Range improvement in BEV trucks using heat pump for cabin heating instead of PTC heater

The Paris Agreement (2016) and the European Green Deal (2018) have accelerated the development of zero-emission technologies in the transportation sector, particularly for heavy-duty vehicles. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs), while offering promising emission reductions, suffer from range limitations under cold ambient conditions due to the significant energy demand for cabin heating. This study investigates the performance of a heat pump system as an alternative to the conventional Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heater in a heavy-duty electric truck application. A detailed one-dimensional (1D) vehicle thermal model is developed using GT-Suite to simulate the dynamic behavior of a 16-ton BEV truck equipped with a 300 kWh battery pack. The simulation is conducted under 0 °C ambient conditions using the On-Road Fuel Economy driving cycle. Compared to the PTC heater configuration, the heat pump system achieved a 31.64% reduction in auxiliary thermal energy consumption, resulting in a 1.18% improvement in overall battery energy consumption. These improvements translate into a measurable increase in driving range under cold climate scenarios. This study demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of integrating heat pump systems in heavy-duty electric trucks, which has not been extensively covered in previous literature focused primarily on passenger vehicles. While numerous studies have explored EV thermal management using various simulation platforms, including widely adopted tools like MATLAB/Simulink and Modelica, a comprehensive investigation specifically for heavy-duty BEV trucks, particularly focusing on the detailed 1D thermal modeling approach adopted here, remains less common.