September 13, 2023, 5:27 p.m
PiataAuto.md editors
Many times those who are still reluctant to electric propulsion in general or to electric trucks in particular point to the heavy weight of the batteries of these trucks as a disadvantage, which cuts from the payload, and therefore from the actual work that a truck can do electric. ZF has now announced its own alternative solution, which seems to want to appease the most reluctant, but which brings an even more dubious and disadvantageous equation in the end, if we calculate the numbers a bit.
So, the current launch from ZF is an electric trailer, which has a drive axle, propelled by an electric motor, which in turn is powered by a battery, mounted on that trailer. The idea is that this trailer can be coupled to any tractor with diesel engines, and thus it can take over the task of propelling the entire assembly, offering zero emissions and some additional peace of mind for the driver compared to the autonomy of the truck.
In addition to the fact that similar ideas have existed in other parts of the world in recent years, this trailer cannot completely exclude the operation of the diesel engine on the truck while moving, since the vital systems of the truck, such as brakes and steering, depend on that engine. . So, the maximum could be driven at idle. How stable in trajectories, turns or terrain with limited grip will be a truck whose propulsion source comes from a trailer axle, we can all guess, and experienced truck drivers can tell us more about what they think.
Those at ZF say that it could be used more as a kind of hybrid or plug-in hybrid system together with the tractor head, reducing the load on the diesel engine on hills, for example. But even in such a hybrid configuration, ZF estimates an economy of only 16% in fuel consumption. In a plug-in hybrid configuration, the savings would be 40%. Among the real advantages, which ZF mentions, would be better grip when climbing in slippery conditions, when both the diesel engine and the electric one are working, but also better acceleration thanks to the two engines.
But the formula of having batteries and electric motor on the trailer inevitably adds weight and subtracts from the payload, and without giving up the primary diesel engine and conventional gearbox, the additional battery and electric motor become an even bigger burden in the payload equation.
And if the models of purely electric trucks with batteries have an exception from the total mass, 2 tons more, up to 42 tons, to be able to mitigate the effect of the batteries, a diesel truck with an electric trailer does not benefit from any exemption, and thus all the weight additional load on the trailer eats directly from the payload, without any compensation.
See a short video of ZF’s new technology below.
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2023-09-13 14:27:58
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