The technological barriers to automated driving systems (ADS) are being quickly overcome to deploy on–road vehicles that do not require a human driver on–board. ADS have opened up possibilities to improve mobility, productivity, logistics planning, and energy consumption. However, further enhancements in productivity and energy consumption are required to reach CO₂–reduction goals, owing to increased demands on transportation. In particular, in the freight sector, incorporation of automation with electrification can meet necessities of sustainable transport. However, the profitability of battery electric heavy vehicles (BEHVs) remains a concern. This study found that ADS led to profitability of BEHVs, which remained profitable for increased travel ranges by a factor of four compared to that of BEHVs driven by humans. Up to 20% reduction in the total cost of ownership of BEHVs equipped with ADS could be achieved by optimizing the electric propulsion system along with the infrastructure for a given transportation task. In that case, the optimized propulsion system might not be similar to that of a BEHV with a human driver. To obtain the results, the total cost of ownership was minimized numerically for 3072 different transportation scenarios that showed the effects of travel distance, road hilliness, average reference speed, and vehicle size on the incorporated electrification and automation, and compared to that of conventional combustion–powered heavy vehicles.

自动驾驶系统（ADS）的技术障碍正在迅速克服，以在路上部署不需要人工驾驶的车辆。ADS为改善机动性，生产力，物流计划和能源消耗开辟了可能性。但是，需要进一步提高生产力和能耗以达到CO ₂–由于运输需求增加，降低了目标。特别是在货运部门，将自动化与电气化相结合可以满足可持续运输的必要性。但是，电池电动重型车辆（BEHV）的盈利能力仍然令人担忧。这项研究发现，ADS导致BEHV的获利能力，与人类驾驶的BEHV相比，BEHV的出行距离增加了四倍。配备ADS的BEHV的总拥有成本最多可降低20％，这可以通过针对特定运输任务优化电动推进系统以及基础设施来实现。在这种情况下，优化的推进系统可能与人类驾驶的BEHV相似。为了获得结果，