The main thing is this type of demonstration plays right into the electric vehicles strength. An electric motor has maximum torque at zero RPM. So it is highlighting the very best thing an electric powered vehicle can do. This is why locomotives are diesel - electric, the diesel engine is run at its' ideal speed for torque to drive a generator and the electric motors that drive the wheels are used at their ideal output band to provide the tremendous torque needed to get such huge loads moving. Kind of like pitting a Tesla in ludicrous mode against a Corvette. The electric motors and all wheel drive will prevail for a while but eventually in a quarter or half mile the gasoline powered vehicle comes into its' forte.

electric vehicles

a solution who's time hasn't come yet

EV will be useful when they get 480 miles to a charge and a full charge can take 5 minutes

until then, gasoline is where its at

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
electric vehicles

a solution who's time hasn't come yet

EV will be useful when they get 480 miles to a charge and a full charge can take 5 minutes

until then, gasoline is where its at

This....I can drive from NWPA to Dallas in around 21 hours with stops....I can't imagine what it would take with an EV...3-4days??

maybe I should just start using a conestoga wagon.

Unless our entire electric production is "clean" EVs are really no better than dinosaur powered vehicles.

That being said, I am 100% behind developing the technologies....just don't try and make me believe they are just as good or better.

quote:

Unless our entire electric production is "clean" EVs are really no better than dinosaur powered vehicles.

Unless the entire production is clean, it IS a dinosaur powered vehicle. Just has a different point source is all.

By comparison, the adoption and sales of EV cars by the general public is a walk in the park compared to convincing truck owners to embrace an EV replacement for their truck. As long as petrol is relatively inexpensive and readily available, EV's will always be a niche product.

As long as you didn't try to accelerate the cars in a hurry, there wouldn't be a lot of force involved. Good ol' Isaac Newton.

The electric bit probably helped - with a traditional gas/diesel engine they'd probably have needed a special tranny with ultra low gearing to be generating torque at that speed.

Now, what would be impressive would be having it stop those cars. Which they didn't show....they probably dropped the tow strap and took off into the sunset and let one of Newton's buddies Mister Friction slow the cars down on his own.

If those 10 Auto racks were filled with Toyota Tundras, that electric Ford would have pulled in halves... . The Tundra is just too powerful to be pulled by a Ford. Same could be said for Chevrolet, GMC and Dodge. They are all just too much truck to be pulled by a Ford.

What happens if that electric truck is strapped to the back of a Ford powered by their 6.7 litre diesel? Which has more pulling power? Hook a strap and Ford to the rear of those 10 auto racks powered by their 6.7 and lets see if the electric truck compares.

Tow it up a hill and I'll be convinced, until then, pure showmanship.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
If those 10 Auto racks were filled with Toyota Tundras, that electric Ford would have pulled in halves... . The Tundra is just too powerful to be pulled by a Ford. Same could be said for Chevrolet, GMC and Dodge. They are all just too much truck to be pulled by a Ford.

I’m a Toyota man myself, but most of the work trucks around here are Fords. Ford’s boxed frame holds up better on rough terrain.

I agree Powersurge. I poke fun at the other brands. Most have way bigger power plants than Toyota. If I owned a Tundra it would never get dusty. It would be more like a big car. The other truck builders make trucks way tougher than Toyota.

I see these monuments to ignorance and I think to myself...where is the electricity coming from that recharges them,? Coal, gas, nuclear?

All you're doing is shifting the needle, but you're not reducing a carbon footprint (I hate that technically useless term)

You haven't mitigated anything. And until charging stations have as wide a distribution as gas stations, they don't stand a snowballs chance in Palm Springs of becoming a viable alternative.

There is a reason why internal combustion engines are the prime mover

^^^^

Well, I agree in reality. Not that it would ever happen but a mostly nuclear powered grid and mostly electric vehicles would be about as "low footprint" as it gets and at that point there would be rapid charge stations everywhere.

Only for some reason nuclear is bad too...

I get my electricity the old fashion way, from concrete dams, like God intended. Cheap and dependable. Sucks if you are a migrating fish, great if you need to charge your electric truck. If they make a full size pickup that can get 200+ miles out of a charge, and charge in 12 hours, and be as comfortable as the truck I drive now, I will pay a premium for it. I have plenty of rigs if I need to go out of town I will take a different one. I could put a plug in at my parking place at the office, another in the garage at home, and not have to go to the pump unless I am driving a fun car or going on a trip.

E-Truck is a cool idea, trucks need Torque and Electric motors are torque monsters compared to fuel.

If you want a big torque engine you have to pony up $10 - $15K for the mega diesel in any pickup, theres no payback, it's for the worker truck.

I'd like to see someone backup the assertion and start the pull on that train with say a Chevy Sprint gas automatic or a Yugo ...

The thing is that it takes less effort to get it moving, once moving yep just about anything will keep it going, it's starting that is important, e trucks going to start to move it easier..

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:
I get my electricity the old fashion way, from concrete dams, like God intended. Cheap and dependable. Sucks if you are a migrating fish, great if you need to charge your electric truck. If they make a full size pickup that can get 200+ miles out of a charge, and charge in 12 hours, and be as comfortable as the truck I drive now, I will pay a premium for it. I have plenty of rigs if I need to go out of town I will take a different one. I could put a plug in at my parking place at the office, another in the garage at home, and not have to go to the pump unless I am driving a fun car or going on a trip.

This is what I have been doing for 5 years. DD'ing a small EV, charging it off my panels at home. When it's time to go out of town or drive/ride for fun, I'm burning gas the way God intended, and in anger around corners. Drive to work, grocery store, any boring mundane driving, I take the EV. I'd definitely swap it for an electric truck as soon as an affordable one comes out. As long as it can tow a few thousand pounds and have 200 miles of range I'm sold. I power my DD for free and use gas for fun only.

quote:

Originally posted by Scuba Steve Sig:
I bet the cars' couplers were compressed, so the F-150 is moving from stop one car at a time. Once its moving, its no big deal. Its my understanding that's why trains have engines on both ends, so the front engine doesn't have to back up to compress the cars to start moving again, the back engine compresses the cars first or something like that.

Ah good point. If the cars were compressed, much easier task to get moving.

BTW didn't Ford's marketing team demo'ed an F-350 pulling a battleship before? LOL stunts.

<slips in and applies the e brake to the last 5 in the line>

Okay boys, try it now!

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
electric vehicles

a solution who's time hasn't come yet

EV will be useful when they get 480 miles to a charge and a full charge can take 5 minutes

until then, gasoline is where its at

If the EPA wasn't so hard on diesels in passenger cars, we would see diesel/electric cars on the road already. I see water taxi's here, buses, even cruise ships and things of that nature that are diesel electric and the concept like in trains works really well. A small diesel generator running at it's maximum efficiency (constant rpm) charges the battery banks for the electric motors that propel the vehicle. I think you could build a diesel electric car that could burn 1/2-1 GPH that could sustain freeway speeds for the entire day. a 10 KW diesel generator from my experience burns around 1/2-3/4 GPH at 3/4 load and a 20 kw burns about 1.3 GPH at 3/4 load.

Imagine if the Prius or Volt had a small diesel instead of a gas engine.