None-Emission Urban Logistics: Electric Vehicles in Freight Distribution Chains and Urban Traffic
SeyyedTeymorHoseini[1], Farhad Mohammad MogimiAhoee[2]
Abstract
During the past decade, using electric vehicles has risen in most countries across the world, but the market share in this respect is still low. The rise in popularity in using such vehicles has expanded among passenger vehicles and widespread researches have been performed in this regard. However, using this technology for distribution and supply of goods has been focused on less and remained unattended to. Freight or cargo electric cars are among solutions to improve the sustainable urban logistics situation, and have the ability to convert urban settings to some non-emitting localities. Despite the fact that numerous experiments have been carried out in recent years, large scale use of cargo electric cars in urban logistics has yet to flourish. Cargo electric vehicles are currently ready technically but implementing them in a practical scope is limited.
These vehicles have positive environmental effect; however, in total, they incur more cost compared to ordinary cars, Apart from this, there are other technical and administrative issues at hand that need to be resolved and there are also doubts as to use such cars in the long term. This study seeks to review the researches done in the mentioned area so as to pave the way for familiarity with technical grounds and marketing for awareness of the current situation and also for the future researches. The findings suggest that there are three major problems in using cargo electric cars; 1: The existing logistics should be redesigned for electric cars; 2: States supports for making this project commercial is necessary; 3: Implementing these projects require such companies to be active in sustainable production.
Keywords: Electric cars, batteries, incentives, green transport, urban logistics, cargo
Introduction
Logistics denotes managing the flow of goods, information or any another resources like energy or humans between the place of production or place of stockpile and the point of consumption needed for meeting of consumers' demands. Logistics, in fact, is the art and science of acquiring production and distribution of material and products at an appropriate place and at some appropriate level. Logistics is part of the supply chain which also adds the value of time and place to it. Urban logistics operations are usually known by unstable effects in them.
While the modern urban civilization requires a modern urban logistics system to account for the demands available for goods and services, efforts for reducing the negative effects of these systems are imperative (Quak, 2012). Green logistics includes a set of operations for controlling environmental outputs in logistical operations. In recent years, the study of this relatively new conception has become popular considerably, and a proof for this is the number of papers released with the title of green logistics and urban logistics. This study was aimed to review the findings and researches done in the area of green transportation and of non-polluting urban logistics in different countries across the world in order to know about technical grounds and marketing for awareness of the current situation of this new branch of transportation.
Also, in order to implement the accomplishments of leading countries in this regard, it is essential to conduct such researches as the zero phases of associated projects, and this study is thought to pave the way for future researches. Researches on green transportation have concentrated on looking for cause of pollution and removing this problem, and have sought to design optimal vehicles in which costs incurred by routing and emission of pollution will be both reduced.
Urban logistics, via prohibiting and restricting the use of heavy vehicles in urban centers, has offered guidelines for reducing pollution in the urban environment. The studies done in this field have largely concentrated on designing distribution systems for reducing goods production and distribution effects, thus seeking to provide policies to reduce environmental pollution, though there are exceptions.
In total, little attention has been paid to using electric vehicles as means for achieving thegoal of green distribution. One of the problems related with the urban logistics is that there are different actors with different tastes and conflicting needs which cause problems for providing a sustainable solution in this regard. Van Rooijen and Quak (2014) have elaborated on this issue by citing an example by Civitas: "Urban cargo logistics has not yet been successful. Most goals of such projects are either unfulfilled or unfinished, because for cargo transportation, it is necessary to get private corporations to participate, and these advancements will flourish in competitive markets".
This implies an urban logistics-related problems: despite the fact that most problems arising from urban instabilities have engaged local people (e.g. sound pollution and emission of pollutants), solutions for improving the stabilization of cities are usually provided by private companies (particularly, cargo companies). Cargo companies, mostly depending on their capacity, seek to optimize their performance for as much as possible, and this case constitutes their main trading core. However, their scope of solutions is restricted by local restrictions (e.g. timing of access), urban infrastructure and commercial requirement (e.g. time at which freight is delivered depending on the customers' demands, for example, shops not open).
However, from an urban point of view, the situation is not that good; various cargo carriers feed the same streets and shops, while improving their own directions and operational programs.
From an urban perspective, goods distribution is more optimal based on destination, because it reduces the congestion of cargo vehicles, and this is contrary to the planning of most supply chain, and goods are usually distributed according to the way they are exchanged. As a result, from an urban point of view, logistical systems have been planned weakly (Dablanc, 2007). The share of electric vehicles in most countries, except for Norway and Holland, is meager, and electric vans and trucks are less used due to cost related, driving, and speed and reliability considerations. Batteries-powered trucks have shorter lifespan and incur higher costs on drivers.
Moreover, due to low number of battery-charging stations in comparison to ordinary fuel stations, the purchase of electric cars and utilization of them is highly limited. However, via offering incentive designs, one can get people to buy and use these vehicles in the area of goods supply and distribution. Using cargo electric vehicles should not be seen with the eye of taking profit; rather one should look at it from a developmental view andto take profit it in the future.
Various researches on electric vehicles for supplying and producing goods have been done, most of which have been carried out in Europe. In North America, big companies like FedEx, General Electric, Coca Cola, UPS, Free Toli, Staples, Hertz and some other corporations use electric cars for their own distribution systems. Most American companies which use electric trucks enjoy financial and investment support from the American government so that they can compensate for parts of their own purchasing power.
Given achievements by various countries in the area of electric vehicles and a long stride they have taken in this regard (e.g. producing nest-selling Tesla cars as private electric cars), familiarity with the concept of electric cars along with an analysis of them being economical are among major issues in deciding to use such vehicles at a macro level.
Such issues as technology applied in electric cars, the kind of marketing, the way such vehicles are sold in the market, necessary measures for building trust to buy cars by consumers, problems and factors of success in applying electric vehicles and different state policy making are topics of interest in this research.
Methodology
The aim of studying the state of the art technology was to identify and examine weak and strong points in applying that technology. This study, by examining the latest papers and existing studies in the field of green urban logistics and freight delivery, seeks to examine the weak and strong points of applying electric vehicles (particularly cargo vehicles) in urban logistics. The initial measures adopted in other countries across the world are also modeled. Thus, the methodology was one of descriptive-estimation that seeks to explore the situation of the phenomenon of electric vehicles in urban logistics at the present time. As a result, no new hypothesis is stated and the existing situation is just considered.
This study has been conducted in two stages:
- Examination of technological and marketing grounds in the area of electric vehicles;
- Assessment of projects in which cargo electric vehicles have been applied for determining main problems and their factors of success in the present and past situation of the urban logistics (Quak, 2011). In the end, an analysis of this is done so that one can be inspired to apply electric cargo vehicles in the future.
Technological background review:
- Kinds of electrical vehicles: Electrical vehicles are generally divided into battery-powered electrical vehicles, hybrid-powered electric vehicles and fuel cell-powered electric vehicles.
The advantage of battery and hybrid cars is their ability to use electric engine for revival brakes (for compensating kinetic energy) and without-friction brakes (Emadi,Rajashekara, Williamson, & Lukic, 2005). Electric vehicles with electric cells can be equipped with revival brakes as they use auxiliary fuel cells.
2.Battery electric vehicles: Battery electric vehicles drive by using one or a number of electric engines and their propulsion poweris supported by an onboard battery. Cars' batteries are charged by a power network or an automobile propulsion system with a simple design. The benefits of such vehicles include removal of exhaust emissions, higher efficiency and lower sound, and of their technical problems, one can refer to much time for charging batteries due to low energy density (Pollet,Staffell, & Shang, 2012). These vehicles, compared to those with internal combustion, have less moving/motor parts and do not need conventional oils. Revival brakes cause lesser bake depreciation, and as a result, maintenance costs will be reduced. The common interval varies from 100 to 150 km for cargo vehicles with one single charge, and with the age of battery rising, this value will decline (Nesterova, Quak, Balm, Tretvik, & Roche-Cerasi, 2013).
Of other reasons which temporarily inhibit the development of these kinds of vehicles, one can refer to the following items: driving at high speed, fast acceleration, carrying heavy loads and driving uphill. The size and weight of the batteries result in reduced maximum capacity of such vehicles to carry loads compared to vehicles with internal combustion (Foltyński, 2014).
3.Hybrid electric vehicles: Hybrid electric carscan be classified based on their propulsion systems architecture (Series, parallel, series-parallel, complex), the power level and performance of electric motors (Micro hybrid, hybrid and fully hybrid) or their capacity for connecting to the power network for recharging their batteries (Chan, 2007). Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles drive at the speed of 30-60 km in case of using lithium-ion batteries, and these kinds of vehicles can be used for short travels by applying electric fuels and for longer travels by using alternative fuels (Tuttle & Kockelman, 2007).
4.Electric vehicles with fuel cells: In an electric car with fuel cell, the fuel cell produces electricity from the hydrogen chemical energy and the battery can be thus charged with itor to power the electric engine (Chan, 2007). The battery is used for saving the energy of the revival brakes of eclectic engines and helping fuel cells by the time of sudden load changes when the cell is unable to properly function.However, they have less efficiency compared to battery electric vehicles because they need to convert hydrogen energy to electric energy before igniting the electric engine (Den Boer, Aarnink, KleinerPagenkopf, 2013). Fuel cells are as half efficient as the hydrogen energy in creating the electricity force and can be used as an auxiliary force of heavy weight vehicles (Emdi et al. 2005). The cost of electric cars with eclectic cells is still a big disincentive in the market, and worse, the fuel cell durability is currently up to 10.000 hours.
Batteries
Batteries are the most critical factors in choosing electric vehicles, because they have lower energy density compared to gas. The main alternatives for battery electric vehicles include acidic, nickel hydride and lithium-ion batteries (Chan, 2007). Since lithium-ion batteries have more energy density (100Wh/kg), mote power density (300W/kg) and longer lifespan compared to other options, they are considered to be more convenient alternatives for cargo and passenger electric vehicles. It is predicted that the energy density of these batteries will triple by the year 2030 as modern lithium-sulfur batteries technologies develop. Meanwhile, battery prices are expected to substantially decrease in the future decade such that their prices will reach one-tenth of their current prices in 2030 compared to 2009.
a)Batteries lifespan (longevity): Given the fact that the capacity of batteries constitutes 80% of their main volume, it is not suitable to use them for electric vehicles (McMorrin, et al. 2012).The longevity of these batteries depends on their charging and discharging models. For example, batteries burn out as they are repeatedly discharged. Thus, in fact, batteries available in markets practically function with only 80% of their capacity. Lithium-ion batteries which are used in electric vehicles generally endure 1000 to 2000 full discharge, rendering them to last for more than 6 years (Foltyński, 2014). Repeated charging of batteries to its maximum capacity could have detrimental effects on the batteries longevity (Debauer et al. 2013). Using strong electric power for fast charging of batteries could also have detrimental effects on them, especially when this occurs in the beginning or end of charging cycle.
b)Battery charging: The most convenient way for charging batteries is wired charging which needs a cable and a vehicular connector. Chargers modes are defined based on the type of safe communication protocol between vehiclesand charging equipment, while the type of charging refers to the connector used (YilmazKrein, 2013).
A review of standard modes and connectors can be seen in the study by Cluzel, Lane & Stande (2013) and Naberezhnykh et al (2012). One can subdivide charging levels based on flow rate and national power standards in countries. YilmazKrein (2013) have defined three levels based on standard SAEJ1772: level 1 (1.4kW to 1.9Kw), level 2 (4kW to 19.2.kW) and level 3 (50kW to 100 kW) which is known as fast charging.
When battery electric vehicles are used for distributing goods, they are generally charged by night, and in order to optimally use time and for security reasons, general charging stations are only used by the time of lunch. Also, at stops, fast charging stations can be installed because high costs incurred by the creation of parts and equipment of level 3 electric vehicles supply and also the effects of high consumption demands have practically limited the simultaneous use of charging stations with high power by battery electric vehicles.
Inductive charging involves magnetic transfer of power to batteries through an onboard charger so that there will be no need for cables (Haghbin et al. 2010). Resident inductive charging is used by the time vehicles stop in such places as garages, car parks and bust stops, while road inductive charging is used when the vehicle is on the move in order that engine power and its battery charging are supplied. Eclectic buses are ideal options for both inductive charging; though using road inductive charging faces limitations when several cargo trucks are driving close to each other.
Battery replacement needs automatic battery replacement stations so that used batteries are removed and replaced by fully charged batteries. Technical obstacles facing this includes costs and space needed for storing batteries, too much costs incurred by stations infrastructure, the necessity of standardizing cars and batteries, and the risk of battery damage as a result of repeated replacement (. Mock & Yang,;Mak, RongShen 2013).
Market dominance
International producers started producing battery-powered and plug-in hybrid passenger electric cars since 2010, but smaller producers of electricvehiclesstarted producing such cars of different classes earlier, some of which are active in the logistics sector. However, few of these producers have produced heavy electric trucks.
a)Market share: The global sale of battery-powered and plug-in hybrid electric passenger vehicles was 10.000 in 2009, 45000 in 2011, 110.000 in 2012 and 210.000 in 2013, so that in this year the share of vehicles from the national market barely reached one percent. According to a study by Burman and Gartner, almost 37000 battery-powered and plug-in hybrid electric passenger vehicles should have been sold for meeting the need of the vehicles fleet in 2013. Some of these vehicles are used for distribution of light weight goods. For example, battery electric vehicles are temporarily used in Hamburg for distributing pizza.
According to the Jerram and Gartner's study (2013), the market of plug-in electric trucks and vans is not booming like passengervehicles. These vehicles have only managed via state incentives to influence and dominate the market. An executive summary report by Novinget stated that the global market of battery-powered electrical commercial, hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric trucks(class 2 to 8) was indicated to be 20.000 by the time the report was released, most of which were hybrid electric cars (which needed no plug-in charging).