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

You are right, the reason the coal plants are being shut down is they are basically “worn out”. The reason they worn out is because to do any major repairs or rebuilds would require them to bring the plant up to current EPA standards, which are almost impossible to meet. You are also correct that running a coal plant is expensive, mainly because of all the regulations the EPA has placed on them.

I have no idea what the current return on investment on wind or solar is (my research in a couple years old), but how do either work when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining? Are we just supposed to do without electricity on still nights?

Everybody that thinks wind and solar are viable, are you powering your home with solar panels and/or a windmill? If not, then why not? If it’s so great and cheap, why are you paying an electric bill?

 

Because if you're saving money on electric, the utility companies don't make as much profit. The companies lobby the politicians, and laws are made so that it's impractical to do.

 

Possible first Tesla semi charger route, Fremont California to Laredo Texas

 

In anticipation of hauling parts to the new Tesla plant?

 

Just here the other day I passed a Tesla truck out on the road, not a Tesla branded electric truck but a T680 KW owned by Tesla to deliver parts or whatever (it was pulling a van). To me that speaks volumes.

 

I delivered parts to the fremont factory for a year! Never once saw one pull anything!

 

That might be the future but right now there are so many unscrupulous people involved in just selling, installing, and servicing residential solar that utility companies don't have to lift a finger other than refusing to buy excess capacity in a lot of places.

There are so many stories from the Sunbelt of the US right now of people being sold a lie of trading their current electric bill for ownership of their own solar and ending up paying double of what they started with.

Even worse is when they lease a system or refi the solar loan into their mortgage. People just aren't aware enough of what's going on and are being preyed upon.

 

Go on Youtube and look at all the issues the Ford Lightening is having just towing a small trailer any distance. There are so many issues with this technology it's not even funny. Even the Ford CEO, after trying to make a long distance trip in a Lightening, has commented that these electric trucks may not be the direction they want to go.

EVs seem to work ok to use as a commuter vehicle, if you don't commute too far and you're able to charge on both ends of your commute, but anything more than that is a pipe dream with current tech. On paper a hybrid seems like the best solution, but they are expensive because you basically have two powertrains in one.

 

Used to be that way, not so much anymore. Now a days the battery runs the wheels and the motor charges the battery.

 

A hybrid is still more complicated than a complete electric or complete ICE vehicle, and therefore more expensive. Even a complete EV is considerably more expensive than ICE vehicle, even after all the tax credits and incentives.
When you bring up all the government subsidies to the EV industry, they like to say "well big oil gets subsidies too". Well first off, what they call subsidies for big oil is things like tax breaks (of which most don't just apply to the oil industry), and permits to drill on federal land, and not direct cash payments like the EV industry gets. Second, they seem to be implying that to put ICE and EV on the same playing field, what we need to do is make ICE vehicles cost more. That doesn't help anybody by raising the cost of transportation for everybody.