Impacts of Electrified Trucks on Flexible Pavements

Due to crucial greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from freight trucks in transportation, the current focus is on approaching zero-emitting medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Hence, heavy-duty electric trucks (HDET) have been considered. However, current technology could increase the HDET gross vehicle weight (GVW) due to the weight of high-capacity batteries needed for long-haul trips and heavy loads. This study quantified the impact of the additional 2-9 kips on flexible pavements. The pavement damage, under dynamic HDET loading due to the additional weight, was quantified. Moreover, the environmental and life-cycle-cost impacts were estimated. Four typical highway pavement structures in Illinois (known as thick–weak, thick–strong, thin–weak, and thin–strong) were considered in this study. The study considered an HDET penetration rate from 0% to 100%, at 25% increments.