Posted on 12/29/2023 1:06:51 PM PST by Red Badger
A plug 'n' play electrified trailer that reduces fuel consumption on trucks to about the level they can do without a trailer onRange Energy VIEW 2 IMAGES
Range Energy makes truck trailers, with a clever connection to any standard tractor cab, loaded with electric powertrains to turn any semi into an efficient hybrid. They also let you push entire trailers around by hand at the depot in "shopping cart mode."
Range's 53-foot (16-m) RA-01 trailer packs its own 200-kWh battery, as well as an 800-volt e-axle powertrain that can put up to 14,000 Nm (10,326 lb-ft) of torque, at up to 350 kW (469 hp), through the rear wheels. The same battery also feeds a rear liftgate and powered landing gear.
It works with any electric or diesel-powered cab and is perfectly suitable for fleet operations, without any modification to the trucks. It takes its cues from a smart kingpin, which basically senses the acceleration and braking loads that the tractor is putting on the trailer, and uses its electric motors to help out.
Thus, when the cab accelerates and pulls on the kingpin, the motors add torque instantly and proportionally. And when the cab brakes and pushes back against the kingpin, the trailer kicks in with some regenerative braking.
In fuel economy testing performed by Mesilla Valley Transportation Solutions, Range reports a fuel economy boost of 3.25 mpg (72.4 L/100km) , representing a 36.9% efficiency gain against the test truck's standard fuel consumption.
"We're essentially matching the fuel economy you'd get if you were bobtailing your tractor," Range CRO and founder Ali Javidan tells The New Warehouse podcast – bobtailing in this case meaning driving the cab without a trailer attached.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
“I’m assuming the diesel engine up front. What’s the power consumption in fuel on that?”
Article: It works with any electric or diesel-powered cab and is perfectly suitable for fleet operations, without any modification to the trucks
More fake info from lying government
With the electrics in the trailer, not the tractor, it would be up to the trailer owner to ensure that the trailer was fully charged, and the trailer owner would as a result be responsible for the cost of recharging.
The trailer could provide some regenerative braking, but with the interface being a 'smart kingpin' (clever idea) the trailer would only regen at the rate the truck is slowing, which would most likely not take full advantage of regenerative braking during, say, an extended downhill run.
Since the trailer owner would be responsible for the charging and maintenance of the electronics, they would have the cost of recharging without the benefit of fuel savings, so I'm sure they would pay less per mile to the tractor owner pulling it. (Many loads are tractor owners being dispatched to pickup a loaded trailer and drop it off somewhere else.)
But this might be worthwhile for a fleet owner who also owns the tractors, the same customer base as the Tesla Semi. For that matter, this idea would be much better suited if it were paired with a Tesla semi that could intelligently communicate to the trailer's electronics in order to maximize regenerative e-braking, etc.
It’s the Prius-ing of trucks!
I calculate a 200KWH pack would only have to be about 5 foot by 6 foot and < 12 inches deep. Also, with new batteries, some cannot even catch fire, of are very hard to catch fire (the fire issue comes from the electrolyte, not the lithium). There are batteries with little to no electrolyte already.
And plenty of shills here to breathlessly push the lie.
Maybe every 200 miles.........LOL!
Hybrids are a logical step for many trucks that return to base every night. Like a beer truck or any package delivery service. Good for users with lots of starts and stops and short runs.
Sounds like a really good idea, at least for now.
It also may cut payload capacity by 36.3%. There ain’t no free lunch.
Maybe if you steal the electricity to charge the battery you can reduce fuel consumption by a third.
Interesting that the battery is only 200 A-hr. I have 2 x 6 A-hr batteries in my Ryobi snow blower for a total of 12 A-hr. That’s 17% of the truck battery storage. Maybe I can hook my snowblower to my car to reduce my fuel consumption by 36%.
Something smells here...maybe it’s burning LiIon batteries.
Not only that, “There’s more to prime. A truckload more”. A truckload of cinders.
It is extremely deceptive to assert a fuel efficiency savings for the semi, without also factoring in the nonzero energy consumption of the trailer.
As usual, this kind of deception is par for the course from the left.
Why do I smell BS.
But the trailer is so battery heavy it can only carry 2,000 lbs of freight.
Bingo and add in maintenance cost and down time more electric trucks less freight more customer cost.
For a true cost/benefit analysis, you also need to factor in the embodied energy of the equipment and disposal costs.
No not exactly.
If you read the article it’s adding a booster electric motor to the trailer itself, that helps with acceleration
Acceleration, particularly from a low speed or stopped takes a lot of energy. Overcoming inertia. In a semi the trailer is dead weight being pulled by the cab.
With a motor on the trailer that recognizes the cab is trying to accelerate and adds drive energy to the trailers wheels as well will help reduce the need for all torque and power to come directly from the cab engine
This is an addition of a desiel electric hybrid to the trailer. The cab remains ICE.
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