NREL’s rail optimization software, ALTRIOS, is demonstrating how autonomous, battery-electric rail vehicles built by Parallel Systems reduce the energy and greenhouse gas emissions required to move freight by rail. Photo from Parallel Systems
Much like the self-driving electric cars already on the roads, Parallel’s rail cars use battery-electric motors, cameras, perception sensors, and advanced braking systems to guide themselves along conventional railways—no onboard engineer or conductor needed. But unlike conventional freight trains, which are propelled nearly exclusively by diesel engines, Parallel Systems’ vehicles combine electric powertrains with a technology called “platooning.
Combined, these two first-in-the-world products—NREL’s rail optimization software and Parallel’s battery-electric rail vehicles—will help shift a portion of the freight currently carried by on-road trucks to rail instead, catalyzing decarbonization across the whole transportation sector.than moving it on a semitruck. It also frees up highways for easier passenger car travel, reducing traffic congestion.