Competence area of commercial electric vehicles and relevance of an ITS support for transport and charging issues

Subject of the present paper is the analysis of possible applications of electric traction and hybrid propulsion to road vehicles, with reference to user requirements, the available technologies, both on board and related to ITS, with their possible developments. Commercial vehicles for freight are taken into account in particular, outlining the needed role and relevance of ITS. After recalling literature and son analyses on typical travels of freight vehicles - on the basis of the international, national or local travels - the range of competitiveness of electric vehicles is presented on the base of demand analysis; performances and quantitative limitations on the supply side - autonomy, batteries, power, performances, consumptions – are outlined, as well as recharging possibilities most suitable to user needs; regular drive cycles are taken into account.