Impacts of Battery Electric Vehicles on Axle load and Pavement Performance for Swedish Road

Abstract

Battery electric vehicles carry battery packs that increase gross vehicle weight and redistribute mass toward the steering axle. Existing flexible pavement standards in Sweden were calibrated to diesel vehicle loading and may be inadequate as heavy electric trucks enter the national freight fleet. This study derives axle loads from manufacturer specifications for a matched pair, the Volvo FM Battery Electric and the Volvo FH 13 diesel, across five goods loading conditions. Load Equivalency Factors and Equivalent Single Axle Loads are calculated using the European 100 kN reference axle. Pavement performance is simulated in ERAPave, calibrated by VTI for Swedish materials and Nordic seasonal conditions, over a 10-year period on a national road cross section in Mölndal, Sweden. Traffic data were obtained from the Trafikverket National Road Database (NVDB). The electric truck imposes a front axle load 1,015 kg heavier than diesel across all loading conditions. The Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL) ratio of the electric truck relative to the diesel equivalent peaks at 2.92 under the empty condition and narrows to 1.69 at 90% goods loading, remaining above unity throughout. Fatigue cracking governs the failure sequence, the structural threshold is reached at 4.7 years under electric truck loading versus 8.1 years for diesel. Rut depth is 15% greater after 10 years. Increasing the asphalt-bound layer package by 40 mm reduces the fatigue damage ratio from 1.10 to 0.50, though this structural improvement results in a proportional increase in construction cost. The findings demonstrate that heavy electric trucks will noticeably accelerate pavement deterioration and support a revision of design guidance for designated electric freight corridors in Sweden.