Posted on 05/08/2024 11:20:12 AM PDT by Red Badger
Converting America’s medium- and heavy-duty trucks to electric vehicles (EV) in accordance with goals from the Biden administration would add massive costs to commercial trucking, according to a new analysis released Wednesday.
The cost to switch over to light-duty EVs like a transit van would equate to a 5% increase in costs per year while switching over medium- and heavy-duty trucks would add up to 114% in costs per year to already struggling businesses, according to a report from transportation and logistics company Ryder Systems. The Biden administration, in an effort to facilitate a transition to EVs, finalized new emission standards in March that would require a huge number of heavy-duty vehicles to be electric or zero-emission by 2032 and has created a plan to roll out charging infrastructure across the country.
“There are specific applications where EV adoption makes sense today, but the use cases are still limited,” Karen Jones, executive vice president at Ryder, said in an accompanying press release. “Yet we’re facing regulations aimed at accelerating broader EV adoption when the technology and infrastructure are still developing. Until the gap in TCT for heavier-duty vehicles is narrowed or closed, we cannot expect many companies to make the transition, and, if required to convert in today’s market, we face more supply chain disruptions, transportation cost increases, and additional inflationary pressure.”
Due to the increase in costs for businesses, the potential inflationary impact on the entire economy per year is between 0.5% and 1%, according to the report. Inflation is already elevated, measuring 3.5% year-over-year in March, far from the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
Increased expense projections differ by state, with class 8 heavy-duty trucks costing 94% more per year in California compared to traditional trucks, due largely to a 501% increase in equipment costs, while cost savings on fuel only amounted to 52%. In Georgia, costs would be 114% higher due to higher equipment costs, labor costs, a smaller payload capacity and more.
The EPA also recently finalized rules mandating that 67% of all light-duty vehicles sold after 2032 be electric or hybrid. Around $1 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act has already been designated to be used by subnational governments in the U.S. to replace some heavy-duty vehicles with EVs, like delivery trucks or school buses.
The Biden administration has also had trouble expanding EV charging infrastructure across the country, despite allotting $7.5 billion for chargers in 2021. Current charging infrastructure frequently has issues operating properly, adding to fears of “range anxiety,” where EV owners worry they will become stranded without a charger.
EVs are just as bad as the governments that mandate them , a real mess
The business of business is business.
The business of government is wrecking business..................
The whole mess would go away almost overnight if ght things were done; mainly just rule out EVs as a required source of transportation. The marketplace would do the rest.
What kind of batteries would the trucks need? They must be HUGE! Add their weight to the payload’s weight, and you have an extremely heavy vehicle that will destroy road surfaces and bring down bridges.
Bad for business is a feature not a bug.
A typical manufacturing plant uses approximately 650,000 KWH per 24 hour day.
A typical wind turbine only produces approx. 21.6 KWH per 24 hour day.
Relying solely on wind power, it would take approx. 30,000 wind turbines to power one auto plant.
Now do solar panels.............................
Hey! Look at me! I’m a genius! I figgered THAT out all by myself, and was able to do it without having to do any “new analysis”!
Semi’s are limited to 18,000 lbs (18 kips) total load per axle. This is the basis for most roadway structural design, and the reason why overweight vahicles get a significant fine/upcharge on permits.
Batteries are going to eat up a large portion of that loading limit.
And don’t get me started on battery-powered mass transit buses. Diesel buses are already overweight for the number of axles - a sop to the American bus-building crowd back in the early days of mass transit development in the US; at the time, only European bus makers could meet the weight limits. They tear up the roads a LOT more than a semi-trailer combo. I would expect battery buses to be considerably worse.
I talked to the Amazon guy recently when he showed up in one of the battery powered trucks. I asked him how he liked it. There was a long pause. “It’s got nice seats.” He said they rolled out 6 months late because a lightning storm took out all of the chargers. They got them fixed and another storm took out a bunch more. He said it’s like starting out in the morning with a quarter tank of fuel. But it does have nice seats. LOL
I'll work on it but it will be difficult due to their different sizes and output
China being the worlds largest manufacture of EV’s you can bet the Biden administration didn’t come up with that idea.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Xi much happy
You will need a field of solar panels the size of Alabama.............
Just a little correction. A large wind turbine can generate 4MW,or 100,000 kWh per day. So it would take 7 large wind turbines running at full capacity round the clock. But it would require an equal capacity gas-powered plant to back it up.
“You will need a field of solar panels the size of Alabama.............”
Might be a good use for Alabama, but a better one for California.
If that gas powered plant were to be shut down via govt. fiat, then what would be the required number of wind turbines to provide 650,000 KWH per day?
Road construction-—making 4 lanes where there are only 2 lanes now-—35 miles or so.
Had to go on that road last week.
THE HUGE EARTH MOVERS ARE MARVELOUS.
CANNOT IMAGINE TRYING TO USE ONLY BATTERY POWERED-—AND THERE ARE NO CHARGING STATIONS OUT THERE......
EVEN LARGER MACHINES IN MINING....
WHAT KIND OF EQUIPMENT WILL BE USED IN LITHIUM MINING???
A FUTURE POLITICIAN-——
The Tesla.semi is rated for a MAM maximum authorized mass including trailer of 82,000lbs in the USA the EU allows for 60 tonnes or 132,277lbs MAM.
Tests showed a test run of 500 miles with a trailer full of concrete K rails and a flat bed trailer. Knowing the tare weight of the trailer it was visible in the test and the standardized weight of a California K rail one can then compute the total mass of the trailer+load. The delta has to be the weight of the Tesla semi since it was not a permit load and Tesla said it was under 82,000lbs MAM then the Tesla semi could have massed no more than 27,000lb or 25,000lbs to be under the 80,000lb federal limits. So 25-27,000lbs including the battery mass. That means gross towed mass was 55,000lbs and with a tare for the flat bed of 15,000 a net payload of 40,000lbs.
The curb weight without fuel of a typical class 8 tractor is 17,000 to 25,000lbs according to the NHTSA.
It be noted that most loads max the volume out before they max the mass limits out.
Rail is way more efficient one gallon of diesel moves a tonne of mass by rail 400 miles. One gallon of diesel moves 36.2 tonnes 7 miles in a typical semi of that 17,000lb is tractor, 15,000 is trailer for a net of 21.7 tonnes over 7 miles. Or 3.95 tonnes over one mile using dimensional analysis. Rail is 100 times more efficient steel on steel plus a large very efficient motor turning a generator at near peak efficiency and the aerodynamics of the rail cars all drafting each other. Only ships are more efficient at 1000+ tonne miles per gallon of ship diesel.
Plus rail doesn’t tear up the roads at 16,000 times the rate per tire vs a light duty vehicle. Trucks should only be used for local last mile and regional duty where there is insufficient rail heads to do last mile only.
https://www.aar.org/issue/truck-size-weight/#!
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