Electromobility in Forest Transport. Is It Feasible? Perceptions Regarding Implementation in the Chilean Industry

Electromobility: Theory and Definitions

Electric Load Vehicles (ELVs), regardless of their load capacity, are those that obtain their engine capacity from electrical power, unlike conventional vehicles, which obtain it from the combustion of fossil fuels such as oil. Even though these vehicles have been part of mass consumption only since 2008, it is important to mention that they were invented in the 19th century, in full global competition and growth, and that, in 1912, one third of vehicles in the United States were electric (Ros-Marín and Barrera-Doblado, 2017). Nonetheless, since the beginning of the 20th century, ELVs started to become less important than Internal Combustion Vehicles (ICVs) because of their limited autonomy, their recharge times, the easy access to oil, and the advent of the Ford Model T to the market (García-Ruíz, 2015).

In the literature, two types of ELV can be identified: those that obtain energy released from batteries that can convert stored chemical energy into electricity, and those that obtain it directly from an electricity grid to which they are permanently connected, with the former having the alternative of direct battery charging or a battery change system (García-Ruíz, 2015).

The literature also shows a series of matching advantages and benefits of ELVs: from strategic (ceasing to depend on fossil fuels), to environmental (reducing greenhouse gas emissions). According to Jones et al. (2020), if factors such as the travel autonomy, recharge speed and infrastructure, and sales cost of these vehicles are successfully addressed, this technology can be made viable for commercial and industrial use. All of the aforementioned poses challenges to science and politics to generate incentives, define regulations, and contribute to infrastructure in order to boost this technological trend (Ministerio de Energía, 2020).

Public Policies to Encourage Electromobility

Studies on electromobility in Europe show that a limited ELV offer generates high purchase prices. Moreover, because many logistics operators do not know and/or have little experience in the field, a small dynamic market has emerged in countries such as Germany, Denmark, Poland, and Turkey. Therefore, many decisions related to investing in ELVs have been discarded, as economic assessments regard them as non-profitable, especially for medium- to high-ton vehicles (> 5t) (Iwan et al., 2019).

In order to boost the electromobility market for load vehicles, it is essential to combine efficient policies with knowledge exchange platforms. To solve this, the European Commission and Electric Mobility Europe (EMEurope) funded the EUFAL project (Electric and Urban Freight and Logistics) to build an exchange platform, so that companies could manage ELV implementations in mixed fleets and multi-level distribution concepts. A survey conducted within the framework of the FREVUE project (Freight Electric Vehicles in Urban Europe) in 2017 showed that, at the beginning of the project, only 39% of fleet managers perceived ELVs as a viable alternative next to diesel vehicles. The perception of those surveyed indicated that 72% believe that electric vehicles will be a viable alternative. Given this, for these platforms to operate effectively within a regulatory framework, infrastructure and supporting incentives are required (FREVUE, 2020).

Incentives for the development of electromobility may include a variety of incentives in European countries and are mainly based on facilitating access for the acquisition of electric vehicles, as well as, to a lesser extent, the development of electric recharge infrastructure. These factors are regarded as key in the implementation of this technology (Maza-Ortega et al., 2018).

Current Situation Regarding Electromobility in Chile and Projects for High Load Transport Around the World

The literature features several analyses regarding the potential of ELVs. They are quite recent, but no less promising. For example, in Finland, tests were conducted with high-load articulated trucks across distances over 100 km (Liimatainen et al., 2019). This led to the conclusion that there is a low potential to transport load only with batteries if their capacities are not improved. However, this alternative becomes attractive in combination with electrified roads to recharge the batteries without the need to stop the truck, as well as with quick-charge centers in resting stations or logistics centers. It is worth mentioning that ELVs will have a significant effect on the energy grid because they imply an increase in the load demand, so the routes need to be analyzed in order to locate the most important charging stations (Liimatainen et al., 2019).

Since May 2019, Chile has had a digital platform on electromobility led by the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications and the Ministry of Energy (2021), which is part of the public-private commitment to boost electromobility in the country. This platform contains information on the sector, such as the cost of electric vehicles, the regulatory framework, modifications or new regulations, training offered on the topic, ongoing projects, and the characteristics of ELVs both in Chile and around the world. Said platform contains a summary of the experience with electromobility in the country, including such as a company that has included four trucks with a load capacity of 1.6 tons and a truck with a load capacity of 13.0 tons into its urban transport fleet.

Forest Transport of Logs with Trucks

In Chile, forest transport has traditionally been performed by trucks, as they meet the strength and versatility requirements to access the demanding topography of woods and the flexibility necessary to address the widespread network of loading and unloading centers. They have also allowed meeting the cost requirements of the industry (Andalaft et al., 2005).

Nowadays, trucks are mostly ICVs with horsepower between 300 and 500, which makes them easy to operate on forest roads. Logging trucks have structures formed by square high-resistance steel profiles fitted perpendicularly onto the truck’s chassis and a beam on each end, which are jointly called the log rack, with characteristics and standards duly established by law (Ministerio de Transporte y Telecomunicaciones, 2010). These trucks have four to six racks on their chassis, which can be fixed or mobile and are equipped with trailers of an average fixed 7.2 m length in order to transport long logs between 2.0 and 8.0 m, or loggers with a telescopic tow bar for long logs of up to approximately 17 m. Thus, the loaded equipment must observe the maximum weight capacity in the country, which is regulated according to axis and total weight, i.e., a maximum of 45 tons in the case of Chile (Law N°19,171, 1992). Thereupon, in 2017, transport in logging trucks in Chile moved 98.8% of the load, relegating other means of transport such as trains to a faraway second place, despite their potential for the sector. This predominant trend of highway transport by trucks is constant in all countries in America and the world, regardless of their development or territory conditions (Quintana-Peña, 2006).

As for the types of fuel used by trucks in Chile and the rest of the world, diesel-based internal combustion motors have the upper hand. The 2018 transport statistics report of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe shows that, for countries in Europe, Central Asia, and North America, trucks with a loading capacity of over 3500 kg predominantly use diesel-type fuel, and that electric vehicles only represent 0.0419% of the existing units (Quintana-Peña, 2006). Only seven out of the 19 surveyed countries have electric vehicles with a loading capacity over 3500 kg. The countries concentrating the highest number of electric vehicles are Poland, United Kingdom, France, and Spain, but none of these countries exceed 0.01%, nor have they shown a clear upward trend in the past three years.

Understanding this reality, and considering the bibliographical analysis presented, the following question can be asked: What are the critical variables that make the implementation of electromobility in forest transport possible?

In this sense, a large portion of the Chilean forest industry has policies and guidelines in matters of sustainability, but there are sectors such as transport that, despite the implementation of important technological innovations in the equipment, have had no relevant impact in terms of minimizing or eliminating the use of fossil fuels. In view of the above, it is vital to understand, from a technical viewpoint, the motivations and concerns that stakeholders in the forest transport sector consider relevant to assess the implementation of electric trucks as an alternative to conventional load vehicles.

After going over the fundamental theoretical bases for this study, it is worth noting that its main motivation is to improve the understanding of the critical variables that facilitate the implementation of electromobility in Chilean forest transport, thus enabling this industry to take the first steps towards becoming a carbon-neutral activity while keeping the current standards achieved regarding productivity, costs, and operation. With this in mind, this work aims at establishing the critical variables identified and perceived by stakeholders of the forest industry as necessary for a correct implementation of electromobility-based high-load trucks.

Paradigm and Design

The design of this research involves a non-experimental study based on a qualitative methodology with semi-structured interviews. This is the most commonly used alternative, which, with questions prepared beforehand, guarantees the interview’s structure and goals, thus enabling to go a bit further in order to explore aspects of the interviewee’s answer. It can be complemented with a non-verbal language analysis (Quintana-Peña, 2006) and sequentially applied following a business-type classification represented by the interviewees from a convenience sample. Further, based on the interviewees’ experience, ensures a high-quality description of the topic’s specifics (Rodríguez Gómez et al., 1996).

Thus, forest truck suppliers of the country were first interviewed to gather information on the availability of electric trucks in the Chilean market, focusing on compliance with the minimum technical specifications to perform forest operations, i.e., the autonomy of electric trucks, their strength, their load capacity, and the availability of maintenance services. Then, businesspeople and forest transport service company managers from the studied regions were interviewed in order to understand their perceptions, concerns, and attitude regarding the feasibility -or not- of implementing forest transport with electric trucks. Finally, executives from the main forest company in the region were interviewed in order to explore their perception, plans, and intentions regarding the subject. The investigation was exploratory, systematic, and empirical. The results were observed and analyzed in their normal and general development in order to facilitate thinking with analysis towards discovery (Quintana-Peña, 2006). The data was analyzed based on a research methodology with transversal temporality, so the interviews were held once.

Study Population

For this study, three executives from the main companies, four transport company managers, and two truck suppliers were interviewed. All interviewees, regardless of their type, have a high level of expertise in the field and hold high hierarchical positions in each of their companies, such as heads of unit, general managers of forest transport companies, and area managers of truck distributors. 78% of the interviewees have complete university studies and an average experience in the field of 17 years. Three hold postgraduate degrees. The age of the interviewees ranges between 33 and 66 years old, with 89% being older than 41.

Environment

The study covered the eighth and sixteenth regions of Chile as representative regions of forestry industry, whose relevant economic sectors include financial services, real estate, construction, electricity, gas, water, personal services, and forestry, reaching a GDP of 13 497 billion pesos (14.48 billion USD) in 2017 (Banco Central de Chile, 2019, 2020) and contributing with 7.5% of the GDP.

These regions are regarded as the engine of the Chilean forestry sector and are the place of operations for the country’s three most relevant major-scale forestry stakeholders, which jointly manage a territory of 1 286 000 ha of forest plantations for industrial use. In total, the forestry sector contributes 1.7% to Chile's GDP, totaling 3 176.6 trillion Chilean pesos (USD 3.41 trillion) (Banco Central de Chile, 2019, 2020). The Chilean forestry sector generates 113.8 thousand jobs, which are subdivided into the primary, secondary, and forestry and extraction forestry industries. The main products generated by this sector include chemical pulp, sawn wood, boards and veneers, chips, and others, whose exports reached USD 6 838 million and a consumption of 47 854 215 m3ssc of saw and pulpable wood in 2018 (Instituto Forestal, 2020). The forest transport model is composed of forestry companies that act as client companies or customers and generally tender or negotiate forest transport services with specialized companies in order to take advantage of the economies of scale and experience they have with regard to logistics. It is estimated that there are around 80 companies specializing in industrial-scale forest transport with fleets ranging from 5 to 100 trucks. These trucks complete around 60 000 monthly trips covering average distances per loaded trip of around 120 km.

Interventions

Interviews were conducted with the main suppliers of trucks and forestry companies to carry out a survey of the key aspects indicated in the design of the study. To this effect, voice recorders and a written document with the questions guide of the discussion were used. The interviews considered 11 base questions divided into three stages: 1) characterizing the present and understanding reality, 2) high-impact proposals, and 3) alerts on transformation.

Instrument Verification and Validation Methods

The instrument was analyzed and validated by expert professors from Universidad del Desarrollo’s School of Engineering. Suggestions and modifications were taken into account for the interview to match the research design.

Data Analysis Plan

The data analysis considered the grouping and tabulation of the interview results, with the purpose of understanding the current scenario around the knowledge of this technology and its feasibility in the main forestry companies of Chile. Perceptions and paradigms regarding short and medium-term implementation were identified, with which the baseline variables that influence the decision to adopt this technology could be determined.

Ethics

During the research, special emphasis was made on demonstrating that researchers had no interest nor obtained benefits with regard to the interviews conducted. Voluntary participation was achieved through transparency, providing different study participants with sufficient information and handling the information provided with a high degree of confidentiality. Regarding the results, it can be assured that they were processed without pressures or influences in order to cancel out any bias in the data or opinions. In addition, the observations and assessments of the interviewees were conducted and analyzed in their normal and real context. Finally, it is confirmed that nowhere in the process was there any deliberate manipulation of the study variables.