Soort project:
Project
Thema:
Vehicle energy management

FlexMCS: speed up adoption of electric heavy duty trucks in the EU

Status project

1 Januari 2025 – 31 December 2028

In cooperation with

Vrij Universiteit of Brussels, DAF, Ricardo, Gruber Logistics, Iveco, Alfen, Bosch, Alice and many others

To facilitate the transition to sustainable mobility within the transport sector of Europe, extensive deployment of charging stations across the country is essential. The project FlexMCS (Flexible Megawatt Charging Systems) aims to develop fundamental technologies for establishing large-scale charging areas throughout the European Union.

TNO innovations

TNO will develop software tools and conduct studies to support the usage of battery-electric trucks in heavy-duty operations, as well as to better use battery energy storage systems in charging hubs. Specifically, these are the intended innovations:

Vehicle digital twins

The day-to-day usage of electric trucks brings additional challenges in commercial applications, due to the shorter range of electric vehicles and the additional time required for recharging these vehicles. Therefore, using an electric truck cost-effectively requires meticulous planning. To support the day to day usage of these trucks, TNO is developing vehicle digital twins.

A digital twin is a digital copy of the truck, that can be used to provide (real-time) estimations about the truck range, required energy, or arrival time. These estimations can be used by end users such as truck owners or fleet operators, to optimise the usage of electric trucks in their commercial applications.

Digital twinning platform

The deployment of digital twins in logistics and mobility requires a robust digital twinning platform that connects vehicles, fleet managers, and charging infrastructure. This platform collects real-time data from heavy-duty vehicles and charging systems, enabling intelligent decision-making for fleet planning and optimised EV charging strategies. It supports the deployment of not only vehicle digital twins but also battery digital twins and non-automotive digital twins.

The platform must incorporate comprehensive cybersecurity measures, authentication and authorisation protocols, and cloud-based processing capabilities to securely handle the sensitive information associated with fleet operations. Interoperability is ensured through standardised communication protocols, enabling seamless integration across different partners and vehicle types.

Battery energy storage solutions

Battery Energy Storage Systems are becoming crucial for the transition to zero emission vehicles. In the Netherlands, BESS are seen as a viable solution to mitigate grid limitations problems. This results in fast-evolving battery technologies, where users still wonder about the usage and capabilities of such technologies.
In an effort to support the Dutch market, TNO will study and develop tools of some of the most critical aspects of BESS:

  • TNO will conduct a study about the trade-offs between the different chemistries alternatives in battery storage systems. This will also include upcoming technologies and will result in technical and economical comparison of the multiple technologies.
  • TNO will develop a digital twin of an existing BESS implementation. This digital twin will capture the BESS dynamics so that the battery can be used in predictive energy management functions, to maximise revenue.

Open Architecture for electric heavy-duty vehicles operation

The incorporation of heavy duty-electric trucks into commercial applications brings additional operational challenges because of the need of synchronising logistics with electrical energy availability , i.e., through the charging of the electric trucks.

To match logistics and energy, several new actors need to communicate to with each other: fleet planning, electric vehicles, vehicle digital twins, battery energy storage systems, energy management systems, and charge point operators. However, such a data exchange is not (completely) standardised right now leading to several custom made solutions.

TNO is developing an Open Operational Architecture to help standardising the data exchange between logistics operations with energy availability. This architecture development is lead by TNO in collaboration with the FlexMCS partners, who represent the each one of the critical actors needed in this ecosystem.

Goals FlexMCS:

  1. To design multiport Megawatt charging hubs with cost-effective and flexible layouts for various vehicles.
  2. To develop an Open Operational Software architecture for real-time data exchange between charge point operators, the energy grid, and fleet managers to maximise the operations of electric trucks.
  3. To accelerate planning and installation of charging hubs, focusing on key locations along TEN-T corridors.
  4. To conduct a six-month real-world demonstration in Karlsruhe, Germany, to validate developed technologies and tools with different vehicles and logistics operators.

Curious about how digital twins or the open operational architecture can support your transition to zero emission vehicles? Feel free to contact one of our experts.