Transportation electrification began in 1890 with the first US electric automobile. The vast electrification of transportation is one option to minimize carbon emissions as climate change becomes harder to ignore. Electric vehicles (EVs) reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), prices, and efficiency for commercial and public transportation, paving the way for green mobility. The necessity to reduce GHG emissions, or decarbonize, drives transportation electrification.
Transportation Electrification – the need of the hour
Most U.S. state GHG emission goals firmly aim at minimizing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. To achieve these ambitious goals:
- Public and private sector companies must collaborate for green energy solutions
- They need to increase carbon-free power generation
- They must build robust transmission networks to deliver energy reliably and economically, and
- They must address all the electric transportation transition challenges.
About 28% of GHG emissions come from fossil fuel vehicles. Thus, a decarbonized society requires replacing gas and diesel automobiles with electric vehicles fueled by carbon-free resources.
Transportation Electrification is Growing at a Rapid Pace
When battery costs drop, car manufacturers switch to EVs, and demand for low-emission vehicles rises. EVs will account for 2% of U.S. vehicles. EVs need efficient, fast-charging, low-cost batteries and a widespread, high-speed EV charging infrastructure to flourish. Electric vehicles’ biggest expense is batteries, although they’re more efficient and cheaper now. New charging solutions are reducing the long charge periods that deter commercial fleet operators and other road-based companies.
Cities and companies’ demands will fuel utility-scale renewable energy’s growth in grid electricity as the world advances toward a more sustainable energy future. Switching to electric cars will involve careful coordination of operating expenses, regulations, maintenance, energy storage and charging time, finance, and grid demands.
Hitachi is boosting EV sector growth
Hitachi is using its green and digital technology to assist transportation and energy companies in becoming climate change innovators to address these quickly changing demands. The company is boosting EV sector growth by developing circular economy solutions for battery lifetime management and smarter, more robust power infrastructures.
Commercial vehicles have greater usage factors
Commercial and public transportation fleets including trucks, buses, and delivery vans will lead transportation electrification since they will switch to electric sooner than personal automobiles. These vehicles have greater usage factors, thus reduced operations and maintenance expenses help organizations recoup electric car expenditures faster.
Regulations require fleet operators to cut carbon emissions. Penske Corporation is a major U.S. commercial fleet operator. Hitachi’s efficient, scalable electric car charging infrastructure solution helps Penske electrify its fleet. Cities, governments, and corporations may invest heavily as more countries and U.S. states prohibit diesel-powered buses and mandate zero-emission electric cars.
Electric fleet managers require advanced analytics
Onsite solar, battery storage, quick-charging EVs, and other grid-edge technologies will be essential to electrification infrastructure. Electric fleet managers require advanced analytics to make good judgments. For instance, countrywide commercial fleets will need carefully built charging station networks and improved scheduling to save off-peak charging costs using advanced analytics.
Optimization from grid to plug
From grid connection to vehicle, grid optimization technologies provide a complete solution. Hitachi Energy is collaborating with commercial trucking fleet operators and transit agencies worldwide to address the complicated issues of turning electric, including:
- Assessing each organization’s solution adoption problems
- Consulting helps enterprises plan for EVs and analyze capacity and the grid’s ability to host fleet EV charging networks
- Helping plan charging infrastructure, including hardware, energy storage, transformers, and grid connectivity
- Optimizing depot charging and countrywide charging station networks
- Operations analysis and data analytics will assist fleets in cutting charging and scheduling expenses.
Solutions for grid optimization
Various companies provide grid automation, grid edge, battery energy storage, and fleet charging solutions. Hitachi Energy’s Grid-eMotion Fleet is scalable, flexible, and configurable for large-scale public and commercial fleet EV charging. Grid-eMotion Fleet improves grid energy use and decreases fleet depot space by 60% with an integrated digital ecosystem.5
Grid-eMotion Fleet assures power quality and adaptability to the utility grid. Integrated charging infrastructure with multi-output charging stations between 50 and 600 kilowatts per outlet ensures compatibility with present and future EV fleets.
The future of electric mobility is now
Hitachi Energy is advancing electric mobility. The company’s tie-up with Hitachi Vantara lets it use data analytics to collect car and charging station data to improve the grid. The UK’s Optimise Prime EV pilot used Hitachi Vantara data analytics to monitor the charging and electrification of three fleets totaling over 3,000 vehicles. Optimise Prime and Hitachi are collecting and analyzing data from hundreds of charging stations to modify EV charging.
The National Renewable Energy Lab predicted that by 2050, transportation electrification will require 25–38% more kilowatt hours. Grid-eMotion will optimize the grid by moving demand at off-peak hours, reducing infrastructure changes to meet rising demand.
Electromobility has already begun, and environmental, regulatory, and financial constraints will only rise, forcing commercial fleets to use electric cars. Hitachi can provide enterprises with lower-cost charging infrastructure and data analytics capabilities to make the move. Commercial and public transportation fleets may switch to electric with minimum interruption thanks to the company’s infrastructure logistics and management experience.
Better future with electrification
All of us benefit from electricity. Hitachi supports affordable, carbon-free energy and mobility to promote social fairness and sustainable business practices through transportation electrification. The company promotes renewable energy development through market and industry reform and green innovation. It thinks a stronger, smarter, greener, and more dependable electricity system will drive sustainable energy. Global progress calls for balancing economic, social, and environmental values to ensure access to energy.
