Why do so many Americans hate European trucks?

Try reading my post again.

 

Haha, My Father has one of these Clutter Free Car Engines.......

You really need to get out More..

 

Yes, that is to be expected, until 48V becomes the norm for all cars and trucks.

Yes, there will be a transition period.

Yes, very true, but perhaps it is high time that the car & truck industry start thinking about more modern wiring concepts with high quality cables and connectors. It may cost a bit more to produce, but looking for one electric problem in the wiring costs far more.

No, if you assume that the current drops to 25% (compared to 12v), and the resistance increases to 400%, then the voltage drop will be the same. If it was 3V (or 25% of 12V), then it will remain 3V, but that is a small fraction of 48V.

It depends how you design the connectors etc. It is very well feasible to design a connector that is compatible with the present 12V and 24V systems, but with 'something' extra that will switch it to 48V if it is connected to a 48V trailer. The other way around is far more difficult, connecting an 'old' 12V or 24V tractor to a 48V trailer.

No, that can be done on the tractor.

Depends on what it is that has to happen. Just making the rear LED lights ready for any voltage between 12V and 48V is very simple and cheap.

As with any transition, there are always problems.

 

So you didn't read the article, very clever.

 

Do you remember series/parallel switches?

 

He may have heard of them or read them on Google but has absolutely zero practical knowledge of them or the massive problems, expense, downtime, and headaches they caused.

 

Switch to 48V, then make the wire 4x thinner so it breaks easier. Great idea! Theory vs reality again

 

I Did Actually.......

 

The name of the switch is a give away, so I had a pretty good idea what it is. And indeed with 10 seconds of Googling I found what it was used for. So your trucks needed 24V for the starter motor, and instead of using 24V for all electric components like the European truck industry and the military did, some one came up with the daft idea of this switch. Using 12V for trucks was not a very clever idea from the beginning, like these switches proved. Using 48V for power hungry components is even better than using 24V, so it all boils down to the fact that using a higher voltage is better.

With the 48V system it will be very different. 48V will be the standard voltage for as many components as possible, and when you need 12V, a simple semiconductor DC/DC converter will give you 12V. Those things did not exist decades ago.

 

No, wires break when you put to much force on them. Wiring should be done in such a way that there is no strain on the cables. Thinner wires are more flexible, and put less strain on the connectors etc.