Posted on 01/15/2023 1:52:26 PM PST by Allen In Texas Hill Country
So a semi drives a 1,000 miles. At 5 miles a gallon it takes 200 gallons. If a gallon of diesel costs $6 thats $1,200. To put it another way, more simply, it costs a dollar a mile (or so) to run a semi. These figures have no real value because I don't know anything exactly. Just guessing. But the point is It can easily/readily be pointed out how much it costs to run a diesel semi.
Now take a semi running off batteries. How many batteries, how long do they last and lastly how much does it cost to recharge them. Won't go into the recharge time. But WHERE IS THE FORMULA?????????? How much does it cost to run a battery driven semi???????????
The answer,,,,,,,,,,its known but well hidden!!!!!
The formula doesn’t matter. There’s no way in he11 an electric tractor trailer will ever be able to do more than 500 miles on a charge. The Rivian EV pickup couldn’t even tow a 6000 pound trailer 80 miles. Loaded Tractor trailers weigh 60-120 thousand pounds. Add in 25-50k pounds in batteries and you’re hauling at < 50% of a diesel tractors capacity. Never, ever, ever going to be cost effective. Anyone who says otherwise is incompetent or lying.
The formula cannot simply compare the cost of batteries and miles driven before a recharge vs. petro, but the comparative down time to recharge, and the cost of electricity to do so, and the comparative cost of manufacturing batteries and the drive system, and replacement costs and maintenance.
On a technical not regenerative braking should be used in EV trucks. And diesel electric. I think the latter would be the most viable solution, and most likely some owners will adapt to that. But the zero tolerance fossil fuel crowd wants all electric or nothing, even though the whole logistical train to manufacture EV’s involves diesel .
The typical mas GVW for a semi is 40 tons. But what is the charge time for a battery pack big enough to power a 40 ton rig for 500 miles? At the maximum charge rate, I’m betting 12-24 hours.
If it was less expensive to run semi trucks on batteries it would have been done already without the coercion.
This guy is a good starting point:
The Truth About Electric Cars Biggest Problem
Why Not All Transportation Can Go Electric Today - Energy Density
Why Gas Engines Are Far From Dead -
From a scientific standpoint, the largest challenge facing today’s electric cars is the energy density of batteries used. The batteries are both massive and heavy, and as a result have significant impacts on electric transportation feasibility depending on the scenario. This video analyzes today’s batteries energy density, as well as the efficiency differences associated between gasoline vehicles and electric vehicles. Even when accounting for efficiency, the gap between electric and gasoline energy densities is quite large.
To further illustrate this point, we’ll assess the feasibility of an electric powered semi-truck, and the weight of the battery required in order for the vehicle to have a range of 500 miles. The results will SHOCK you. Maybe not; that’s just a bad joke. But you might learn something! Have a watch.
It doesn’t matter they could give a sh##, they want to strangle us, like a frog in boiling water before we realize it we are dead.
A new Hummer EV claims 300 miles on a charge. Of course that is a best case scenario. The interesting part is the battery weighs 2900 lbs. That means that the battery weighs 1/3 the GWV. It weighs 9000 miles.
A Semi towing 50,000 would need over 17,000lbs of battery just to match the payload for 300 miles not 500 miles.
It weighs 9000 pounds not miles.
How about this idea for Electric Vehicles. Eliminate the huge batteries. Instead, the EVs should be powered like a slot car. No...no long trenches in the road with live electrical rails on either side. I’m thinking something like miles of very flat induction coils, like the ones that charge our phones. No direct electrical contact. There would be a small battery on-board that would stay charged by the road coils and it would allow some autonomous travel away from the road coils to get into parking lots or your home driveway. You’d probably have a charging coil on your driveway or garage or wherever you car rests.
The road coils would be made of very thin high strength polymer that would be on a large spool and installed in the middle of a lane with an adhesive. They’d be so thin that you wouldn’t know they were there if you drove over them. The coils could be “printed” and produced I would think pretty efficiently in a huge, continuous roll, cutting off what is needed for each situation or pieces could be joined together and laid flat. These coils would have to be powered by an electrical grid that is no where near ready to power this idea or charge hundreds of thousands of cars at home. So this is down the road a piece.
I wanted to get rid of all the batteries, the weight, waste, expense of replacement and initial vehicle purchase, and hassle of charging. Ev’s would be so much lighter and efficient if they didn’t have to schlepp a heavy battery around with them. Unlimited mileage...never have to stop...like we do now for gas.
in general...
electricity costs nothing when
compared to a liquid fuel
........
but the are many other issues
In cold weather many times the batteries can't be charged. 🙂
How heavy is the load?
In warm weather the battery has far less life when it is towing something of weight. The more weight the less distance realized. 🙂
Solution, find a new job. 🙂
I had a Formula 292 fastech - it burned about 28 gallons an hour
“diesel electric”
What does that mean?
Anyone who says otherwise is incompetent or lying.
Anyone who says otherwise is incompetent AND lying. And sells cans of Unicorn meat.
The Nazis have it hidden on the dark side of the moon.
We're supposed to be sending Sarah Palin up to steal it for us.
Trust the Plan.
Exactly the reason train traffic goes up with gas/diesel prices. Cheaper to ship via train.
The answer is — it depends.
If you’re UPS and your trucks are “there and back” daily runs, this might make sense. IF you’re doing 10-day cross country hauls, not so much.
Putting aside concerns about range (and they are concerns) the EV’s will probably have a much lower cost of maintenance. Ask any trucker, and they’ll complain about their trucks always breaking down. With no transmission ($30k or so, give or take to rebuild) and no “Emissions sh*t” to fail (just try finding a DEF pump these days) you’ve eliminated 2 areas. You also don’t have to worry about noob drivers not checking the oil, etc.
I can see the use of the already-existent small generators (for providing heat and AC to the driver in off hours) used to top off the batteries in an emergency.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.