Technical Specifications", which promoted the unification of the standard of battery swapping heavy trucks. According to the actual characteristics of the insufficient mileage of battery-swapped heavy trucks, Tangshan mainly promotes short-distance transportation for special scenarios such as ports, road-rail combined transport, and steel mills, and designs a trunk battery swap network layout of "three vertical and one horizontal" to meet the transportation needs of large iron and steel enterprises to Jingtang Port and Caofeidian Port, with a total length of about 620 kilometers.

The reporter learned that by the end of 2022, 128 heavy truck charging stations and 2,155 heavy truck charging piles have been built in Tangshan, 25 heavy truck battery swap stations have been built and operated, and 4 battery swap stations are under construction.

Another disadvantage of new energy heavy trucks lies in "load". "According to the existing regulations, the maximum load limit of new energy heavy trucks and diesel vehicles is 49 tons, and new energy heavy trucks need to carry 2-3 tons of batteries, and the cargo capacity is less than the latter. Mao Shiyue told reporters that after removing the curb weight (that is, the weight of the frame), the load capacity of heavy trucks is about 20 tons, and 2-3 tons means one-tenth of the cargo capacity.

How can the management department help new energy heavy trucks win an overwhelming competitive advantage?

In recent years, Tangshan has become a successful example under China's Clean Diesel Engine Action Plan, and has achieved remarkable results in promoting green freight transportation in heavily polluting industries.

Such achievements are inseparable from Tangshan's implementation of differentiated management and control policies by relying on the environmental performance classification of "creating B and striving for A to promote leadership".

Accelerating the substitution of new energy heavy trucks and increasing the proportion of clean transportation is a hard indicator of the environmental performance rating of local enterprises. Being rated as an A-level enterprise in environmental performance means that during the emergency emission reduction period of heavily polluted weather, the enterprise can reduce emissions independently, without stopping production or limiting production.

"For Tangshan's iron and steel enterprises, the policy benefits brought by non-shutdown and production restrictions are far greater than the economic advantages that vehicles can bring, which is the reason why the steel industry is scrambling to create A, and it is also the basis for Tangshan to take the adjustment of steel transportation structure as the entry point to lead the effective incentive of the comprehensive electrification policy of heavy truck vehicles. Reflected in market data, Hebei Province, especially Tangshan City, has been the highest sales area in the country in the first two years. Mao Shiyue commented.

No matter from the perspective of economy or environmental cleanliness, in the competition between new energy heavy trucks and diesel vehicles in Tangshan City, new energy heavy trucks may "win" at the starting line at the beginning.

In areas outside of Tangshan, it must be admitted that new energy heavy trucks have not yet formed an overwhelming competitive advantage compared with diesel vehicles. Vehicles also face the problem of battery range decay in winter and the need for additional energy for interior heating, further reducing operating range.

Since the state stopped purchasing subsidies for new energy vehicles at the end of 2022, the International Council on Clean Transportation suggested in a report titled "Actual Driving Performance of Electric Semi-Tractors in China: Comparison with Diesel Tractor Usage" that local governments can provide some fiscal and tax incentives to help offset the impact of the end of state subsidies. At the same time, it is possible to explore the connection between the purchase of new energy vehicles and the carbon market, and provide some economic benefits through market-based mechanisms. Local departments can also integrate the supply and demand resources of electric semi-trailer tractors, so as to reduce the front-end purchase price in the form of bulk purchases.

At the same time, some places can explore and optimize the battery swap mode of new energy heavy trucks in some relatively closed fields, such as ports and mines, where the mobile radius is not long and the line is fixed, and actively introduce innovative business models such as the BaaS model to deploy the operation of battery swap facilities and service enterprises.