Eco BMC – answers to questions

The BMC tractor-trailer with LPG installation is a technological novelty on the Polish market.
The vehicle has created a lot of buzz around itself, and as a result, we are posting answers to some questions. 1. What green technologies is your brand working on, what does it put the most emphasis on, and why? BMC, as one of Turkey’s leading manufacturers of commercial vehicles, places technical progress in a very high place.
In order to be able to fully respond to the needs – sometimes extremely diverse – of customers in different sales areas, it is working on a number of technologies aimed at further greening road freight transport.
These range from gas-based technologies to electrification technologies.
It is difficult to say what the company is putting the most emphasis on.
First of all, further development in gasification and electrification is conditioned by various factors.
Gasification technologies are refined and at this stage guarantee an affordable vehicle price and an extremely competitive range in the realm of alternative drive technologies.
Electric technologies, on the other hand, do not cause emissions by the vehicle itself, or more precisely by its drive unit.
It is also important to understand that it is Europe that is now betting heavily on electrification.
Outside of it, in other key sales areas for BMC, such as Turkey, the Middle East and Africa, the versatility of good old diesel is still appreciated.
That’s why we are developing all these technologies in parallel as a company, because that’s what our customers want. 2. What fuel(s) will be the best for road transportation of the future, for short, medium and long distances? There is no clear answer to this question.
Rather, you have to bet on the fuel mix according to the principle of customer by customer, application by application, implementation by implementation.
In general, of course, one can answer that electricity at this point will mainly work in and around the city, while gas will work outside the city.
In the future – a decade or so from now – vehicle proposals based on electrification and gas-electrification, or hydrogen and electricity, will prevail.
Nevertheless, this is not entirely true.
Suppose we have a large biogas plant.
It can produce biomethane, which, when compressed, will power a municipal garbage truck, and liquefied vehicle covering routes of hundreds of kilometers, including international traffic.
Therefore, there is no such thing as the best fuel(s) for road transportation of the future, for short, medium and long distances.
Namely, there are alternative energy carriers under given conditions and constraints that perform better in given applications.
Diesel gave us versatility and flexibility.
Alternative fuels and alternative powertrains are already forcing application-location-optimal resource implementation. 3. the main barriers to the development of ecotransport, charging / refueling stations and what else? The key question is what we mean by the term ecotransport.
In the public space, electrified and, above all, all-electric transportation is generally considered such transportation.
However, this is a considerable simplification.
For it is necessary to carry out a sound analysis.
First is the ecology of the production of the means of transportation itself. And here, still battery vehicles are not green.
Secondly, it is a full carbon footprint according to the wheel-to-wheel principle.
And here we come to an interesting conclusion.
Electric transportation is zero-emission only if the electricity to power it comes from RES or biogas plants or nuclear power plants.
If, on the other hand, we have a gray energy mix, then a gas vehicle powered by biogas with the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 120% is greener!!!
de facto biogas is greener than RES.
That’s why BMC offers gas vehicles prepared to run on biogas.
And getting back to the point of the question – what are the main barriers to the development of ecotransport – charging / refueling stations and what else.
In my opinion, not charging stations at all.
They are at the end of the chain, although of course they are necessary in this puzzle.
Nevertheless, in the Polish case, definitely more important are: – building a modern power grid with dedicated control and supervision systems, also prepared to receive energy from prosumers; – securing an adequate net supply of energy for the electric vehicle market; – investing in stationary energy storage facilities based on the second life of batteries; – relieving the burden on the system power industry through locally dispersed development of micro-points of energy production, such as photovoltaic panels, windmills, mini-hydropower plants, mini-hydropower plants at biogas plants; – developing biogas plants both in terms of their production of clean biogas for power – vehicle propulsion, and for electricity production. 4. as of now, a BEV tractor costs about 3 times more expensive than one running on diesel, has a range of about 200 km at a gust.
To whom and for what purpose?
How to convince a carrier or, for example, a utility company to buy one? Various factors, including political ones, must be considered in the choice.
Currently, BEVs are expensive and uncompetitive in terms of range and heavier compared to their traditional counterparts.
Batteries are the culprit here.
That’s why, like the big industry players, BMC is involved in projects to offset these operationally important shortcomings.
A project subsidized by the European Union is underway to allow the range of an all-electric highway road tractor on a single charge to be increased to around 500 km.
The question “To whom and for what” is a bit of a question not addressed to this addressee.
The disadvantages of electrification technologies have long been known.
If the Union authorities are betting on them for strategic-political reasons, BMC – as a major market player – has to adjust to them, analogous to other sector rivals.
In doing so, it also faces the same challenges and obstacles.
However, overcoming this innovation and implementation critical mass also requires cooperation.
The sector also stresses that it is a car manufacturer and therefore it should not be up to it to prepare the appropriate charging infrastructure along with supplying the necessary amount of energy at competitive prices.
This is already the role of a particular state and the policy it pursues in this matter.
We – at Autobags – advocate sensible electrification, moving in the direction of so-called “natural economic viability.
natural economic viability.
The utility company mentioned in the question can acquire electric rolling stock and, moreover, it will show a full business case.
Even today.
However, two essential conditions must be met.
First, the energy to power it should come from its own sources – such as photovoltaic panels or a mini-generation plant at a landfill or wastewater treatment plant powered by biogas.
This is a very green approach, capable of reducing the emission of methane into the atmosphere, a far more harmful gas than the notorious CO2.
This reduces the cost of obtaining energy almost to a minimum.
Secondly, however – and this is also no small challenge here – the business model must be changed.
In the case of the electric garbage truck – due to its quietness and zero-vibration – this may mean shifting some traffic to evening, morning or even night hours.
After all, this way it is possible to serve institutional customers, such as offices and, in smaller municipalities, offices, hospitals, schools or kindergartens.
Besides, the base should not be located somewhere in the suburbs or even outside the city, but as close as possible to the customers served, so as not to unnecessarily waste energy on the commute itself.
So it’s not that BEV can’t be profitable – it can, but it must be introduced skillfully into a full ecosystem ready to receive it.
This requires, and I’ll emphasize strongly again, a change in operating philosophy, and it’s a change that BMC is working on to adequately help its customers.