Conference Summary

ACT 2024 In Pictures

Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, Las Vegas, May 20 – 23, 2024
Website (mark for next year !)

The ACT Expo covers all aspects of the latest technologies for commercial vehicles. Participants from a wide array of stakeholders attend – regulators, OEMs, suppliers, fleet owners, infrastructure developers, utilities etc. – providing a unique forum to discuss the “reality” on the ground for the energy transition that is happening, and to show off upcoming technologies at various levels of maturity.

Here are some pictures from the exhibition floor to give an overview of the breadth of technologies discussed.

This does not do justice to the content, however, as we do not cover the excellent talks and panel discussions held in various sessions. A summary of the technical discussions and key takeaways will be provided to MobilityNotes members.

Medium-duty Electrification

Many models shown, especially for step vans, vocational trucks and school-buses. This is perhaps the best case for electrification, with limited range requirements (< 200 mi) and intermittent driving with time for charging.

 

Still, prices need to come down. One step van was priced at ~ $75K, with an incentive in California of – hold your breath – $47K.

Heavy-duty Electrification

Not as commercially viable today due to infrastructure and payload issues, but several heavy-duty (Class 7-8) electric trucks were on display. Note the huge batteries, which of course come in various chemistries. 

Construction and Yard Tractors

Yard tractors, other machinery and power take-off accessories are also being electrified. The battery requirements are going to be significant of course and the time of operation is currently limited compared to diesels. 

High-speed charging

Speaking of infrastructure, high-speed DC chargers are available are ready for deployment at truck stops (various speakers discussed learnings from recent demonstration projects). The key challenge is to get the power required to these charging points in a reasonable timeframe. 

Portable Charging

While charging infrastructure lags, portable charging units are filling in the gap – these are either equipped with battery packs or generators powered by renewable fuels. 

Hydrogen

Hydrogen powered trucking is catching up. Several fuel cell packs displayed, along with a fueling station and of course, fuel cell trucks.

 

Also being developed are H2 powered internal combustion engines. On display was the H2-ICE engine and demonstration truck. 

Advanced ICE

To meet upcoming emission targets, fleets and OEMs cannot afford to wait for the infrastructure to be built and for total cost of ownership of electric trucks to reach parity with diesels. The industry continues to pour significant investments in adapting fuel saving technologies (such as from SuperTruck) or switching to cleaner, low carbon fuels. These offer immediate carbon savings without the need for significant investment in new infrastructure, and moreover, in terms of retrofits, can be the only tool to decarbonize the legacy fleet. 

Mark your calendar

For ACT 2025, April 28 – May 1, Anaheim, CA. The transportation sector is changing very rapidly and it will be exciting to see the developments next year – and perhaps some interesting discussions on the regulatory front following the elections this year.

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