A semi-truck delivering auto components from Mexico to Memphis is a typical diesel truck—nevertheless it now will get most of its energy from electrical energy on a part of its route. The truck is among the first to pilot new tech that attaches to present semis to show them into hybrids.
At a swapping station in Dallas, a trailer with a pre-charged battery inside mechanically pulls as much as the truck so it may pop in place between the cab and the semi trailer. “That course of takes about 5 minutes, which is definitely sooner than filling up a tank of diesel,” says Ian Rust, CEO and founding father of Revoy, the startup that designed the brand new know-how, known as the Revoy EV. When the truck leaves Dallas, it drives 234 miles to a station in Arkansas for one more fast swap. The identical swaps occur in reverse on the journey again every day.
When the brand new trailer is connected, the battery supplies sufficient further energy to chop emissions by 70% to 80%. Whereas the truck nonetheless makes use of some diesel, it may go from 6 to eight miles per gallon of diesel to twenty to 35 miles per gallon. The system can save a transport firm $25,000 a 12 months per truck on gas, the startup says.
[Photo: Revoy]
Some absolutely electrical heavy-duty vehicles are already on the highway, however they face limitations to adoption. The primary problem is price, even with tax breaks which can be obtainable underneath the Inflation Discount Act. “It’s considerably dearer upfront,” says Rust. “Nearly 3 times the fee.” Trucking corporations even have to determine the proper time to cost, as a result of electrical energy may be dearer than gas if a truck is plugged in on the mistaken time, he says. “It includes mainly stepping into electrical energy market, not one thing trucking corporations have historically completed.”
By charging its batteries solely when the price of electrical energy is low, Rust says it’s attainable for Revoy’s system to compete with the price of diesel. (It owns the Revoy EVs, so trucking corporations pay just for the service, not the automobile.) It’s just like the idea of battery swapping, which is used in some electric cars and bikes now. However placing the battery inside a trailer on wheels makes it a lot easier to connect. As a substitute of needing new tools to elevate an enormous truck battery, Revoy is utilizing the identical fundamental system that vehicles use to connect trailers now. And its know-how can be utilized with any type of truck.

[Photo: Revoy]
Proper now, electrical vehicles aren’t well-suited for touring lengthy distances. Batteries are heavy, and including extra capability to spice up the vary implies that a truck can carry much less freight. And charging giant batteries means truckers want to attend between 90 minutes and a number of other hours. With restricted charging infrastructure obtainable now, electrical vehicles typically even have to attend in line earlier than they will even plug in. (Gasoline cell or hydrogen vehicles additionally face challenges with price and want new infrastructure.)
Revoy’s system is designed to suit into the present course of that shippers use, Rust says. “They’re simply working their identical route, and once they’re doing their common stops, they’re simply making use of a Revoy EV and saving some cash and largely decarbonizing,” he explains. “What we promote to our clients actually is torque. They’re simply getting energy to haul their load, and that’s finally what they care about.”
The additional energy additionally helps vehicles speed up sooner—one thing that may assist with security when a truck is making an attempt to merge onto a freeway—and the brand new trailer’s regenerative braking implies that the truck can cease 30% sooner. Revoy’s know-how additionally provides options like blind spot detection, automated reversing, and auto-correction to assist vehicles stop rollovers or jackknifing.
The tech also can assist enhance the efficiency of electrical vehicles. “We now have an e-commerce buyer within the Central Valley of California—they’ve adopted a number of EV vehicles and they don’t seem to be pleased with the vary,” Rust says. “And so we are able to really act as a spread extender.”
Finally, he says, the corporate desires to work solely with electrical vehicles as extra shippers make the transition. (California is pushing to make that transition sooner, with a legislation that requires producers to start making zero-emissions heavy-duty vehicles this 12 months, and a aim of 300,000 zero-emission vehicles in use by 2035.) For now, Revoy’s tech also can start to make a distinction for among the almost 2 million semis on the highway. The issue is massive: medium and heavy-duty vehicles make up solely round 5% of the automobiles on the highway within the U.S., however are answerable for 23% of emissions from any type of transportation.
After three years of R&D, Revoy is now in manufacturing and planning so as to add extra swapping stations in Texas, Arkansas, California, and Oregon. “The unit economics work,” Rust says. “The purchasers are loving it. And it’s only a matter of getting these swapping stations in additional areas.”