Electric Trucks Are Worse than Diesel Trucks

[Uncle Gizmo]

I just watch a YouTube video taking this article to pieces!

Article

Electric Trucks Are Worse than Diesel Trucks​

Electric Trucks Are Worse than Diesel Trucks | National Review

It’s a classic case of California regulatory policy: over-ambition in goals combined with underperformance in governance.

www.nationalreview.com

YouTube

It was the wording in the article that gave it away, (the purpose of the article.) I realise that the article was littered with key words so that anyone who has a bias against electric trucks would find the article! So basically the article is what, clickbait? That's not really the right term because it's not a click, it's a search thing but there you go. That's my weighing up of the situation!

 

[Lightwave]

I haven't watched the clip but to my mind everything revolves around battery technology.
Electric motors sound like they are simpler and therefore more efficient and more reliable.

The world will eventually crack better batteries - that's going to be better for everyone for loads of devices..

Most of us can't really afford electric vehicles (either in terms of cost or hassle with recharging) at the moment but one day they will be cheaper than ICE based vehicles. Its probably a good thing that others are piling ahead with this and solving the issues at hand.

I hope I get to see batteries with twice the capacity and a quarter of the size...

 

[Galaxiom]

Electric motors sound like they are simpler and therefore more efficient and more reliable.

Simplicity does not necessarily equal efficiency. The efficiency of all heat engines are limited by the laws defined by Carnot.

Carnot's theorem (thermodynamics) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Electric motors and electronic controllers are so efficient that there is virtually no potential for improvement. Even high temperature superconductors could only make a marginal difference.

The world will eventually crack better batteries - that's going to be better for everyone for loads of devices..

Durability is a big one. The repetitions of the metal being corroded away then replated is a fundamental vulnerability. Work is going on with single crystalline plate technology to avoid the problem with the potential to reach battery lifetimes measured in decades.

An Australian laboratory has developed experimental batteries with six times the energy to weight ratios of current Lithium technologies. The problem is they swell up enormously with the energy injected into them and physically tear themselves apart.

Batteries will be at their pinnacle when these two technologies are somehow combined.

Just remember that until a couple of decades ago, rechargeable batteries were still dominated by technology originally developed by Gaston Plante in 1859.

 

[jdraw]

For anyone interested in electric powered heavy equipment, here's a very interesting video (and there are others from J C Bamford Excavators -JCB).

 

[spaLOGICng]

I haven't watched the clip but to my mind everything revolves around battery technology.
Electric motors sound like they are simpler and therefore more efficient and more reliable.

The world will eventually crack better batteries - that's going to be better for everyone for loads of devices.

Most of us can't really afford electric vehicles (either in terms of cost or hassle with recharging) at the moment but one day they will be cheaper than ICE based vehicles. Its probably a good thing that others are piling ahead with this and solving the issues at hand.

I hope I get to see batteries with twice the capacity and a quarter of the size...

There are a couple of problems with that statement,

I will take a non-academic approach. I am sure the decision makers commiserated this notion more than 100 years ago. While electricity did propel the advancement of the automobile industry, I think they already realized that electric motor just was not efficient enough and came up with ICE. The sad part is that a battery is not recyclable. Metal is. The metal in your car today could very have originated out of a Model T!

Secondly, I feel that by 2029, the pushers of electric will realize the futility and will adopt hydrogen-based energy for momentum. While there are a few engineering hurdles to get over, I feel this will be become a bust, too. Why? Because it just went from an ICE paired with a Transmission and a fuel tank to two more major components for added weight. Weight is the one of the primary concerns now with battery vehicles. The added weight will cause highways and by-ways to deteriorate at a faster rate. The DOT's of the world cannot keep up with highway repair as it is. Also, how much hydrogen can be containerized in a liquid state before the atmosphere will implode and disintegrate? Oh, wait, maybe this will offset the rising sea levels due to glacial melting!

Fortunately, I will be at my final resting place before ICE ever goes away. I am probably driving my last ICE vehicle now, and it is pure joy.

 

[Cronk]

The sad part is that a battery is not recyclable.

Tesla claims 100% of its batteries are recyclable. As far as recycling metal in the car, the first Tesla reached 1 million miles of driving 12 months ago. Admittedly, the battery pack would have been replaced multiple times.

electric motor just was not efficient enough

ICE motors are around 40% efficient. The other 60% of the energy in gas all goes in waste heat unless the cabin is being heated in cold weather. Regenerative braking in an EV recovers energy when stopping and there is no wear on the brake pads.

Tesla has an advanced heat pump. Coolant is circulated throughout the car collecting heat from various components. When the temperature is below the operating range of the heat pump, motors can be run in a lossy state to generate heat for cabin and battery heating.

 

[Isaac]

For anyone interested in electric powered heavy equipment, here's a very interesting video (and there are others from J C Bamford Excavators -JCB).

Awesome!!

 

[jdraw]

Isaac,

This is the video that caught my eye and interest about 6-8 months ago. Great background info.