Article: Reality survey on electrifying class 8 trucks with scaleup goals in the USA Journal: International Journal of Powertrains (IJPT) 2025 Vol.14 No.2 pp.184 - 200 Abstract: Vehicle electrification transition is gaining the momentum across diverse markets worldwide, though there are shared major concerns with using or owning an electric vehicle (EV) regarding price, battery range, battery lifetime, and charging infrastructure. This report provides a distinctive perspective of electrifying heavy-duty trucks (HDT) in USA, while there is a global consensus that the trucking industry is a hard-to-abate sector for emission reduction because of the salient reliance on diesel engines. Specifically, a succinct overview of the charging infrastructure in USA is sorted out per the publication information. Then the charging systems from the grid to an EV are briefed to underscore the enormous challenge of upgrading the grid capacity to meet much higher charging power requirements for HDTs' daily operation than light-duty family cars at home. In this paper, exemplary details about the difficult task of HDT electrification are further examined through the industry-leading electric tractors (class 8) from Tesla, which are now commercialisation-ready for scale application in the North American market. Finally, reality investigation will be further elaborated according to the analytic cases studied in this paper. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Reality survey on electrifying class 8 trucks with scaleup goals in the USA

Authors: Hailong Wang; Youming Tang; Mao Pang; Xubin Song

Addresses: Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, No. 318 Liu-he-lu, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310023, China ' Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, No. 318 Liu-he-lu, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310023, China ' Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, No. 318 Liu-he-lu, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310023, China ' Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, No. 318 Liu-he-lu, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310023, China

Abstract: Vehicle electrification transition is gaining the momentum across diverse markets worldwide, though there are shared major concerns with using or owning an electric vehicle (EV) regarding price, battery range, battery lifetime, and charging infrastructure. This report provides a distinctive perspective of electrifying heavy-duty trucks (HDT) in USA, while there is a global consensus that the trucking industry is a hard-to-abate sector for emission reduction because of the salient reliance on diesel engines. Specifically, a succinct overview of the charging infrastructure in USA is sorted out per the publication information. Then the charging systems from the grid to an EV are briefed to underscore the enormous challenge of upgrading the grid capacity to meet much higher charging power requirements for HDTs' daily operation than light-duty family cars at home. In this paper, exemplary details about the difficult task of HDT electrification are further examined through the industry-leading electric tractors (class 8) from Tesla, which are now commercialisation-ready for scale application in the North American market. Finally, reality investigation will be further elaborated according to the analytic cases studied in this paper.

Keywords: heavy-duty truck; HDT; Tesla Semi; zero emission vehicle; ZEV; megacharger; battery.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPT.2025.148451

International Journal of Powertrains, 2025 Vol.14 No.2, pp.184 - 200

Received: 22 Feb 2024
Accepted: 26 Nov 2024
Published online: 05 Sep 2025 *

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Title: Reality survey on electrifying class 8 trucks with scaleup goals in the USA

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