Triple F adds 14 new research projects to its portfolio before the start of its third year
The top priority for the third year is the electrification of freight transport. From the perspective of the public sector and industry, electrification is a highly important technical solution in both the short and medium term. One reason for this is the emphasis on electrification in the EU legislation on CO2 emissions, which is forcing people to switch to electric vehicles.
During the first year of Triple F, electrification was identified as a key area of technology from an overall perspective, with the academic and business worlds and the public sector all playing an important role in the development and implementation of the systems.
Transport demand-centric decision support for electric charging infrastructure planning and operations is one of the new projects. This is a doctoral project on the subject of electrification.
- "It is important to carry out research into scenarios for the electrification of freight transport that maximise the benefits and minimise the costs for all the stakeholders in order to accelerate the electrification of the haulage industry and exploit its positive effects. This project aims to create a comprehensive decision support system which makes it possible to investigate scenarios and parameters for planning and operating electric charging infrastructures with a focus on a route-based approach," explains Gyözö Gidofalvi from KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm.
A resilient fossil-free freight transport system is another of the start-up projects.
-"The objective of the project is to increase the understanding of how the changeover from a fossil-based to a fossil-free freight transport system influences the resilience of the system in the event of disruptions," says Pontus Svenson, the project leader at RISE.
- "As society switches over to a fossil-free freight transport system, we need to evaluate the new risks that result from the changeover and manage the future risk profile, which includes climate change, pandemics and the deteriorating security situation. The problem requires a multi-disciplinary approach and we need all our skills to tackle the problem from several different angles," continues Pontus.
-"The long-term goal of the research is to draw up an inventory of the possible problems involved in the changeover of the freight transport system and to use this inventory to increase the adaptability of the system. In a preliminary study, we have begun by developing a method of doing this which resulted in an initial inventory of possible problems," concludes Pontus.
Effective system solutions for heavy-duty electric trucks is another new doctoral project.
-"Our project concerns how to electrify heavy-duty trucks that cover medium- to long-distance routes. We believe that battery electric trucks will be the best option for most or perhaps all medium- to long-distance freight transport. This project is necessary, because it is still unclear where the charging stations need to be installed to make the infrastructure suitable for different types of transport operations while keeping it cost-effective. The goal of the project is to develop methods and find system solutions that represent an effective compromise between the charging point, the truck and the type of transport," says Anders Grauers from Chalmers University of Technology.
-"We believe that we will be able to identify cost-effective solutions for several different categories of long-distance transport that will encourage haulage companies to switch to electric trucks. We also think that by gaining a better understanding of the system, the companies that install charging stations will be exposed to less risk and will more easily be able to draw up expansion strategies suitable for electric trucks," concludes Anders.