![]() It would free rail cars from having to muster in large, centralized freight yards. The decoupling factor adds a new level of efficiency. ![]() The railcars can perform independently in freight yards and other stops for “first mile” loading duties, link into trains for traveling over long distances, and decouple to reach their “last mile” destination. Intramotev sailed across the CleanTechnica radar earlier this week, with its TugVolt model for retrofitting existing electric railcars with battery kits. It could potentially tip the cost balance over to full electrification and railway stakeholders are starting to pay attention (see more of CleanTechnica’s electric train coverage here). However, autonomous technology is beginning to emerge on a demonstration scale. The Nature Energy study focused on here-and-now solutions, so it did not zero in on autonomous railcars. Autonomy Begets Parity For Electric Trains “Accounting for reduced criteria air pollutants and CO 2 emissions, switching to battery-electric propulsion would save the US freight rail sector US$94 billion over 20 years,” the authors concluded. Cost parity would also have to factor in access to fast-charging infrastructure and wholesale electricity prices, and the playing field would have to be leveled to account for the environmental cost of diesel-electric trains.ĭespite these caveats, electrification could win the bottom line race sooner rather than later. ![]() “At near-future battery prices, battery-electric trains can achieve parity with diesel-electric trains,” they noted, though with some important qualifications. According to their findings, a standard boxcar could be converted to an electric tender car loaded up with batteries to achieve an all-electric range of 241 kilometers. “ Improved battery technology plus access to cheap renewable electricity open the possibility of battery-electric rail,” the Nature Energy authors explained. Until recent years, the relatively high cost and scarcity of renewable energy put a damper on the vision of diesel-free electric trains. “Nearly all US locomotives are propelled by diesel-electric drives, which emit 35 million tonnes of CO 2 and produce air pollution causing about 1,000 premature deaths annually, accounting for approximately US$6.5 billion in annual health damage costs,” the authors point out. A 2021 study in the journal Nature Energy describes the current state of affairs. In contrast to multiple crews required for each steam locomotive, diesel-electric trains can be crewed from a single locomotive coupled together with another one, or more.ĭiesel-electric trains are an improvement over their steam-driven ancestors, but there is always room for more improvement. Diesel-electric locomotives first appeared in the 1920s and soon gained currency as a labor-saving, cost-cutting technology improvement over steam-driven trains. They deploy an electric drive that runs off a diesel generator. Most freight trains in the US are already halfway to electrification. ![]() Louis, Missouri, company Intramotev, which aims to push diesel fuel out of the locomotive picture with a fleet of battery-electric autonomous rail cars. The latest development on the rail electrification front involves the St. Electric trains are commonplace in commuter rail systems, but they have yet to make an impact on the freight shipping business.
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