Cost-optimization of battery electric heavy duty vehicles from Nordic perspective: Comparative cost-analysis of two separate charging solutions

Road freight transportation causes 8 % of total greenhouse gas emissions globally. Therefore there is great potential to reduce the global greenhouse gas emissions by adopting low-emission alternative propulsion methods. Economic feasibility of these alternative propulsion methods can accelerate this shift. This study presents a multi-layer optimization tool to model and cost-optimize charging methods for battery electric trucks (BETs). Two scenarios are analyzed: (1) depot charging and (2) en route charging. The tool simulates heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) movement and calculates energy consumption based on gross vehicle weight (GVW). Cost-optimization includes charging station location, number of chargers, charger rated power and battery capacity. Electricity spot market prices and diesel prices in Finland from 2020 to 2024 are used to evaluate energy costs. This simulation tool is used to examine a case study set in southeastern Finland where four HDVs transport goods between Hamina and Joutseno (125 km apart). These HDVs are considered to depart with full payload having GVW of 68 000 kg and return with empty payload having GVW of 24 000 kg Both charging methods can achieve lower Levelized cost of Driving (LCOD) compared to using a diesel equivalent. The results show that depot charging achieves slightly lower LCOD compared to en route charging due to lower requirements for the infrastructure. However, when the results are compared to battery swapping BETs, it can be seen that battery swapping allows lower dimensioning of charging station and utilization of lower electricity spot market prices, resulting in lower infrastructure and energy costs. • Multi-layer tool models and optimizes LCOD for two HDV charging solutions. • Depot and en route charging are evaluated through cost-optimization. • Depot charging yields lower LCOD compared to en route charging. • LCOD of battery swapping from prior study is compared to results. • Charging power strongly affects charging infrastructure costs.