Driving Time Per Day and Breaks

With respect, I don't think you realize how much energy we need. Nothing short of another nuclear reactor will be able to handle our short or long term needs. I read, statistically speaking, those rows of windmills and fields of solar panels, barely create enough energy to light the light at the top, compared to what we use. I'm not familiar with Saudis technology, but without the oil, we'd never hear from them.

 

I read an interesting article in Scientific America where they were talking about pushing DC current thru the air like radio waves. The technology is real but at this stage very limited to short distances but with lots of research underway to make a sort of repeater system where essentially they would put cones on power lines throughout the country that would boost or push the dc electric waves thru the air then any device that has a receiver would be able to literally get dc electricity thru the air. If this becomes commercially available then not only the major cost of the vehicle (Batteries) is no longer needed but you would now have endless range without the need to power up.

 

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average U.S. home uses 893 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month. Per the U.S. Wind Turbine Database, the mean capacity of wind turbines that achieved commercial operations in 2020 is 2.75 megawatts (MW). At a 42% capacity factor (i.e., the average among recently built wind turbines in the United States, per the 2021 edition of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Land-Based Wind Market Report), that average turbine would generate over 843,000 kWh per month—enough for more than 940 average U.S. homes. To put it another way, the average wind turbine that came online in 2020 generates enough electricity in just 46 minutes to power an average U.S. home for one month.

 

That could might be the answer to how to charge the batteries while stopped and push some power to them while moving even. I know I would not like to rely on an outside source of energy without being able to store at least some, say enough for 100-200 miles.

I am far from considering myself really knowledgeable on what is possible with the improving tech but it seems inevitable big fleets are going to switch to electric pretty rapidly at some point in the next 3-5 years or so.

 

The way to power electric trucks is by electrifying the roadways and continuously charging the trucks while driving. Kinda like the electric trolleys that contact an overhead wire all around the city. Start with interstates getting electric truck lanes, (no passing, speed limited) and branch out to state routes later. No clue how the electric roadway would affect wildlife or hitch hikers... Actually producing enough electricity required to move all the freight while not offending anyone is a bigger hurdle than the battery or truck technology in my opinion.

 

There isn't enough electricity in the US to power even 30% of cars in the next 10 years. There isn't anywhere near the electrical distribution network or ability to supply enough electricity for more than a tiny, almost insignificant amount, of road vehicles.
1. wreck the economy
2. mystery
3. Utopia.

 

You could be right but my guess is the general mass freight transportation business for interstate commerce will continue to be powered almost entirely by diesel. We will see a decent dent in local stuff being powered by batteries but not for OTR. I also fully expect a sort of large scale public push back as we start to see the truth of EV's as opposed to the woke PR crap. States like California will have to delay, delay, and delay again the so called mandates they have put in place.

 

ACTUALLY, the grid’s output, averages just a little over 50% of its peak capacity. And, yes, during peak demand, during cold spells in the north and heat spells in the south, there is barely adequate capacity. For a few hours a day, for a few days a year.

EV’s can be very easily designed to only charge when there is excess supply. They can even be programmed to SUPPLY power to the grid when there is peak demand. Like a battery. In other words, a high level of EV adoption would stabilize the grid and make it more efficient.

We have enough electric capacity in the US, today, to electrify more than half of the transportation in the country.

 

I've been sitting in Cle Elum WA. For 14hrs running my heat waiting for Snoqualmie to be reopened, batteries are getting a tad low... My previous range of 180mi is now reading just 65mi but I'm 90mi from the yard and there's no charge stations in this one horse town...

That's a realistic hypothetical situation that happened to me last winter that wasn't even an issue with diesel fuel. I'm not saying that Electric trucks aren't viable or aren't on the way but there's serious hurdles to overcome before they're practical.

 

Funny,
EV rollout will require huge investments in strained U.S. power grids
EV rollout will require huge investments in strained U.S. power grids

So all we have to do is expect electrical generation to average 100% of capacity indefinitely for EV Utopia to happen? How could I have doubted such a reasonable plan? I know every mechanical device I've ever used is just as reliable working at 100% indefinitely and never requires more maintenance, let alone some maintenance.

ANYTHING can work if True Believers get to redesign everything else with making that one unicorn project work our only goal. Imagine how fast we could have gotten to the moon if only we had diverted all industrial, agricultural, engineering, educational, etc. production into the Apollo program? It's a central planning solution for the people that want more central planning, paid for by others far away.

Not everyone works M-F, 9-5 in nearby suburbs to major cities as central planners just assume. They also don't conveniently work in econmically optimized rotating schedules to spread out the power demand around the clock. Powering double the current EV pool would strain the current electrical generation capability beyond 100%. The electricity a power utility syphons from the EV batteries can't also be used to drive to/from work. So either the utility takes your power and you have less to drive, or you have to delay driving until you recharge the power that was taken from you. I'm sure we can all agree that when you go to bed each night you have a plan that allows for arriving on time whether your car has power/fuel or not. I mean who doesn't factor in a few extra hours before work, amirite?

No, we can begin a crash course, that costs no money, and requires no tradesmen, time, materials and we can just all go solar for it all. Why not? The only reason someone in Seattle might not have as much solar generation as another person in San Diego is because BP or Texaco is generating clouds to keep us dependent on fossil fuel. Or, we could just jump right to a Dyson sphere. All it will take is build a globe around the sun out to approximately the orbit of Mars to capture every photon of light and every body drives EV in every country. I say we stop fantasizing about puny grimey little goals and go big or go home.