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Charging Infrastructure
SPIRIT-E: Research Project on Heavy-Duty Electric Truck Charging
In the European road transportation sector, commercial vehicles are currently responsible for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions. Electrifying commercial vehicles with battery technology holds the greatest potential for sustainable emission reduction, aligning with the European Commission's proposed goal to reduce CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles by 90 percent by 2040. However, the combination of cost pressures and high demands for payload, range, and efficiency presents significant challenges. Transitioning to heavy-duty electric trucks requires not only investments in the vehicles themselves and on-site charging infrastructure but also the establishment of a public fast-charging network for trucks.
In the European road transportation sector, commercial vehicles are currently responsible for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions. Electrifying commercial vehicles with battery technology holds the greatest potential for sustainable emission reduction, aligning with the European Commission's proposed goal to reduce CO2 emissions from heavy-duty vehicles by 90 percent by 2040. However, the combination of cost pressures and high demands for payload, range, and efficiency presents significant challenges. Transitioning to heavy-duty electric trucks requires not only investments in the vehicles themselves and on-site charging infrastructure but also the establishment of a public fast-charging network for trucks.
The SPIRIT-E research project aims to make private charging infrastructure at logistics hubs accessible to external freight carriers and their vehicles.
The SPIRIT-E research project, funded by the German government for a duration of three years, aims to provide relief and focuses on making private charging infrastructure at logistics hubs accessible to external freight carriers and their vehicles. It also aims to identify existing challenges in electrifying heavy-duty transportation. This requires various innovations in vehicle technology, charging hardware, (bidirectional) charging and energy management, as well as communication interfaces among all stakeholders.
The concept behind SPIRIT-E is to share private charging points with others, which can reduce the need for public charging stations and increase utilization. To ensure reliable planning of charging points and capacity, a digital reservation system will be developed and tested in a real-world setting. In operation, both company-owned and third-party vehicles can reserve charging points, ensuring smooth processes and equitable resource distribution, both within the logistics depot and the public charging network.
Implementation of bidirectional charging
The project also includes the implementation of bidirectional charging to integrate commercial vehicles into the local energy system and the broader power grid, reducing peak loads at logistics sites, and enabling system-friendly charging and discharging. SPIRIT-E aims to demonstrate how bidirectional charging and a reservable private charging infrastructure can be successfully integrated into existing energy systems and grids.
The research project has a three-year duration and involves participation from multiple companies
The project has been funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action since August 2023, with project management carried out by the German Aerospace Center DLR-PT. Within the project, real-world laboratories will be established at two logistics sites, and innovations will be developed and tested. Partners include the Technical University of Munich (consortium leader and operational strategy research), MAN Truck and Bus SE (bidirectional electric truck and fleet charging management), Research Center for Energy Economics e.V. (energy market integration research), SBRS GmbH (development of bidirectional charging hardware), Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Systems and Energy Economics (aggregation control system and data exchange), Hubject GmbH (roaming, Plug and Charge (PnC), and reservation system), Consolinno Energy GmbH (flexibility data aggregation and measurement data), and TenneT (system services). More information can be found here.