EnerLogiX (Integrated Energy and Logistics Planning for Electric Trucking)
Electric trucking is the game-changer for sustainability of the logistics sector.
The major truck manufacturers fully embrace this path as well as the policies on European, national, and local governmental levels. However, the Dutch electricity grid is near its capacity limit, and integration of electric trucking in current logistics operations is not evident. Electric trucks have unpredictable driving ranges, face congestion in charging and strongly fluctuating electricity prices in time and location, and the future electricity grid will be filled with decentralized energy production and storage solutions requiring high coordination. This will put a large strain on the cost-effectiveness of transport and logistics operations.
The logistics sector thus must take charge.
Their logistics business models, network design, fleet composition, and operations must consider the dynamics of future electricity networks and associated energy storage, production, and charging infrastructure. If not done properly, the logistics sector will see its already tight operating margins evaporate and will risk losing its competitive edge, waste human capital, and will fail to meet their sustainability targets.
This proposal is the result of major logistics service providers and interdisciplinary researchers from energy and logistics management that are willing to take charge and accelerate the electric trucking transition. Specifically, the project’s key objectives are:
• Validate via proof-of-concepts solutions jointly by electric trucking end-users and academia how smart energy-logistics planning solutions on strategic, tactical, and operational level can help the Dutch logistics sector to grow sustainably while maintaining high customer service at minimum electric trucking overhead.
• Develop a suite of publicly available energy-logistics planning solutions for knowledge use-cases for the uptake of energy-logistics solutions by the Dutch logistics industry, and guide users on translating the fundamental solutions to their own business cases.
The main innovation EnerLogiX proposes is the integration of, on the one hand, the planning of local energy storage, production, and charging infrastructure, with on the other hand, logistics planning on strategic, tactical, and operational level. This innovation is obtained via four related work packages, where in three project phases we go from business use-case development at our industry partners (WP1), knowledge use-case extraction regarding new energy-logistics planning solutions for strategic logistics network design, tactical electric fleet investment decisions, and real-time energy-logistics control (WP2+3), toward validation of our developed planning solutions into proof-of-concepts at our industry partner’s business use-cases (WP4).
The expected results of the project are (i) to stimulate and accelerate the electric trucking transition by making electric trucking more attractive and less costly, and by creating additional turnover potential by integrated energy-logistics planning solutions, (ii) to reduce CO2 emissions by replacing traditional combustion engine trucks with zero-emission trucks, (iii) to reduce roadtransport kilometers by smartly planning transport, (iv) to enhance human-capital by increasing the productivity of truck drivers due to less charging-related complications leading to attractive and meaningful work, and (v) to reduce the impact on the electricity grid of electric trucking operations which in turn stimulates electric trucking uptake.
Our valorization and implementation plan stipulates bidirectional knowledge exchange by industry and academia by hosting industry events, workshops, and conferences, within the larger sphere of our consortium members, and by building upon existing knowledge dissemination networks and organizations in the Dutch Logistics Sector. Furthermore, we develop tangible proof-of-concepts based on validated business use-cases at industry partners of the consortium, that will validate and demonstrate the potential of EnerLogiX.
