In 2023, freight trucks moved $15 trillion worth of goods in the United States. Trucking is what keeps America’s economy moving, plain and simple.
Yet this workhorse of consumerism is now ripe for disruption. Advances in artificial intelligence, lasers, radar, and cameras are poised to automate long-haul trucking on interstate highways. At the same time, battery technology has progressed to the point where electrifying semi-trucks is increasingly economical.
“Autonomy and electrification combined could lead to a 50% decrease in emissions and 46% savings in life cycle costs,” a team of researchers reported earlier this summer in a paper published to the Journal of Industrial Ecology.
When partnered with a mostly zero-emission grid, “electrification of all U.S. freight would result in $32.3–39.2 billion in avoided damages annually and health benefits throughout the United States,” another team reported in a paper recently published to Environmental Research Letters.
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