The transport sector contributes to about 25% of total CO2 emissions in the EU and is the only sector where the trend is still increasing. Taking into account the growing demand on the road transport system and the ambitious targets of the EC’s Transport White Paper, it is paramount to increase the efficiency of freight transport.
The vision of the AEROFLEX project is to support vehicle manufacturers and the logistics industry to achieve the coming challenges for road transport. The overall objective of the AEROFLEX project is to develop and demonstrate new technologies, concepts and architectures for complete vehicles with optimised aerodynamics, powertrains and safety systems as well as flexible and adaptable loading units with advanced interconnectedness contributing to the vision of a “physical internet”. The optimal matching of novel vehicle concepts and infrastructures is highly important, requiring the definition of smart infrastructure access policies for the next generation of trucks, load carriers and road infrastructure.
The AEROFLEX project will develop the knowledge, concepts and technology to improve the efficiency of long-range freight vehicles by 18-33% while drawing up recommendations for implementing the results within European regulations and in the transport & logistic industry.
The drone footage shot can be found below
Moderated by Ben Kraaijenhagen, BeCat & AEROFLEX project Technical Coordinator
In this link you will have access to all project deliverables and documents on top of the ones highlighted above
The results of the
deliverable 1.1 are used in other work packages to support the selection of use
cases. A first stakeholder workshop has shown that it is difficult to translate
the requirements of the logistics service providers directly into technical
details of new vehicle concepts
As one of the main objectives of the AEROFLEX project is to develop a road map to realize an
efficiency increase in logistics of up to 33%, subtask 1.2 of working package 1 examined whether
savings potentials were to be expected if high capacity vehicles according to the European Modular
System (EMS) as currently permitted would be useable in European logistics, i.e. can new vehicle
concepts contribute to yielding transport cost and CO2 emission savings? T
AEROFLEX aims to
reduce fuel consumption of EMS vehicles by advanced powertrain technology. A
key idea is to combine the combustion engine of the pulling vehicle with
electric drives in different vehicle units, thereby creating a distributed
hybrid drive. In turn AEROFLEX vehicles would allow a flexible combination of
vehicle units which bring their own driveline into the combination.
In AEROFLEX a framework for an efficient operation of distributed powertrains in long haul EMS vehicles is developed. This framework is referred to as Advanced Energy Management Powertrain (AEMPT). After presenting general requirements to such systems in D2.1, the present report D2.2 outlines a proposal for the technical solution.
Description of different
concepts, with the aim of reducing the aerodynamic drag for heavy trucks, and
provides initial estimates of the drag reduction potential of the concepts.
Description of the CFD simulations performed
to demonstrate the effect of various concepts, on aerodynamic drag for two types of
heavy truck vehicle combinations, namely a Tractor-semitrailer and a Truck -dolly -semitrailer EMS1 (25.25m)
combination. The results of the simulations are used as a basis for selection of suitable combinations of concepts
to fulfil the prescribed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Description of the basis for selection of the components
and technologies for implementation on the EMS 25.25m demonstrator vehicle, in order to improve its
aerodynamic performance.
Description of the performed wind tunnel tests.
Use cases relevant for the AEROFLEX project have been identified and discussed with the stakeholders. These
cases are based on four criteria that can be mixed up (1) a volume -based scenario (2) a weight-based option, (3)
an intermodal case and (4) a distance-based case (urban, medium and long-haul transport).
Analysis of ready-to-market technical features and combined them into three technical
concepts which should be tested within the project.
Analysis of three new concepts for smart and
flexible loading unit.
Detailed analyses describing and evaluating fatalities and injuries arising in
crashes, the most frequent crash scenarios and investigating the critical safety factors and causes of
crashes.
Definition, requirements and simulations of the accident type scenarios that had been
developed.
The main
objective of this work has been to design a new front-end concept for a truck. This front-end has been developed
considering its Passive Safety performance in crash and pedestrian impact scenarios, as well as developing the
design guidelines and validation plan for the Active Safety Systems.
The
main goals of the document are the following:
• Gather a detailed listing and definition of all Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the project and mark
the ones relevant for the validation within the scope of WP6;
• Select at least 8 customer use-cases that will be used for technical assessment in WP6;
• Give a detailed overview of the selected customer use-cases;
• Identify what additional data will be needed from the other work packages regarding the selected
customer use-cases in order to perform energy consumption and energy efficiency improvement analysis
on these customer use-cases for the customer preferred vehicle configuration (future prime candidate)
compared to the existing vehicle configuration (current prime candidate).
he functional
description of the final technical assessment can be summarized in one sentence:
To assess the efficiency improvement potential of AEROFLEX innovations in typical European long-haul road
operations, building on the reference and demonstrator test results, using realistic simulations and providing
input to the impact assessment of the EU freight transport and book of recommendations.
The test program defined, includes five different test use-cases being:
1. Fuel consumption tests at steady-state speed on test track
2. Fuel consumption tests on the public road
3. Air drag on test track
4. Vehicle dynamic measurement on test track and
5. Terminal loading tests at a customer’s depot.
Description of the indicated testing activities to obtain and evaluate the reference results.
In AEROFLEX a so-called Advanced Energy Management Powertrain (AEMPT) has been developed. It includes a pulling unit (truck), one or more electric trailer units, software to make the vehicle units work together efficiently and a communication system which allows the vehicle units to exchange necessary information.
Define the state-of-the-art regulatory framework regarding the freight transport
market in a clear and meaningful format.
This document is the AEROFLEX deliverable D1.3 containing the final results of WP 1 in the AEROFLEX project. It covers the impact assessment of High-Capacity Vehicles (European Modular System EMS 1 and 2).
In the AEROFLEX work
package 2 a converter dolly with an electric powertrain, further referred to as
Smart Power Dolly (SPD), is developed. The SPD is part of the Advanced Energy
Management Powertrain (AEMPT) distributed over several units of the vehicle combination
In AEROFLEX WP2 an EMS1 vehicle was built which demonstrates the fuel consumption reduction potential of a
distributed powertrain in a long and heavy vehicle.
This document represents Deliverable D3.6 of the AEROFLEX project. It summarizes the performed activities
within Work Package 3 (WP3), to fulfil the requirements and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) prescribed in the
project for drag reduction on heavy trucks
As part of the activities of WP3 within the AEROFLEX project, a full-scale demonstrator is planned.
This demonstrator consists of three parts: A newly specified Scania three axle rigid truck; An existing Schmitz dolly; The existing Van Eck trailer as used in the TRANSFOMERS project.
The scope of this
deliverable is to describe the safety benefit assessment activities completed
within Task 5.4 of WP5 of the AEROFLEX project. The expected performance of the
integrated safety systems developed in Task 5.3 will be used to identify the improved
safety provided to the target population.
EMS (European Modular Systems) or HCV (High-Capacity Vehicles) play an important role achieving the goals of the AEROFLEX project. The philosophy of the AEROFLEX project is that optimised aerodynamics, distributed powertrains, and adaptable loading units enable the EMS pulling units to be relatively simple, cheap and fuel efficient. In this way, transport efficiency could benefit most and the best cost-benefit ratio could be reached. In the project both EMS1 (25.25 m) and EMS2 (32 m) vehicle configurations are tested and evaluated. Reference vehicles are tested and evaluated and the AEROFLEX EMS1 and EMS2 demonstrator vehicles incorporating the AEROFLEX innovations have been subjected to various on-road tests.
The aim of this document is
to deliver a handbook of requirements and recommendations for the implementation
of aerodynamic and flexible trucks for freight and logistics in a multi-modal
context which will serve as a guide to policy makers to define future
legislations and standards.
In AEROFLEX WP2 a powertrain architecture for vehicles as specified in the European Modular System (EMS) was
developed, which include electric drives in multiple vehicle units. A sophisticated energy and torque management
system allows for an efficient operation of this distributed powertrain. This powertrain architecture is referred to
as Advanced Energy Management Powertrain (AEMPT).
The aim of this result is to show the results obtained on demonstrator vehicles
on the test use-cases performed according to the protocols
described.
Develop and demonstrate new technologies,
concepts and architectures for complete vehicles with optimised aerodynamics,
powertrains and safety systems as well as flexible and adaptable loading units
with advanced interconnectedness contributing to the vision of a PI
Starting back in the early 2020’s, AEROFLEX has since achieved its goal: ensuring the right truck – with the right cargo – at the right time – on the right road, by 2030. How? Through actively starting the development of Intelligent Access Policies and introducing it step-by-step throughout Europe…
