9 years ago
8
This 100 Percent Electric Eighteen-Wheeler Just Hit The Road In Germany
On Tuesday, an all-electric tractor-trailer hit the road in Munich, Germany — the first time such a large electric vehicle made by a European manufacturer has gone into regular service in Europe, according to BMW, the company behind the project.
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It's going to be a while before something like this can make any sort of dent in the transportation sector. It says this thing can go a total 62 miles on a charge, take several hours to charge back up. A trucker can put in 500 miles per day in a diesel engine, and that's on technology that's being made daily, not based on new and expensive batteries.
Weight, which won't reduce like it does in liquid fuel, charging times, and overall costs have lots of obstacles to overcome before this makes any sort of dent in the market.
I think part of what makes the tech so expensive is the fact that it is new, though. It's cool that this is even happening, because as these go into regular production they can slowly increase quantity and bring costs down.
Sure it'll be a while before they are used but I do think electrics cars are the future. I mean just look at what Tesla has done with it's industry! It's truly amazing how far we've come!
Needs more infrastructure until electric can make a serious dent in the buying habits of the American public, or Europe, and especially China/India. Until you can charge a battery as fast as you can fuel up a gas tank, and as inexpensively, there is still going to be a massive barrier to entry. Tractor Trailers are worse, since they need far more energy to go where a car will.
I think the switch to electric will occur in trucks after they're automated. Once automated, you can dedicate truck traffic in ways human drivers can't make happen, and that increased efficiency will make 18 wheelers worth moving to electric. Not before.
Well, we're starting to get there with non-automobile things. I got an electric mower this year, and while I do need to take a 2 hour break to recharge the battery if I want to mow my entire 1 acre lawn in a single day, it costs me like 2 cents in electricity vs. roughly a gallon of gas with my old gas mower. If I bought a second battery to swap in mid-mow I wouldn't even have the inconvenience of a forced break.
http://news.discovery.com/tech/alternative-po...atteries-recharge-phones-instantly-130418.htm I know this link is for phones but this is being worked on now. If we could charge an electric car battery instantly, it would be a huge game changer I agree!
I know Germany has made a move towards solar power, but where is the electricity in this beast coming from? If it made it's way to America it would come from coal/oil (and would probably cause rolling blackouts whenever a fleet is being charged) so is there any real improvement?
This s absolutely fantastic!