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The Times They Are A-Charging

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xr7

TMO Addict?
708
823
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10-20 Years
Minnesota
The Tesla truck could be a real game changer, if (big if) it is cheaper to operate alot of fleets will flock to it. Not all trucks run cross country, lots run out and back to the same terminal every day, beverage trucks! The diesels are so complex, think of this, no radiator, engine, exhaust after treatment, transmission, driveline or differentials. That is a lot of weight that can be replaced by batteries. Power to the electric vehicle, it leaves the gas for us!
 
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Interesting info, and source. Tell any truck driver, the guy making a living with a truck, he has a 300 mile limit. Wait for him to stop laughing and then apologize.

Maybe apologize for misquoting the range? It's 500 miles in the Tesla truck. Would he still laugh? What's the current daily mileage for a big rig driver? I really have no idea, but I thought there were regulations in place to ensure some sleeping, and not behind the wheel.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech...c-big-rig-truck-rolls-into-reality/873162001/
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
7,530
5,248
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HPDE
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10-20 Years
Illinois
Most over the road truckers have a 8 to 10 hour duty day. Average 60+ MPH in all 50 states. In the fly over states it's closer to 75MPH. Many over the road trucks have two drivers. So yes, range is a consideration/limitation.
Again, where do you plug in along the route? Do you add a new technology to a fleet when the old must be maintained for an undetermined time?
Once the technology catches up to requirements, electrics will be the way to go. With the power gird allegedly at its limits and batteries a serious limitation it's just not time yet.
 
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My guess is Elon has some ideas on how to charge the fleet if he's going to make them. IMO they need to make the batteries replaceable on the fly, so you'd pull in and in just a few minutes drive away with a charged pack. I've heard that strategy kicked around quite a bit. As far as the grid, at least here in CA there is so much solar power being installed that the grid is not nearly as stressed as it used to be.
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
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W2W Racing
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20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
Here's what they publish in Ontario, and it's supposed to be standardized North America wide, though I doubt it is. It's all based on time, not distance. There's more to it than this, but this is the basic part.

1. Daily requirement*
  • A driver must have 10 hours off-duty in a day.
  • A driver cannot drive more than 13 hours in a day.
  • A driver cannot drive after 14 hours on-duty in a day.
* Some exceptions apply; refer to Ontario Regulation 555/06

2. Mandatory off-duty time
  • After a period of at least eight hours off-duty, a driver cannot drive more than 13 hours.
  • After a period of at least eight hours off-duty, a driver cannot drive after having been on-duty for 14 hours.
  • After a period of at least eight hours off-duty, a driver cannot drive after 16 hours has elapsed.
 
Regardless, these first EV trucks aren't designed to eliminate all long haul ICE trucks. Most trucks are driven much shorter distances and 500 miles will cover a very high percentage of daily truck routes. The long haul fully autonomous EV trucks come later. ;)
 
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Regardless, these first EV trucks aren't designed to eliminate all long haul ICE trucks. Most trucks are driven much shorter distances and 500 miles will cover a very high percentage of daily truck routes. The long haul fully autonomous EV trucks come later. ;)

I can picture giant autonomous drones swapping the battery packs out at speed on the highway. One can dream...
 

TymeSlayer

Tramps like us, Baby we were born to run...
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Brighton, Colorado
The very fabric from which this forum was born will be relegated to relic status one day and that day will be like the day the music died. Of course, If'n I'm lucky, I'll be long gone.

@Fat Boss - That would be cool but a car running on perpetual motion would be cooler.
 
With the eventual change to electric, a lot of stuff has to evolve.......Car manufacturers will have to be more committed to electric cars,Lots of charging stations will need to be added to replace the less needed gas stations and the public's mentality about electric transportation will have to change ( that's a hard one for me!). Also battery technology will need to improve, like TMS mentioned. How this works out price wise is out of my realm.
 
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Norm Peterson

Corner Barstool Sitter
939
712
Exp. Type
HPDE
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5-10 Years
a few miles east of Philly
Boy, Was that guy a gearhead, personified!!!
.
Agreed. I liked the way he was putting it all into context against an ICE-powered car that we all understand to be pretty outrageous in the forward acceleration department.

I only wish he'd spoken a little slower, as there was just a huge amount of material to digest for anybody who has never tried to run any power/torque/gearing/acceleration numbers before.


Norm
 

Norm Peterson

Corner Barstool Sitter
939
712
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
a few miles east of Philly
Genovations 800 HP EV Corvette. This looks interesting. Now if EV's can be made to sound as good as an ICE..[/MEDIA]
First off . . . car videos need to just stop playing music. Getting an earful of somebody else's choice in music isn't why I clicked on the link. Here, the relative silence of electric drive plus a little tire noise would have been appropriate.

I don't even know what would be a sound appropriate to an electric motor as a car powerplant. Certainly not a synthesized ICE rumble, they'd only be fooling themselves if they thought it would fool me. But maybe some sort of fan noise (I'm assuming that an electric motor that powerful is going to run more than a little warm and need some sort of cooling).


Norm
 

Norm Peterson

Corner Barstool Sitter
939
712
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
a few miles east of Philly
... consider the center of gravity...I've read that the CG on the tesla is among the lowest in any vehicle ever produced...on par with (may favorite) FGT. It only makes sens that the ability to put batteries wherever you want in the car allows a car-maker the ability to manipulate weight distribution to their advantage.
Just to go back a bit, it's not efficient for performance to manage the CG location by adding weight unless you're running in a competition class with minimum-total and/or maximum left-side weight rules. This advantage would be lessened should battery energy density be significantly increased without having to add any more supporting technology for, say, battery temperature control.

I'll give you the aero benefit, assuming that adequate cooling can be provided for everything from the motor(s) to the A/C.

Instantly available big torque at low speeds, not so much.


Norm
 
Telsa is trying to expand their empire to Ct by lobbing to change the CT law that allows only dealerships to sell new cars to new car buyers (not direct from the manufacturer) NY state already allows this so many Telsa buyers are flocking to NY to buy their cars and are not paying the CT sales tax (OUCH). Car dealerships in CT are fighting this effort "tooth & nail" because selling cars and servicing them is their bread and butter.Interesting to see how this plays out.........
 
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