Following the car for more than 700 kilometers, see why the new energy heavy truck can run farther and farther

From Chengdu, Sichuan to Xi'an, Shaanxi, reporters——

Following the car for more than 700 kilometers, see why the new energy heavy truck runs farther and farther (People's Eye·Promote the large-scale application of new energy heavy trucks)

Our reporter Sun Chao

Introduction

Knocking left and looking right, Xu Ping'an walked around the Sany brand new energy heavy truck in front of him and inspected it carefully before setting off. He is 50 years old and works for Sichuan Shuan Green Energy Logistics Co., Ltd. He has driven container trucks and ultra-long trailers before, but this is his first time driving a new energy heavy truck for long distances.

"Okay, let's go." After the inspection, Xu Ping'an called reporters to get in the car. One day not long ago, at 8 p.m., a new energy heavy truck with license plate number "Sichuan H09837D" departed from Shangda Logistics Park in Chengdu, Sichuan, heading north along the Beijing-Kunming Expressway to Xi'an, Shaanxi, more than 700 kilometers away.

Logistics is the "string" of the real economy. Road freight is responsible for more than 70% of the transportation of production and living materials in the whole society. Among them, heavy trucks are the main vehicle for long-distance freight. In recent years, my country's heavy-duty truck energy consumption structure is changing from "diesel-based" to "diversified coexistence and the rise of new energy sources". In the first half of this year, the cumulative sales of new energy heavy trucks in my country was approximately 140,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 78.6%. The application scenarios are also expanding from port collection and distribution and coal trunk lines to urban logistics and inter-provincial freight.

In May this year, the Ministry of Transport, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Large-Scale Application of New Energy Heavy Trucks", proposing that "by 2030, the penetration rate of new energy heavy trucks will reach 40%, and the number of vehicles in stock will exceed 1.6 million, accounting for about 20%."

From short-distance transport to long-distance trunk lines, why do new energy heavy trucks travel farther and farther? Reporters followed the car to investigate.

transportation

Only through the coordination of vehicles, energy replenishment, and supply sources can the line run smoothly.

The cab was about 1.5 meters above the ground. Xu Ping'an moved quickly and climbed on board easily. He adjusted the seat with air bag shock absorption function and began to look at this "new guy".

This pure electric heavy-duty truck tractor tows a 16.5-meter-long trailer behind it, with a fully loaded total weight of more than 40 tons. The vehicle was purchased by Sichuan Shuan Green Energy Logistics Co., Ltd., and the department stores, food, etc. installed on the vehicle were organized by Sichuan Yonglu Android Logistics Co., Ltd.

At night, the Shangda Logistics Park is brightly lit, and staff are moving goods back and forth. "The park has always been so busy, and we rarely have free time." Pointing to the mountains of goods piled up on the loading and unloading platform, He Xianyong, the person in charge of Yonglu Android Logistics Company, said that the company mainly does less-than-truckload freight, which is to collect scattered goods from different customers and make a full truck for shipment.

Patting the window behind the cab, Xu Ping'an gestured to the reporter: "The battery is outside here." Outside the window, a battery with a rated energy of 600 kilowatt-hours weighs about 4.4 tons and is close to the car body, like a big schoolbag. Xu Ping'an is very concerned about weight. "With a 4-ton battery installed on the car, does it mean we have to haul 4 tons less cargo?"

"Not entirely." He Xianyong explained that freight must be calculated both by weight and volume. LTL freight pays attention to "light-heavy loading": first use heavy goods as a base, and then load large and light goods into it, trying to make full use of space and load. "Although batteries increase the weight of the vehicle, as long as the goods are properly distributed, the impact on transportation efficiency can be reduced."

The bigger bill is freight - a diesel heavy-duty truck with similar cargo capacity costs an average of three or four yuan per kilometer in fuel costs; this new energy heavy-duty truck has an average electricity cost of about one yuan per kilometer. Xu Ping'an quickly calculated the result: "Assuming that a car runs two to three million kilometers a year, hundreds of thousands of yuan can be saved every year in energy costs alone."

"For 'truck lovers', heavy trucks are the means of production. In addition to technology, the whole life cycle cost is an important indicator." Chen Dong, deputy general manager of Hunan Sany Heavy Truck Technology Co., Ltd., said that in logistics and transportation scenarios with high annual operating mileage, compared with fuel heavy trucks, the energy costs saved by new energy heavy trucks are enough to cover the price difference of 200,000 to 300,000 yuan, and the whole life cycle cost advantage is obvious.

"There are more than 8 million heavy-duty trucks in the country, and new energy models only account for about 5%, so there is huge room for replacement. We judge that the market will usher in explosive growth." Chen Dong told reporters that at the end of 2021, Sany heavy trucks will turn to new energy, "identify the new trend and completely stop making fuel-powered heavy trucks."

The determination is great and the challenge is not small. Chen Dong recalled that in the first two and a half years of transformation, the industrial chain was not yet complete and not many people dared to buy. Sany's annual sales of heavy trucks dropped from a high of 6 billion yuan when selling fuel vehicles to more than 1 billion yuan. In the second half of 2024, as my country's new energy industry chain and innovation chain continue to mature, the production and sales of Sany Heavy Truck's new energy models will usher in a turning point.

Before following the car, the reporter walked into the Sany Intelligent Heavy Truck Industrial Park in Changsha City, Hunan Province. Pointing to a new energy heavy truck that just rolled off the production line, He Qi, director of the Sany Heavy Truck Technology Research Institute, said: "The battery of this vehicle has a rated energy of 423 kilowatt hours, and its weight has been reduced from 3.7 tons in the early days to 3 tons. It can be placed on the chassis or hung behind the front of the car."

The weight of the battery is getting lighter and lighter, but the capacity is getting larger and larger. He Qi said: "With the popularization of high-density batteries and high-performance fast charging technology, new energy heavy trucks that could only be used in specific scenarios such as ports and parks in the early years have more application scenarios."

The reporter observed that there is a lever next to the steering wheel of the fuel heavy truck, which is used to control the hydraulic retarder to assist in decelerating the vehicle. On new energy heavy trucks, the lever is still there, but it has become an energy recovery intensity adjustment lever. When the vehicle decelerates, the motor can convert part of the kinetic energy into electrical energy for recycling.

Technological progress has improved product competitiveness, but for logistics companies to really use it, they have to overcome the hurdle of supplementing energy.

Chen Dong said that when Sany Heavy Truck first arrived in Chengdu to carry out market promotion, it visited dozens of logistics companies, and most of the answers it received were "nothing can be done." Compared with fuel heavy trucks, new energy heavy trucks have short cruising range and low energy replenishment efficiency, which makes many companies worry: If they break down along the way and delivery is delayed, who will bear the loss?

Shu'an Lvneng saw an opportunity. "Green and low-carbon is the trend, and the cost advantage is there." Liu Zejun, the person in charge of the company, decided to give it a try.

As a result, the three parties joined hands to connect vehicles, energy replenishment, and supply sources: Shuan Green Energy invested in purchasing vehicles; Sany Heavy Truck built power swap facilities to solve the energy replenishment problem; and Yonglu Android was responsible for organizing supply sources.

Line selection is also important. Chengdu is located at the transportation hub of the southwest, with highways extending in all directions, but the northbound route is more feasible: the Sichuan-Shaanxi transportation trunk line from Chengdu to Xi'an has frequent exchanges of medicinal materials, seedlings and other goods, and there are supplies of goods in both directions, which can reduce empty driving of vehicles. Guangyuan City, Sichuan, along the line, is an important hub for vehicles traveling south to north and to change gears, and is suitable as an energy replenishment node.

In May this year, this new energy heavy truck transportation line began trial operation. After several months of adjustments, vehicle dispatch, supply organization and energy replenishment arrangements have been gradually streamlined. By September, a demonstration line consisting of more than 20 new energy heavy trucks and running in both directions every day was built.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, Xu Ping'an started the vehicle and drove out of the logistics park. "I used to have to shout to talk in the car." After driving for more than half an hour, Xu Ping'an said with satisfaction: "The gear shifting is smooth, climbing is strong, and there is assisted driving, so people are not so tired. There is no smell of diesel, and the noise is reduced."

Supplement energy

Increase efforts to build heavy truck charging and swapping stations so that long distances can be "run smoothly"

In the early morning, the scenery outside the window changed from the vastness of the Sichuan plain to the mountains of northern Sichuan. Guangyuan arrived.

Looking through the window, not far from the highway exit, a blue Sany heavy truck power swap station has its lights on. As the car approached, the system automatically sensed it, and a voice prompt came in my ear: "There is no replaceable battery."

After asking the staff, we learned that just 10 minutes before our arrival, a new energy heavy truck had replaced the last fully charged battery, and the remaining five batteries in the station were being charged. Fortunately, more than 20 minutes later, the green indicator light of the battery swap station came on - there were fully charged batteries available for replacement.

Driving into the designated location, Xu Pingan followed the voice prompts, turned off the high-voltage system, turned off the engine and waited. Overhead, the robotic arm of the gantry crane moved slowly, stopped above the vehicle battery, stretched out its gripper, and steadily lifted the 4-ton battery, sent it to the charging compartment, and then loaded a fully charged battery back into the vehicle. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes. "Battery replacement is very fast. It would be nice if there were more batteries." Xu Ping'an said frankly.

"The investment in a single battery-swapping station is tens of millions of yuan, and it is difficult to spread it with the company's own investment alone." Chen Dong said that the current ratio of charging to battery-swapping in the entire industry is about 7:3. About 90% of the new energy heavy trucks sold by the company are mainly charging. "For cross-city and cross-province trunk transportation, it is still inseparable from the extensive third-party fast charging network."

This trip is more than 700 kilometers. For this new energy heavy truck with a full battery life of about 400 kilometers, it is most reliable to recharge the battery twice: changing the battery in Guangyuan, about 300 kilometers away from Chengdu, and then charging in Hanzhongyang County, Shaanxi, about 230 kilometers away from Guangyuan. "The Implementation Regulations of the Road Traffic Safety Law stipulate that drivers who drive for four consecutive hours must rest for more than 20 minutes. Such scheduling achieves a match between 'rest for people' and 'energy replenishment for vehicles.'" Xu Ping'an said.

Departing from Guangyuan, we arrived at Yangxian about 3 hours later. Near the highway intersection, dedicated fast charging piles for new energy heavy trucks built by third-party operators are lined up. When we arrived, there were already three heavy trucks charging.

"Two charging guns charge one car at the same time. Your car can be fully charged in two hours," the charging station staff said. The reporter got out of the car to check and found that one of the charging guns was malfunctioning. The voltage and current displayed on the screen clearly deviated from the normal fast charging range. The estimated remaining charging time was displayed as more than 4 hours. The reporter quickly reminded Xu Ping'an to move the car and change piles. Fortunately, it didn't waste too much time.

"Fortunately, you can see carefully." Xu Ping'an said that he was a little confused by the dense current and voltage data on the screen. "In the past, when I drove a fuel vehicle, I could fix some minor problems with the car myself. Now when I drive a new energy vehicle, the engine and water temperature gauge are gone. If there is a problem with the vehicle, I can only call for help."

In Chen Dong's view, "As the car is replaced by a new energy heavy-duty truck, the driver's skills must also be improved accordingly. Understanding charging data and dealing with sudden failures is a lesson that 'card lovers' need to make up for."

After charging, Xu Pingan woke up from a nap. When he looked at the bill, he was happy: "I charged 578 kWh of electricity and only spent 508 yuan."

On the "Sany Electric Truck" WeChat applet, there is a charging "price map" that is updated in real time. At peak times, one unit of electricity costs 1.5 yuan, and at low times it only costs 60 or 70 cents. "The mini program brings together all the stations where the company's new energy heavy trucks have been charged. It is clear at a glance where there are vacancies and when the electricity price is low." Chen Dong said, "Nowadays, freight is only marginally profitable. Charging with cheap and convenient electricity is competitiveness."

Entering the Qinling Mountains, the terrain is undulating. First, it was dozens of kilometers of continuous climbing. After crossing the commanding heights, it was dozens of kilometers of continuous downhill. When the vehicle approached the commanding heights, the instrument panel showed that the remaining cruising range was only more than 60 kilometers, but it was still more than 100 kilometers away from Xi'an. Xu Ping'an shouted anxiously: "What happened?!"

The reporter quickly called He Qi. He Qi comforted, "Don't worry, wait until the vehicle goes downhill and then check again." He further explained: When the vehicle climbs a hill for a long time, the motor continues to output high power, and the power consumption accelerates. Based on this, the system estimates that the remaining cruising range is significantly reduced. After entering a long downhill slope, the motor driving power will be reduced to zero, and the vehicle will use the kinetic energy of the downhill slope to generate electricity. The recovered electric energy will quickly increase the remaining cruising range.

Sure enough, after the vehicle started going downhill, the cruising range on the meter returned to more than 200 kilometers, and the battery power even increased slightly.

"Road conditions affect power consumption and also affect the system's estimation of the remaining cruising range." He Qi said that in response to such situations, the company will strengthen training for drivers and freight companies when delivering vehicles, and will provide special reminders based on the characteristics of long uphill and long downhill slopes in mountainous roads.

In addition, although there are thousands of new energy heavy-duty truck charging stations across the country, most of them are concentrated in closed scenes such as ports and parks, and heavy-duty truck charging facilities in highway service areas are still insufficient. Xu Ping'an has a deep understanding: "One time to change the battery, one time to charge, and the next two times to come up at high speed are all time costs."

The "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Large-Scale Application of New Energy Heavy Trucks" proposes to build zero-carbon highway transportation corridors around key sections of the national highway network "5 radials, 4 vertical and 5 horizontal", and support and guide the construction of about 3,000 heavy truck charging and swapping stations. The Beijing-Kunming Expressway that this trip took has been included in the key sections. In Hunan, the province's first pair of heavy-duty truck charging stations and battery swapping stations in high-speed service areas were put into operation at the end of last year and in May this year respectively. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Hunan also plans to build 48 new energy heavy truck charging and swapping stations in 24 pairs of service areas, and the "network" of energy replenishment is getting denser and denser.

Operation

Only by not being "involved" and focusing on the long term can the industry "run steadily"

At 1:20 pm the next day, after more than 17 hours, we arrived in Xi'an. This long-distance trip directly proves the feasibility of new energy heavy truck trunk transportation.

Chen Dong introduced that when Sany New Energy heavy trucks just started, the most sold models were equipped with batteries with a rated energy of 282 kilowatt hours and could only travel about 130 kilometers. They were mainly used for relatively closed short-distance transport such as ports and mines; with technological advancement, the rated battery energy is 425 kilowatts. Models with a full battery life of about 300 kilometers have begun to undertake short- and medium-distance transportation of sand, gravel, steel, etc.; now, models with a battery rated energy of more than 600 kWh can run four to five hundred kilometers on a single charge, and their application scenarios have been further expanded to express delivery, inter-provincial transportation and other fields. Looking across the country, logistics companies such as SF Express and JD.com have also applied new energy heavy trucks on a large scale.

In addition to the upgrade of transportation capacity, the logistics organization model is also iterating. Liu Zejun recalled that back then, drivers crowded into the information hall of the logistics park, stared at the supply information on the blackboard, and inquired about the cargo owners. Nowadays, you can pick up your mobile phone to receive orders, and supply, freight and vehicle information are becoming more and more transparent.

More importantly, electrification allows vehicles to be online in real time. The speed, location, power, and energy consumption of each vehicle, whether the driver is fatigued, when to charge, and how much has been charged can be understood in real time in the background. "In the past, to manage vehicles, we could only set up a WeChat group and communicate one by one. Now when I sit in the office, I can clearly see the status of dozens of vehicles and easily dispatch the fleet." Liu Zejun said that currently, the demonstration effect of the company's Sichuan-Shaanxi line is constantly expanding, and the lines in the northwest region are also expanding, which has attracted many peers to come to inspect. "We will take root in Sichuan and radiate to the northwest, explore new models of new energy heavy truck operations, and help low-carbon upgrading of regional logistics, reduce costs and increase efficiency."

As efficiency improves, new problems emerge. Many drivers are worried that as freight rates become more transparent and new energy heavy-duty trucks have cost advantages, freight rates will be depressed. "For drivers, will their income drop?" This is what Xu Pingan is most worried about.

He Xianyong said frankly that at present, some new energy heavy truck transportation companies are competing for supply of goods at lower freight rates, and fuel heavy trucks are forced to follow suit, which has an impact on the transportation service market.

"Blindly 'price-rolling' will inevitably affect service quality, and ultimately the cargo owners will suffer, affecting the healthy development of the entire industry." Chen Dong believes that industry development cannot fall into low-price competition, and the cost advantages brought by new energy heavy trucks should be transformed into actual benefits for car companies, drivers, cargo owners and other parties.

In addition to shipping prices, the residual value of second-hand cars is also an unavoidable practical issue. The reporter asked Xu Pingan, if he went it alone, would he buy a new energy heavy truck? He thought for a while and said, "I just don't know if it will still be worth it when I sell it."

"The first batch of new energy heavy trucks in the industry are still in operation, and a mature second-hand car evaluation system has not yet been established." Chen Dong said that as the number of new energy heavy trucks increases and the first batch of vehicles gradually enter the update cycle, how to scientifically evaluate battery attenuation, vehicle performance and residual value of second-hand cars, and establish a transparent and reasonable trading mechanism so that drivers dare to buy, use and replace, are issues that the industry needs to solve.

The farther future is also accelerating.

In He Qi’s view, electrification and driverless driving have a natural compatibility. The mechanical structure of fuel heavy trucks is complex, and the autonomous driving system requires a lot of modifications and calibrations; new energy heavy trucks can realize electronic control from the underlying architecture and have the software and hardware foundation for autonomous driving. "Sany Heavy Truck is actively deploying intelligent driving, and has established an intelligent driving team of more than 500 people, striving to build a 'Chelu Cloud' collaborative system." He Qi said.

Policy support and industrial accumulation are also promoting the acceleration of autonomous driving towards practical applications.

Take Changsha as an example. In October 2025, the "Implementation Plan for Hunan Province to Implement the State Council's "Artificial Intelligence +" Action" was issued, proposing to "actively promote the construction of Changsha as a national 'vehicle-road-cloud integration' pilot city." Currently, Changsha has platforms such as the National Intelligent Connected Vehicle (Changsha) Test Zone and the National Connected Vehicle Pilot Zone. The intelligent connected vehicle industry is accelerating its gathering, giving birth to companies such as Xidi Intelligent Driving Technology Co., Ltd.

"Our company's driverless mining trucks have sold more than 1,900 units in total and are in regular operation in nearly 40 mines around the world. In the first half of this year, revenue increased by 97% year-on-year." said Ma Wei, co-founder and vice chairman of Xidi Zhijia.

Unloading, diverting, collecting goods... In the evening, Xu Ping'an's car was filled with return goods. "The first trip went smoothly, and the second trip will definitely be smoother." Xu Ping'an turned around and climbed into the cab, started the car, and set off again.

"As vehicle performance continues to improve, energy replenishment networks gradually improve, and operating models continue to be explored, new energy heavy trucks will enter a broader market." Chen Dong predicted.