Pavement Maintenance Challenges from Heavy-Duty Vehicle Electrification

The transition to battery-electric heavy-duty vehicles (BEVs) represents a major step towards sustainable freight transport, yet it also raises important challenges for pavement infrastructure and long-term road maintenance. While the additional battery mass may increase axle loads and accelerate pavement deterioration, the resulting infrastructure impacts depend not only on vehicle configuration but also on the mechanical behavior of asphalt materials. Previous studies using the Multi-Layered Elastic Theory (MLET) for all material behavior have shown that both increased axle loads and battery weight distribution can significantly influence pavement fatigue performance.

It makes sense that because of the asphalt mix viscoelasticity, some additional variations in the pavement response and performance analysis could also induce additional challenges in the pavement assessment procedures and maintenance planning. Using mechanistic–empirical pavement analysis, conventional diesel trucks and representative electric truck configurations are compared in this study under realistic loading and temperature conditions. The study also attempts to assess how battery weight distribution, pavement temperature, and loading duration jointly interact to affect the predicted pavement performance.

By incorporating the viscoelastic behavior of asphalt mixtures into pavement analysis, this research aims to provide a more realistic assessment of future road deterioration associated with freight transport electrification. The findings are expected to contribute to improved pavement design, maintenance planning, and infrastructure resilience, supporting the development of sustainable road networks capable of accommodating the evolving demands of heavy-duty electric vehicles.