The Tesla Electric Truck

dennishoddy · Nov 24, 2019

TwoForFlinching said:
My home is also pretty efficient. In the depths of summer, i run about +/-900kwh's, in winter about +/-280 kwh's... level-pay bill at $57/mo year round. A typical refridgerator runs about 40kwh's per month. I get the gist of the article, but it's not factual.

Yes, EV's are bypass powered by fossil fuels in most areas of the grid, but as it's far cheaper than pumping gas, it's entirely plausible that it requires far less fossil fuel for like mileage. I'd have to bust out the old TX Instrument to do the actual maths. Lol

Driving across europe is like driving across Texas. It's far easier to build that infrastructure on such a small scale. There's no way we could do this continent wide.

I don't have many issues with the EV's. I think they are a great development but the charging system and what supplies it with all the greenie BS about carbon and emissions we have now turns me off them because they are sacrificing one to get to another.
We currently have vehicles using solar that can fly around the world and cars that can drive across the US, but there is not one person on this forum that would do that with zero AC across the desert, and no heat across the mountains.
That's why I say no at this time, it's a niche market for those that want something different but not currently practical for the common folk like your and I.
Lead Acid Battery powered vehicles have been around for a long time. There is a bail bondsman in OKC that has a yellow one he has been driving for a long time.
I've spotted one sitting outside a farm house where I deer hunt. I've been trying to talk him out of it just for something to drive around the lake on Sunday. If I think of it, I'll take a pic when driving by tomorrow on the way to the deer stand.

JD8 · Nov 25, 2019

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets...00000-pre-orders-for-controversial-cybertruck

"Niche" = apparently ~200K orders.

donner · Nov 25, 2019

SMS said:
Taxpayers have to cover Billions in deductions and credits offered to the oil and gas industry. A few grand directly to the consumer is not really that bad by comparison....especially to promote a U.S. made automobile.

doesn't the new tax law allow for deducting private jets now or something similar?

donner · Nov 25, 2019

ConstitutionCowboy said:
To my way of thinking, if the government has to bribe people to buy a certain product, there is an agenda afoot or some other sinister quid-pro-quo deal between the government and the manufacturer. It's the government picking winners and losers. If such a product could stand on its own, there wouldn't ever be a need for incentive other than for the government to engage in the afore mentioned picking of winners and losers and/or promoting an agenda.

Woody

i'm guessing there are a whole lot more subsidies out there that cost far more than the programs for electric vehicles, if you need something to get mad about. And there are times when incentives aren't a bad thing, no matter what the free market types say.

I could certainly have some facts wrong here, but i believe there are some efforts to get the government to incentivize some aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in areas of antimicrobial drugs to combat drug resistance. It wont make mad cash like giving old men woodies, so there is little interest in pursuing it, yet the need for the drugs is coming and will be very important in the future.

SMS · Nov 25, 2019

Dennis has a point, especially about the batteries. Storage tech is what is really holding back solar and wind. We need some real innovation there.

Uncle TK · Nov 25, 2019

It seems that the average grade for a train is 2.2% or 110 feet per mile. (Special locomotives for grades that are steeper)
Going up hill in EV is going to use up your battery charge very quickly on road that have a steeper grade than flat Kansas.

donner · Nov 25, 2019

SMS said:
Dennis has a point, especially about the batteries. Storage tech is what is really holding back solar and wind. We need some real innovation there.

i wonder what will spur battery innovations?

SMS · Nov 25, 2019

donner said:
i wonder what will spur battery innovations?

Hmmm. Maybe increased interest in EVs? LOL.

Hobbes · Nov 25, 2019

With respect to going up hill, yes extra energy will be removed from the batteries just like a gasoline truck would require more fuel to climb that grade.
Hills and mountains usually have 2 sides though and on the downhill side most of that energy would be regenerated back into the batteries.

EVs are wildly efficient.
Consider....
In a gasoline or diesel vehicle a lot of the energy is converted into wasted heat from the combustion process itself.
Then some, call it X amount, energy is used to accelerate the vehicle to say 40mph.
Now we come up to a stop sign or red light.
When we apply the brakes that X amount of kinetic energy is converted to even more heat in the brakes and lost to the atmosphere.
When the light turns green we have to burn more fuel and convert it into kinetic energy to move the vehicle back up to 40mph.
Over and over again.
if it had been an EV the braking process would have regenerated most of that kinetic energy and recharged the batteries.

On average, an internal combustion is only 20% efficient.
Only 20% of the energy consumed is converted to mechanical work.
EVs frequently exceed 75% efficiency.

Here is a video that crunches some $ figures.

ConstitutionCowboy · Nov 25, 2019

Neanderthal said:
If you're worried about how much pulling power the motors will be able to muster, I believe that a lot of modern trains use electric motors.

What do you consider 'modern' trains? All the ones I see - except for some commuter trains - are diesel-electric; powered just like non-nuclear submarines - diesel engines running generators that power the drive motors. (Submarines also have storage batteries for under water operations.) You still get the 'instant torque' when the diesels are up to speed.

Woody

The Tesla Electric Truck

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