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A startup that emerged from stealth last month has another idea: Parallel Systems wants to use self-driving, battery-powered autonomous rail vehicles to transport goods. The trains will be assembled automatically and run without conductors, locomotives and train whistle. If Parallel Systems is successful, fully autonomous self-driving cars could enter orbit before the road.
Founded in January 2020 by a group of former SpaceX executives, Parallel Systems is still largely a concept. Parallel Systems CEO Matt Soule envisions platoons of railcars similar to giant Roombas carrying 10 to 50 containers, but it’s based on modeling and simulations because the company has only built two railcars to date. The second generation of rolling stock will be launched later this year.
Parallel is trying to develop software that will work with existing railroads and include the necessary safety features, Soule said. “We’re not going to replace trains,” he said. “It’s about moving more truck miles to rail.”
Each of these battery-electric approaches brings the promise of a cleaner environment, lower rail fuel costs, and fewer premature deaths from air pollution, but they lack the same thing that hinders EV adoption: charging stations .
As part of a trial run last year, Wabtech and BNSF Railroad built the first battery-electric locomotive charging station at a station in Stockton. This uses a 400-kilowatt plug, but later models of Wabtec’s FLXdrive will use pantograph technology to charge, with the arm down to the contacts on the top of the locomotive.
Union Pacific said its battery-electric locomotives will initially operate only in rail yards to test performance in extreme cold and heat. The railroad will develop the charging station in partnership with the Association of American Railroads, which is developing the standard with representatives of railroad and locomotive manufacturers. A spokesman for the group said the standards would not support a particular method of charging.
A Wabtec spokesman said the company could offer plug-in charging, but charging from the top of the locomotive would be easier. Parallel Systems is developing a charging pad that attaches under rail vehicles and between train tracks.
The Lawrence Berkeley Lab-UCLA study shows that building charging stations will account for a significant portion of the initial cost. Freight trains typically travel 1,000 miles or more, but stop for shifts every 150 miles or so, providing an opportunity to recharge the batteries. One advantage of building charging stations for locomotives is that they don’t have to be in cities, which helps keep costs down. “These charging facilities can be anywhere,” Phadke said.
Another potential advantage: the potential to capture energy as heavy, mile-long freight trains rumble down hillsides. Wabtec’s trial last year ran 350 miles in the center of California without a charge, as regenerative braking on a downhill charged the battery about 20 percent.
The system is similar to the braking system that charges the batteries of a hybrid car, Gebhardt said, noting that trains carry a lot more weight behind them. He believes regenerative braking could potentially reduce the number of charging stations needed for battery-electric locomotives.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency Department of Energy launched a locomotive program last year that is collecting models for predicting the cost, performance and greenhouse gas emissions of alternative-energy locomotives for major railroad operations. Project director Bob Lodeux said the software could help reduce fuel use and emissions from conventional locomotives. Coordinating more activity between ships, trucks and trains is crucial to decarbonizing the entire supply chain over time, he said.
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