title: Assessing charging infrastructure opportunities for battery electric medium duty vehicles in Austria
Creators: name: Richter, Stefan
Publisher: name: TU Wien
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Charging Infrastructure
subject: E-Mobility
subject: Electric Mobility
subject: Electric Truck
subject: Medium Duty Truck
subject: Electric Commercial Vehicle

description: In the preface of a changing world aiming at the reduction of GHG emissions, this master thesis analyses the potential for charging infrastructure for battery-electric medium-duty vehicles (MDV) in Austria. By conducting a thorough analysis of national statistics and international literature, this thesis corroborates the hypothesis that current and future developments in the electrification of freight vehicles offers multiple opportunities to roll-out charging infrastructure for MDV in Austria. An interview with a renowned expert in commercial vehicle charging solutions substantiates the rightfulness of this finding. The existing regulatory background in Austria and future implications of EU policies require increasing efforts in fields of transport to meet the joint environmental goals until 2030 and beyond. Therefore, an electrification of MDV offers remarkable potential to turn regulations and laws into positive business models due to the novelty of electric powertrains. Although manufacturers offer only limited product lines, the prospects to electrify the powertrain of MDV show that even today, prototypes and first early productions can keep up with diesel or gasoline powered pendants. In a holistic analysis of the entire lifecycle and under assumptions on the battery life, todays vehicles are already close to overtake conventional MDV in terms of TCO calculations and real-life applications. Considering this, the projected developments in battery prices and capacities show a very promising future for BEV in commercial fleets, as the existing restrictions in load capacities due to heavy battery weight could be compensated by higher battery efficiency. On the contrary, the MDV segment in general constitutes a niche existence in Austria. Therefore, the overall potential for charging infrastructure is bound to the development of N2 vehicles and requires synergies with heavy duty vehicles. Conductive plug in solutions (mainly CCS) at a capacity of 150 kW will remain the predominant standard for commercial vehicles in Europe for the upcoming years, while different fuels or alternative charging solutions might impose a competitive threat only in a later, more mature stage in time.
description: In the preface of a changing world aiming at the reduction of GHG emissions, this master thesis analyses the potential for charging infrastructure for battery-electric medium-duty vehicles (MDV) in Austria. By conducting a thorough analysis of national statistics and international literature, this thesis corroborates the hypothesis that current and future developments in the electrification of freight vehicles offers multiple opportunities to roll-out charging infrastructure for MDV in Austria. An interview with a renowned expert in commercial vehicle charging solutions substantiates the rightfulness of this finding. The existing regulatory background in Austria and future implications of EU policies require increasing efforts in fields of transport to meet the joint environmental goals until 2030 and beyond. Therefore, an electrification of MDV offers remarkable potential to turn regulations and laws into positive business models due to the novelty of electric powertrains.