This Woman Turned Her Tesla Model 3 Into a Pickup Truck

[K-Dog]

It would be fun to build a lightweight streamlined bus that is all rowing machines inside hooked to generators that feed a motor that drives the bus.  There is a battery, but that is to smooth things out and does not store much.  Only the driver does not row.  Twenty or so hard rowing passengers could get it to highway speeds.

More fun that this was.  Same basic principle.  This is a must watch clip.  It is a hoot.  Riding the Greyhound, 2050's style.  Add an overhead rack like air-plains have for carry-ons.  Row the friendly inter-states united.  There will be no first class.

* When I had the youth 'Ben Hur' had in this scene, I met the man. 
Later he would be the one to say: "it's not soylent green, its people!" <-- same guy.

That will be about 12 - 15 years after this clip was made.

[monsta666]

The car centric model is flawed no matter the energy system you use. It leads to worse outcomes for the planet, our physical health, and our general wellbeing.

Well, we need some form of transportation.  Horses won't work, there aren't enough of them and we couldn't feed them all.

Bicycles and bike-cars?

RE

That and making communities more walkable and generally more pedestrian/bike friendly. Have mixed zoning so shops, hospitals and schools are all within a walking/biking distance. The whole suburbia setup is built around the car; we need to move in the opposite direction. Everything needs to be closer to your footstep.
 
This all goes towards the general movement of less centralisation and more localisation. Advantage also is if everything is closer then it will get people moving and using their own feet (or pedals) more. I know it is a pipe dream but even if you assume a business-as-usual forever mindset this idea makes sense.

Like I said, more manual power reduces not only your carbon footprint but gets people active and more engaged with their environment. Easy to be more detached when you are in a climate-controlled metal box.

[K-Dog]

Bicycles and bike-cars?

What about getting food from farm to market.  What do you think about this?

Volvo's heavy-duty electric truck is put to the test: excels in both range and energy efficiency



The tested truck was a Volvo FH Electric, a zero-exhaust emission vehicle with 490 kW of continuous power and a gross combination weight of 40 tonnes. The German trucking journalist Jan Burgdorf tested the truck on the Green Truck Route, a 343 km long route that includes a variety of motorways, hilly terrains, and tighter roads that is used for testing different manufacturer's trucks in a wide range of conditions.

"I have to say, when driving this truck it is as agile, or even more agile, than a diesel truck. Drivers will be very surprised about how easy it is to drive, how quiet it is and how well it responds. There are no vibrations whatsoever," says Jan Burgdorf.

The Volvo FH Electric kept an average speed of 80 km/h over the whole route, which was on par with the Volvo FH equipped with a diesel engine and the fuel efficiency package I-Save. Based on the energy consumption of only 1.1 kWh/km, the electric truck had a total range of 345 km on one charge.

"These test results show that it is possible to drive up to 500 km during a regular work-day, with a short stop for charging, for example during lunch time," explains Tobias Bergman, Press Test Director at Volvo Trucks.

In the Green Truck Route tests, the Volvo FH Electric used 50% less energy than a Volvo FH with a comparable diesel engine.

"The electric driveline is very efficient, making the all-electric truck a very powerful tool for reducing CO2 emissions," comments Tobias Bergman.

Volvo Trucks goal is that electric vehicles will account for half of its truck sales in 2030 and in 2040, 100% well-to-wheel based CO2-reduction for new trucks sold.

"We are committed to the Paris Agreement on climate change. Science-based targets have been set and we are taking action to fast-forward the development to dramatically lower CO2 emissions related to on-road freight transports. I believe that the broad electric range we already have on the market is very clear proof of that," concludes Tobias Bergman.

Facts about the test and the truck

    Gross combination weight: 40 tonnes
    Average speed: 80 km/h
    Energy consumption: 1,1 kWh/km
    Battery capacity: 540 kWh
    Output power: 490 kW continuous power
    Total test track distance: 343 km
    Total range based on one charge: 345 km

The tested Volvo FH Electric can cover up to 500 km during a normal workday if a top-up charge is added, for example during the lunch break.
   
Facts about Volvo's range of electric trucks:

    Volvo Trucks have a range of six all electric trucks designed to cover many different transport assignments.
    The Volvo FH, FM and FMX Electric models have a GCW of up to 44 tonnes. Sales are ongoing in Europe and production will start in the second half of 2022.
    Serial production in Europe of the Volvo FL and FE Electric, for city distribution and refuse handling, started in 2019.
    Production of the Volvo VNR Electric for North America began in 2020.

Source Link

Walk-able communities would be nice.  But not so nice if there is no grocery store that gets a truck like this in to stock the store with food in the middle of the night.

Can it be done so a loaf of bread still costs less than $10 ?

[RE]

Well, there's plenty of selection out there now of the mini EVs and bike cars at least in Europe and China.  There are a couple designed for pulling cargo also, one of the companies has a contract with DHL.  The technology is all there, but reconstructing cities and suburbs around those type of vehicles will take quite some time.  Probably more time than we have before the current model fails.

RE

[K-Dog]

Easy to be more detached when you are in a climate-controlled metal box.

And detachment is at the root of many problems.  The experience of human life becomes meaningless inside the box if you can't ever get out.

[RE]

The problem here in the FSoA for EV trucking is the distances between charging stations once outside the major markets.  In Europe the distances are much shorter.  Either we need a huge upgrade in the grid here, or design the trucks with flow batteries.

RE

[K-Dog]

Well, there's plenty of selection out there now of the mini EVs and bike cars at least in Europe and China.  There are a couple designed for pulling cargo also, one of the companies has a contract with DHL.  The technology is all there, but reconstructing cities and suburbs around those type of vehicles will take quite some time.  Probably more time than we have before the current model fails.

RE

Beyond which there is no political will to get ANY of this done.  And I have felt no change in the wind.

[K-Dog]

The problem here in the FSoA for EV trucking is the distances between charging stations once outside the major markets.  In Europe the distances are much shorter.  Either we need a huge upgrade in the grid here, or design the trucks with flow batteries.

RE

I'll get offline (for a while) because I'm generating comments that are saying the same thing.  There is no political will to get ANY of this done.  Any such will is antithetical to freedum and the free market.  The next election cycle will ignore all social need. 

But repeating the disgusting facts gets in front of the good idea of changing what will fail, and fail soon.  Charging stations on inter-states is a really good idea.  So I'll be back.  With less negativity.

[RE]

Charging stations on inter-states is a really good idea.  So I'll be back.  With less negativity.

I'll handle the negativity.

Except for where they intersect with cities, the interstate runs through very low population areas, particularly out west.  Because the population is so low, they don't have any high voltage substations, no wiring.  The best you can do here is to upgrade the wiring at the truck stops that currently serve the ICE trucks for the 240V charging stations, but even with that, the batt packs for a semi that could pull a 20 ton load would take at least 12 hours to charge, probably more.  IOW, what currently takes 30 min to fill your tanks with diesel would take half a day, minimum.  Generally speaking when you are running you fill up every day or every other day.  So switching to EV trucks doubles how long it would take to ship...except...

At any truck stop you will usually have about 8-12 pumps all going filling trucks, all day.  Each one takes 15-30 min to fill.  If those all were electric charging stations, you would have a truck parked there all day charging.  If you even have enough electricity coming in to the stop to run 8 stations I would be surprised.  But that's nothing, a truckstop refuels 100-200 trucks every day.  There is no way you will ever get that much power running in to a truck stop.

EV trucks can work inside cities on local routes, charging overnight.  For the interstate OTR bizness, it can't work with charging this way.  Flow batteries could work though, maybe.  You would still need a lot of electricity to charge up the fuel in the truck stop storage tanks..

RE

[K-Dog]

Because the population is so low, they don't have any high voltage substations, no wiring.

Better get the linemen from the county working!


People who wear radios at work plant them in a charging stand overnight.  The same idea works for trucks if the charging stand scales up a couple of thousand times.  If a battery needs to be charged quickly the battery should be swapped for a battery that is already charged.  Flow technology is one way to do that.  There are others.

Perhaps we did buy into the idea that without diesel we all die a bit too much.  It might just only be that a HUGE NUMBER dies.

[18hammers]

Bicycles and bike-cars?

What about getting food from farm to market.  What do you think about this?

Volvo's heavy-duty electric truck is put to the test: excels in both range and energy efficiency



The tested truck was a Volvo FH Electric, a zero-exhaust emission vehicle with 490 kW of continuous power and a gross combination weight of 40 tonnes. The German trucking journalist Jan Burgdorf tested the truck on the Green Truck Route, a 343 km long route that includes a variety of motorways, hilly terrains, and tighter roads that is used for testing different manufacturer's trucks in a wide range of conditions.

"I have to say, when driving this truck it is as agile, or even more agile, than a diesel truck. Drivers will be very surprised about how easy it is to drive, how quiet it is and how well it responds. There are no vibrations whatsoever," says Jan Burgdorf.

The Volvo FH Electric kept an average speed of 80 km/h over the whole route, which was on par with the Volvo FH equipped with a diesel engine and the fuel efficiency package I-Save. Based on the energy consumption of only 1.1 kWh/km, the electric truck had a total range of 345 km on one charge.

"These test results show that it is possible to drive up to 500 km during a regular work-day, with a short stop for charging, for example during lunch time," explains Tobias Bergman, Press Test Director at Volvo Trucks.

In the Green Truck Route tests, the Volvo FH Electric used 50% less energy than a Volvo FH with a comparable diesel engine.

"The electric driveline is very efficient, making the all-electric truck a very powerful tool for reducing CO2 emissions," comments Tobias Bergman.

Volvo Trucks goal is that electric vehicles will account for half of its truck sales in 2030 and in 2040, 100% well-to-wheel based CO2-reduction for new trucks sold.

"We are committed to the Paris Agreement on climate change. Science-based targets have been set and we are taking action to fast-forward the development to dramatically lower CO2 emissions related to on-road freight transports. I believe that the broad electric range we already have on the market is very clear proof of that," concludes Tobias Bergman.

Facts about the test and the truck

    Gross combination weight: 40 tonnes
    Average speed: 80 km/h
    Energy consumption: 1,1 kWh/km
    Battery capacity: 540 kWh
    Output power: 490 kW continuous power
    Total test track distance: 343 km
    Total range based on one charge: 345 km

The tested Volvo FH Electric can cover up to 500 km during a normal workday if a top-up charge is added, for example during the lunch break.
   
Facts about Volvo's range of electric trucks:

    Volvo Trucks have a range of six all electric trucks designed to cover many different transport assignments.
    The Volvo FH, FM and FMX Electric models have a GCW of up to 44 tonnes. Sales are ongoing in Europe and production will start in the second half of 2022.
    Serial production in Europe of the Volvo FL and FE Electric, for city distribution and refuse handling, started in 2019.
    Production of the Volvo VNR Electric for North America began in 2020.

Source Link

Walk-able communities would be nice.  But not so nice if there is no grocery store that gets a truck like this in to stock the store with food in the middle of the night.

Can it be done so a loaf of bread still costs less than $10 ?

Over all those are very good numbers, I don't question the accuracy but a couple things to note, first what was the cargo weight moved? they give the gross weight, I would like to know the cargo weight. Also they have achieved that with a 80 km average speed. That will help keep wind resistance down. In Alberta Currently the hyways speeds are 110 to 120kmhr. Doing 80km would risk you being run over or off the road.

[K-Dog]

Over all those are very good numbers, I don't question the accuracy but a couple things to note, first what was the cargo weight moved? they give the gross weight, I would like to know the cargo weight. Also they have achieved that with a 80 km average speed. That will help keep wind resistance down. In Alberta Currently the hyways speeds are 110 to 120kmhr. Doing 80km would risk you being run over or off the road.

For 13 years (January 1974–April 1987]), federal law withheld Federal highway trust funds to states that had speed limits above 55 mph (89 km/h).

During World War II, the U.S. Office of Defense Transportation established a national 35 mph "Victory Speed Limit" (also known as "War Speed") to conserve gasoline and rubber for the American war effort.

It will be a long war or a 'long emergency'.  I vote for the long war.  The speed limit in 2045 could match the speed limit of 1945.  I prefer that over the long emergency libertarian nightmare of:

      35 and alive or 80 and Fred is dead.  I do not see this as a hard choice.  I too would like to know what 'fully loaded' means.  Popcorn?  I want the kilograms.

First technology must be able to  get the job done.  Then it has to be implemented the right way.

[RE]

If a battery needs to be charged quickly the battery should be swapped for a battery that is already charged.  Flow technology is one way to do that.  There are others.

Whatever the swapping method is, the issue is the number of trucks in a day that arrive with an empty fuel tank (or battery) and need to leave with a full one.

Say it is a relatively quiet stop that fills 100 tanks/day.  If you were swapping batts, the stop would need an inventory of about 200 batts on hand.  100 on chargers + 100 ready to be swapped when the truck rolls in.  Those are mighty big batt packs, and you need an average of 3 for every truck on the road.  That is a shit load of lithium if you are using Li-I technology.  You would also need some type of robotic forklift system to do all the swapping between charge station, drop station, ready station and onto the truck.  This could not be done by the driver alone like pumping diesel.

Then the problem of charging up the packs.  Say you could get the charge time down to 6 hours from empty to full charge.  That station would need to push a lot of juice, and in 24 hours 1 station can charge a max of 4 batt packs.  That means you need 25 of these stations running simultaneously.  Can you imagine how much electricity that is flowing through the supply line wire?  It basically would need its own high voltage cable running in there and transformer substation!  You would need to do this for all the major truckstops along the interstates.  All the TAs, all the Petros, all the Flying Js, all the Pilots.

Bottom line:  Even with flow batteries I don't see how this can be made to work without a grid upgrade that is way beyond what they have planned in even optimistic scenarios.  IMHO, EV trucks can only work for local market deliveries where the truck does a round trip to its home terminal each day and charges up overnight there.  There will need to be a change in the logistics to accomodate that.

The only way I can see is to use the rail system and truck only from rail hubs to distribution points.  However, the rail network would need to absorb all the freight currently using the interstate highways.  I don't think it has the capacity for that.

RE

[K-Dog]

The only way I can see is to use the rail system and truck only from rail hubs to distribution points.  However, the rail network would need to absorb all the freight currently using the interstate highways.  I don't think it has the capacity for that.

RE

Table 1

Summary data for comparing energy transmission costs in $/mile, $/MWh, and $/mile-MW                         Electrical        Liquid Pipeline               Gas PipelineEnergy carrier    HVDC    Crude Oil    MeOH    EtOH    NG    H2Total flow (Amp, kg/s)    6,000    1,969    1,863    1,859    368.9    69.54
Delivered power (MWe, MWLHV)    2,656    91,941    37,435    50,116    17,391    8,360
Capital cost ($M/mile)    $3.90    $1.47    $1.92    $1.92    $1.69    $1.38
Power loss in transmission    12.9%    0.78%    2.02%    1.51%    2.67%    1.94%
Capital cost ($/mile-MW)    $1,502    $16    $51    $38    $97    $166
Amortized cost ($/MWh/1000 mi)    $41.5    $0.77    $2.2    $1.7    $3.7    $5.0

Where I got this pile of facts.

I really do mean pile of facts.  It is quite a jumble.  Not the be all and end all but a place to start.

What does it mean for electricity to cost forty times what an oil pipeline costs to transmit the same power.  That ratio is huge, but an interstate itself is not cheap to build and maintain.  Would a parallel transmission line or two or three cost that much more?  I do not know. 

Before any analysis is done the question of total power consumption by a normal fleet of trucks on a thousand miles of freeway has to be answered.  10,000?  Ten per mile?  That could mean a lot of transmission lines.

Rail with truck hubs is definitely a better idea.  Trains are more aerodynamic and a better use of fuel anyway.

The normal way to approach this problem, and the way I used to do it makes the circle of abstraction too small.  Solve the problem for one truck and multiply up leaves a lot out.  A more correct way asks all the questions.  Where does the power come from.  How much will all the power lines cost to build and maintain over fifty years?  And so on.  Questions that in the collective we are too lazy to ask.

I usually stop my analysis when I get the answer I want.  Do you do different?  <-- rhetorical question

[RE]

Actually, I figured out what is probably the only plausible way to do this.  You need to use Simon Marchaux's mini-nukes.

You drop a mini nuke at each of the main truckstops, which are all spaced out at about 300 mile intervals.  The nuke charges the trucks.  No grid upgrade necessary.  The nuke could support super fast charging pushng really high loads.

Estimating the number of mini-nukes needed, I think about 50 would be enough.  100 tops.

RE