Driving Time Per Day and Breaks

See what I mean?!? The True Believers are like children playing with science fiction action figures on the floor. They are bulletproof to facts and logic. I guarantee the OP is in his twenties.

We haven’t even touched on the fact that we don’t have nearly enough lithium…
'We don’t have enough' lithium globally to meet EV targets, mining CEO says

or enough nickel to create the batteries for this gigantic switch.
EV Makers Confront the ‘Nickel Pickle’

 

Thank you. I think people that have some vested interest are presenting all the facts that are in their favor to make money on this phoofery, before it goes bust. We average about 1 "blackout" per week, and generally last about an hour. The coal fired power plants on the Front Range are going full bore, creating some of the worst air quality in the nation. Since I don't think any new power plants are planned( NIMBY) and building here at an unprecedented rate, something has to give. You start adding in a million vehicles needing a charge every 4 hours at the same time, doesn't take an idiot to see what's going to happen. I'm actually flabbergasted it's (EVs) gotten to the point it has.

 

What is wrong with the diesel/electric concept like trains? The Edison motors idea seems pretty good to me as well

 

Even if we agree that is a "realistic" hypothetical (it isn't, because simple cab heat in Teslas, for example, are now run through a heat pump, which means you can sit for a week in an electric semi without running out of power; much longer, indeed, than a diesel semi truck idling), even if we agree on the scenario, the reality will be that there will be many, MANY, more charging points along the way, just like there are many more places to buy diesel fuel today. As if TA in North Bend wouldn't have charging.....

Secondly, in this particular scenario, you are dropping 3K feet on your 90 mile route, charging your batteries through regenerative braking all the way down to Issaqua, and you'll be at about 100 miles or so of range by the time you hit the flats.

The third part is that very few trucks run up to Cle Elum when Snoqualmie is closed, and most either hole up in Ellensburg or divert to Stevens or White pass if they gotta go.

 

Have no fear EV truckers stuck in Cle Elum during a snowstorm, most other trucks are stuck elsewhere where there is EV charging, rejoice for them instead of complaining about yourself.

 

what benefit does diesel/electric provide over diesel trucks? Someone in the world would be doing it now if it was much cheaper and provided the same or better reliability as current engines. Many engineers spend a lot of their time adapting solutions from other industries to their industry. I suspect it costs more or it doesn't save enough weight or money to justify the expense of switching/replacing trucks.

 

Unlimited range, way better fuel economy, an engine running a generator at a constant speed is way more reliable than a standard diesel truck. Way more power and less moving parts. I don't know about the cons. I'm sure there's so.e but it seems far better than a strictly battery powered truck with limited range

 

Wait til Elons boring company creates a bunch of "Shmmmph" tubes like the drive through bank teller uses. Load your cargo in a cylinder with rfid and send it on down the line!

 

A semi running long distance is already running at near optimum rpm's for fuel economy.

The biggest difference between trains and trucks is that trains take a LOOOOONG time to get up to speed, and can you imagine either the clutch or automatic transmission slippage to deal with a train taking 10 miles to get to 60? It would take a half inch off the clutch face just to start those 30 million pounds rolling.

 

Diesel/electric trains, ships, and submarines have been around for many years. Certainly Freightliner should be interested in selling a truck if got "way better fuel economy" than International or Paccar, especially if it had unlimited range. If none of the current makers don't want to switch there are other billionaires that would want to make money and get praised by the environmentalists if it gets such great fuel economy. BTW, how do they have unlimited range? D/E trains don't have unlimited range. The Way D/E trains work is the diesel fuel powers a diesel engine to power an electric generator. Once the diesel fuel is used up it's not making more electricity. Not even a nuclear submarine has unlimited range, it just doesn't have to be refueled for 20 years, but it's fuel isn't unlimited.

The D/E truck would have MORE moving parts. It would have the diesel engine + the electric generator + regenerative braking mechanisms. Maybe all of the weight for that stuff makes it weigh nearly as much as a conventional diesel truck, maybe it only weighs slightly less than a diesel truck and it would cost more or not enough less to justify using it. That's my suspicion since D/E technology has been around for decades. It's been on submarines for decades, trains for decades and they would take advantage of the existing fuel infrastructure. Nobody in the tech world wants to make an easy billion dollars, or whatever the profit would be from replacing diesel trucks with D/E trucks? I suspect something in the accounting or engineering that isn't obvious to us who haven't looked into it is the reason why they aren't already in use somewhere.