The primary use of a truck is for fixed point-to-point transportation in B2B (business-to-business) applications. Characteristics include clear locations and goods descriptions and preset routes. From a freight company's standpoint, a truck that moves goods 24/7 absolutely guarantees profitability.
It is similar to the concept of aircraft utilization. The longer a truck is on the road, the more profitable it is. On the contrary, if a truck is left idle due to poor availability, such as requiring maintenance or recharging or truck drivers not working, it is a waste of assets and an increase in the company's operating costs. Therefore, if autonomous driving, technology without the need for manual labor, can be licensed and introduced to the actual operation as soon as possible, especially electric trucks with fast charging or replaceable battery design, the industry will have a killer product it's been eagerly waiting for.
Let's take a look at the countries and regions where autonomous driving has been put into operation around the world. The earliest was the Level 4 driverless electric bus without a steering wheel on board in Trikala, Greece in 2016. Although it only ran along a fixed circular route at a maximum speed of 20 km/h, the bus unfurled a clear, feasible direction for large buses to become driverless. As for the progress of driverless trucks, Uber acquired self-driving truck startup Otto in August 2016. In October, one of its trucks successfully carried 50,000 bottles of Budweiser over 193 km in Colorado, the first ever self-driving truck (Level 3) to hit the road officially. In Taiwan, Formosa Plastics Corporation's Mailiao Refinery officially launched a driverless truck at the end of 2019, using a 12-tonne truck to deliver chemical materials within the plant. The truck is also a Level 3 vehicle, which means it has a safe driver in the driver's seat who can switch the autonomous driving to manual control immediately in case of a problem. However, the above-mentioned vehicles are all fuel vehicles, not zero-carbon electric vehicles.
Scania, headquartered in Södertälje, Sweden, has begun accelerating the construction of a new test track for autonomous and electrified trucks this year, which is expected to be completed by 2026. It's safe to say Scania has no intention to miss the self-driving boom. What's significant is that earlier this year, Scania announced the sale of 110 electric trucks to Einride, a Swedish self-driving startup. Thanks to software developed by itself, Einride was granted an operating license by the Swedish government for its driverless truck, the T-pod, in 2019. The T-pod is a Level 4 vehicle that can travel on a regular road at 5 km/h for the short distance between the warehouse and the dock. What's even more significant is that in June this year, Einride received regulatory permission from the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) to operate its Autonomous Electric Transport (AET) vehicles in the third quarter of this year. Einride Pods will carry GE Appliances (GEA) shipments on U.S. public roads between GEA's factory in Selmer, Tennessee and its warehouse. This is the first time 100% remotely operated trucks have been licensed to hit the road in the U.S., marking another self-driving milestone.
As for how to shorten the charging time to increase operational efficiency, the 26-tonne all-electric truck Scania introduced to Taiwan is equipped with a 300-kWh battery that allows for a range of up to 250 km and can be fully charged with a maximum of DC 130 kW charging pile in about two hours and 15 minutes. In reality, the truck is more suitable for short and medium range transportation needs, or for fixed routes between the dock and the logistics warehouse. Charging piles can be set up in the vicinity of the loading and unloading area of the warehouse. While the goods are being loaded or unloaded, the vehicle can be charged, or the tractor head can be replaced. It is a good way to maximize the efficient use of the electric truck. What's more, electric trucks are used frequently and cover higher mileage than general vehicles. It'll be easy for companies to see concrete results that meet carbon reduction requirements. TCC calculates that compared with traditional diesel trucks of the same tonnage, the 26-tonne all-electric truck has the benefit of 25% carbon reduction. The carbon reduction benefit of one electric truck in one year is equivalent to 1.5 hectares of forestation. That's why TCC, in demonstrating its determination to promote ESG, has made its subsidiary, Taiwan Transport & Storage Corp., the first freight company in the Asia-Pacific region to operate a 26-tonne all-electric truck. Two 26-tonne all-electric trucks will arrive in Taiwan in August, and TCC intends to order three more for 2023 to increase its green transportation capacity. Taiwan expects to introduce a carbon fee in 2024, so it is imperative that companies get strategic planning going. Large companies must now ponder issues regarding Scope 3 emissions in the greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Scope 3 emissions refer to emissions from sources not owned or controlled by the enterprise in the process of business operations, including transportation of goods and business travel in the upstream.
From the foregoing actual cases, we know putting autonomous electric trucks into operation is just a matter of time. Once sufficient test mileage data is accrued and obtained, point-to-point delivery of large quantities of goods on fixed routes between companies can be done by such driverless trucks. The trucks can operate without interruptions, except during charging hours, and as long as the back office has remote control personnel monitoring the condition of the trucks on the road and engineers troubleshooting temporary problems when necessary, most manual driving costs will be saved, and unpredictable traffic accidents attributable to human error will be prevented. The stereotype that big trucks are road killers that other vehicles should stay away from will also change gradually. Moreover, because the trucks are all-electric, there is neither deafening diesel engine noise nor suffocating exhaust. Pedestrians waiting at intersections on scorching summer days will be particularly thrilled to feel the differences. All-electric self-driving trucks will be great news for all drivers and pedestrians on the road. They are part of the picture of ideal future roads in my mind.
About the author - Kenny Liu
Graduated from Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Cheng Kung University in 1988, started his auto industry career since July 1990 after two year military service. Starting as a service engineer and a temp technician, product marketing specialist in Peugeot/ Daihatsu, marketing and dealer channel specialist in VW LCV from March 1992, then field manager in GM Taiwan from Feb. 1994, sales and service / parts head in Ford Lio-Ho from Sep. 1998 till retirement in May 2019. Kenny then started to work for JLR Taiwan as sales/service head and consultant/ lecturer. After that, he was invited to work at a Suzuki dealer of Taipei as the general manager until April 2022.