ME Drives Tool to Help Integrate Electric Vehicles Into Truck Fleets

ME Associate Professor Will Northrop received a grant from the Department of Energy to develop a tool that aims to enable large-scale electric vehicle adoption in regional trucking. The Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicle Integration and Implementation (HEVII) tool will both assess heavy-duty electric vehicle suitability and identify necessary infrastructure improvement that can be applied at a site based on in-use vehicle data. The tool can be used on both a local and national scale, and will utilize existing telematics information from conventionally-powered heavy-duty vehicles in regional delivery fleets. 

This project comes in response to increased electrification in regional trucking, including commitments from high-profile companies to include electric delivery vehicles — but none have implemented them yet due to range anxiety and limited charging infrastructure availability. Recommendations must be tailored to the individual fleet and vehicle, which the HEVII tool will offer.

Northrop will lead the project through the Thomas E. Murphy Engine Lab (MERL), where he serves as director. The project team also includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Pepsico, and Geotab.

To learn more about the project, read MERL's press release.