Comparative Assessment of Zero CO2 Powertrain for Light Commercial Vehicles

The transport sector is experiencing a shift to zero-carbon powertrains driven by aggressive international policies aiming to fight climate change. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will play the main role in passenger car applications, while diversified solutions are under investigation for the heavy-duty sector. Within this framework, Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) impact is not negligible and accountable for about 2.5% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Europe. In this regard, few LCV comparative assessments on green powertrains are available in the scientific literature and justified by the fact that several factors and limitations should be considered and addressed to define optimal powertrain solutions for specific use cases. The proposed research study deals with a comparative numerical assessment of different zero-carbon powertrain solutions for LCV. BEVs are compared to hydrogen-based fuel cells (FC) and internal combustion engines (ICE) powered vehicles. The analysis is conducted through specifically developed vehicle models. Vehicle performance in terms of energy efficiency, well-to-wheel GHG, range, payload, and total cost of ownership (TCO) are compared. Optimal powertrain configurations based on predefined vehicle ranges have been identified, and the impact of various cost scenarios has been analyzed. The most influencing factors on TCO have been identified, and a sensitivity analysis has been carried out. The numerical tool developed, and the methodology adopted allows the definition of the domains in which one solution prevails over the others in terms of vehicle range, fuel, and electricity cost.