quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:
I honestly would have thought the battery pack would have been bigger.

I've got a feeling there are more batter packs lower on the vehicle as well. Likely where you see the gas traditionally stored. Looks like coolant lines coming out of the packs on the low / side of vehicle as well.

No way they could get any reasonable mileage out of just the pack on the back. last article I saw estimated the Tesla Semi with a 850 - 900 kWH battery pack.

My long range Model 3 has a 83 kWh pack for around 325-350 miles of range for comparison. The pack is about the size of x2-x3 pallets for comparison.

So there are definitely more packs on that thing. likely super low on the body to give it a low center of gravity as possible.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

Until range is extended and charging stations are standardized and readily available, including at each terminal bay so the tractor can charge while waiting to unload, EV tractors are a novelty.

And if the trucks are successful (which remains to be seen), the charging stations will follow. In the early days of automobiling, gas stations were scarce, too.

Also everyone for whatever reason always has to go with the most extreme use and if it’s not capable of driving from New York to a California it’s useless. In initial testing they were getting 500 miles which is plenty for most in state use.

Sure they are not going to be long haulers but thousands of trucks are never used in long hauling and if a company has a bunch of these they can have their own charging station just like Tesla owners do now.

These would have to be local / state only trucks. Even with Level 3 chargers installed on the road. If you can top off a 200-250 miles on a Lvl 3 Tesla Super charger in 15 - 20 mins. To grab roughly 50-60 kwh on the pack.


To "super charge" a 800+ kWh pack would take a few hours I'd guess. But the charge is usually super fast the lower the pack then takes longer to top off that last %80 -%100 range. With a 60amp breaker per truck charging just in a parking lot. Probably charge in the 40-50 miles per hour range similar to the tesla home charging station that runs on 60 amp breaker. Seems that would not a lot of sense.

So for these huge packs if they want to use the trucks fully daily. They'll definitely need to figure out the charging situation.

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

Until range is extended and charging stations are standardized and readily available, including at each terminal bay so the tractor can charge while waiting to unload, EV tractors are a novelty.

And if the trucks are successful (which remains to be seen), the charging stations will follow. In the early days of automobiling, gas stations were scarce, too.

Also everyone for whatever reason always has to go with the most extreme use and if it’s not capable of driving from New York to a California it’s useless. In initial testing they were getting 500 miles which is plenty for most in state use.

Sure they are not going to be long haulers but thousands of trucks are never used in long hauling and if a company has a bunch of these they can have their own charging station just like Tesla owners do now.

Tell that to California. I’m sure they’re working up chubbies with the thought of mandating all trucks must be electric.

Interesting...I am surprised the power cells are not bigger than they are. Makes me wonder about range and what a 65 kip load will place on it. I guess we shall see.

Funny that CA is testing them seeing that few weeks back CA didnt want anyone charging their cars. What happens in 10 years when we cant charge trucks and it seriously hampers the life blood of consumerism in this country. Gas and diesel generators on site to charge trucks.... Funny as it would seem a bit circular there.

The only way to make it efficient will be to have quick change battery centers at strategic locations…a lot of them. Batteries will have to be standardized, on hand, and fully charged, ready to go. I don’t see it working for long haul trucking, but fleets in cities might work. It would cut down on in-city emissions.

I would think there could be a tremendous amount of energy generated from regenerative braking on semis.

Keep in mind that an over the road driver cannot exceed 14 hours in the cab (11 hours of which are driving) and has to be parked for 10 hours a day.

So if a driver is getting his rest hours at a truck stop like Flying J or other National truck stops along the interstate they could definitely use these tractors for long haul routes. I think I remember reading an article where one of the National chains were in talks with Tesla to install chargers at their stops.

I'm not so sure how comfortable I'd be sleeping in one of those period, let alone while charging.

This rig is stuck next to my parking spot so that's why I'm sorta looking it over.
Not much else to do on lunch break.

The box behind the cab is not a battery pack like I assumed.
It's a refrigeration unit for a trailer.
Not sure how that gets connected.

Still has air brakes with a large electric air compressor.

Random article I found about the Volvo EV Trucks:

https://insideevs.com/news/562...igger-battery-range/

quote:

Originally posted by powermad:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
"Whoohoo?" Really? Why are you excited about this mickey mouse horseshit?

A 3 ton hoist? Just for the battery? That's nuts.

I need to work on my sarcasm vibe.
Two dead in the water upon delivery does not inspire confidence.

That hoist, that is required had to come out of our tool budget.
In other words we got that monstrosity and now don't get stuff we really need.

My bad. I was operating on no sleep. Didn't pick up on the obvious.

quote:

Originally posted by powermad:
This rig is stuck next to my parking spot so that's why I'm sorta looking it over.
Not much else to do on lunch break.

The box behind the cab is not a battery pack like I assumed.
It's a refrigeration unit for a trailer.
Not sure how that gets connected.

Still has air brakes with a large electric air compressor.

Looking at the picture below from Volvo, I think your first guess is correct. It’s the third pair of batteries. The smaller box on top looks to be refrigeration, but the big box with the serious lifting eyes is a pair of batteries just like the pairs on each side of the frame.

Thank God for engineers. Looks like nothing to me. EV are not ready for prime time no matter Camela says. I guess her new plan is to push GREEN energy.

The information provided on Volvo’s website for these is interesting. It talks about zero tailpipe emissions, but also admits the CO2 footprint of one of these trucks is only lower than a diesel truck over the lifetimes of both trucks if renewable energy is used.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Volvo claims a 275 mile range for their 565kWh 6 battery version that can be charged to 80% in 90 minutes with a 250kW charger. ...

You would need a 480VAC 300A 3PH service to run just one "250KW charger" for one truck! Holy crap I do not think they thought this through.

Figuring the average service in my neighborhood is 200amp, it would take six houses worth of electricity to run that 250kW charger (it’s a DC charger so there’ll be some loss converting AC to DC). Even at a slower rate, Volvo says 9 hours to fully charge the 565kWh batteries. That’s still over one house worth.

I don’t even want to guess how many solar panels it’ll take and of course there’s still the storage issue since these trucks will be charged at night. I suppose you could have two trucks and run one while the other charges and swap them every other day.

These ranges from both Freighter and Volvo are based on a gradually decreasing load and a lot of stop and go for the regenerative braking.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
a lot of stop and go for the regenerative braking.

This makes me think residential mail trucks might (maybe) be a good candidate for EV platforms. There's a ton of stop-and-go with those things.

I recall reading here a short time ago about a farmer getting the incentive from John Deere to change over to EV Combines. Seeing that his spread required the non-stop nine-day-usage of five or six ICE combines to do the job come harvest time, he was somewhat less than impressed.

Up in Canada, as in most of North America, long-haul trucking involves such mind-blowing distances that an EV truck, apart from a panel van for VERY local deliveries, is as useful as a wooden football. My cousin's late husband racked up over a million miles in his career as a tractor unit owner/driver, and never left Ontario.