Who is/will be the 1st TTR member to drive Electric Semi-Truck?

He is. If he weren’t, tag axles wouldn’t be a thing.

 

I will add though on oversize loads lots of states require all axles in an axle group to be within 20% of each other. And most states require a 10’ spread to be considered two axle groups and be allowed 20k on each axle.

 

I should also say that you can’t legally exceed the axle rating either. So if you have 38,000 pound rears you are supposed to have no more than 19k on either axle.

 

I know I am going to sound crazy but Bitcoin Fixes this! LOL

 

My problem with that is you are comparing the average truck on the road not the more advanced trucks. Put that number against a person like Joel Morrows truck who is getting 10-11 MPG like it is nothing. What if all trucks moved that way? Chances are that battery power would die out pretty fast in Trucking.

 

I would love to see a hybrid that would help out. Would love to see the steer axle and the second axle be electric and be able to assist in getting going and going up and down mountains. I think this would be ideal for the OTR trucks and could make a bigger impact then anything else. Maybe even use it when we are driving into wind so that the motor only needs to be barely working. Put that on a truck like Joel Morrow has and we would be seeing 15 plus MPG. The EV world is neat and I really like the tech but it is being pushed too much by the government. Once we get solid state batteries we will be able to talk about OTR being a thing maybe.

 

This guy is interesting. Even using an old truck.

How Steve Kron took his 2001 International above 10 mpg

 

He is doing it with lots of aero on the trailer. I have seen a lot on that guy as well. Pretty good stuff

 

I don't know anything about Joel Morrow except for one Volvo video I just watched, I'll dig into him a little more, seems like an interesting guy.

And yes, I'm talking about average trucks, not new technology coming down the pike. There are a lot of ideas out there and I'm open to them all, but I haven't seen any of them enter large scale production. Every couple of years someone comes out with a 'new' way to inject hydrogen into the engine. I know we've tried it a couple of times. Each time it works great in the summer, less so in the winter but ultimately destroys the engine.

Our fleet average is 7.5 mpg, or 53 cpm at $4/gal. While making a direct comparison of CMV EVs to POV EVs isn't accurate, it's the data that's available. Even if we double the kwh cost per mile, it's still half that of diesel. Bump the fleet average up to 11 mpg and you're still saving 10 cpm with the EV fleet. Cutting our fuel costs by 10 cpm would increase our profits by over 50%. Say half of that goes to infrastructure costs, heck even 90%, it would still represent a HUGE increase in profits for the company.

On the environmental side, even using coal to generate the power, one central generator will run more efficiently with less pollution than 10,000 individual generators.

EVs aren't perfect, not by a long shot. I also have no problem stating we're a long way from them taking over the industry. However I object when folks say "EVs are worse for the environment" or "the infrastructure will never be able to handle EVs" or "EVs are only financially viable because of the government". The first is categorically untrue, the second is just a matter of desire and time, and the government actively subsidizes the fuel delivery systems (please see how much taxpayers in Wisconsin are currently paying to maintain fuel pipeline and how much they are being asked to pay to rebuild the Green Bay line).

 

• Once Biden is out of office and we get someone in office that likes our oil production we can have fuel prices in the $2 range. Now add that to the I Torque set up that Joel Morrow helped Volvo make into a production truck and you can have 9-10 mpg mile truck all day long right now. Oil as long as we are a major producer will be cheaper than electric. If electric becomes more popular like you are saying it will get more expensive as well. Someone has to pay the bill to make it work and that person or persons is everyone that pays taxes. The government does not have money so it comes from the people that pay taxes.

Now you will see I like the tech and think it would be better used to have something set up to run on a truck like the I Torque with front and second axles being electric. Once we can create the solid state battery we can then move onto maybe an OTR set up but it is a long ways away in my eyes. I do like the Tesla as well for local truck but government needs to stay out of it. They waste way to much money and set stuff back from wasting to much money on people that get the money to develop nothing.