TESLA Electric Truck?

[Grumpycat]

Here's a thought! (My brainstorm?!?!?)...
The more EVs there will be over time, everyone's electric rates will go up. It will have to at some point.

Why? The proper time to charge an EV is at night when generating capacity is surplus. So much so utilities offer discounts for using electricity at night.

I was joking about the 1950s electric bumper cars. But they worked, no battery. The floor was metal as well as ceiling, so a contact between them ran the motor. I remember the ozone smell to this day.
Trolleys and pantograph trains work by overhead wires, they're on rails so even contact.
But...there is inductive charging. There's a unit for your phone. No connection, place phone on it and it charges by induction.
So why not wire coils underneath asphalt on major highways? An EV would get charged by driving along. Talk about a long range...even for tractor trailers or towing a trailer.

Induction charging of a moving vehicle is very difficult because you have one coil moving over another coil. Ever see that before? Doesn't it sound like an electric motor? It is. Requires more force to move one coil over the other than you can couple between in energy. Plus it is a highly lossy transmission medium. Doesn't much matter for a couple watts on your phone but for 20kW to move an EV at 70 MPH it gets significant.

 

[Grumpycat]

If you built a metal ceiling over the roads here, you could solve the snow removal problam too. I loved those bumper cars. Especially if you could get enough speed to give some unsuspecting person whiplash! lol

Perhaps you forget there was also a metal floor.

 

[5030]

So what is the problem? I had a diesel SUV that would deliver 30 MPG at 70 MPH. But put a 4500 pound trailer behind it and it got 10 MPG (at less than 70 MPH). "Range" fell to 200 miles! Conclusion: "Diesel isn't here yet."

Model X Long Range has an EPA rated 328 mile range. Hitch a trailer and range drops to 1/3rd? You act as if that is unusual or unexpected?

The problem(or should I say the solution to the problem is), diesel is available about everywhere, Recharging an electric vehicle isn't. You ain't pulling into the local Speedway or *** and Go and charge up your electric vehicle or sit there for an hour waiting for it to charge back up when you can fill your diesel tank in 3 minutes and continue on.

That is, in my view, the issue today.

Until there are charging stations on every corner and the up time is reduced to minutes instead of an hour or more, plug in vehicles will never be mainstream. We live in a 'I want it now' society and charging up for an hour or more, is totally unacceptable.

 

[Grumpycat]

What is really 'impressive' is Musk's ability to secure taxpayer funding to float his boat. He's really good at it.

"Everybody" says that but nobody backs it with proof.

 

[Grumpycat]

Whatever Musk does, you can rest assured it will be bankrolled with taxpayer funding. How he rolls.

Citations please?

 

[Grumpycat]

Given what was said earlier in this thread regarding the time replacement intervals for batteries it'll be interesting to see the effect on the used market value of electric vehicles that are approaching (or have exceed) the suggested replacement interval particularly as electric vehicles become more mainstream and the "gee-whiz" factor dies off (as it eventually does with almost all new technologies).

So just out of curiosity I checked out the localized KBB value of the cheapest all standard option of a 2012 Model S, which turned out to be a very respectable $21K-$25K -- however, even at that price the thought of having to fork out the previously mentioned $8K on a vehicle that's currently worth $21k-$25K doesn't sound very appealing -- especially if I wasn't the one that had been experiencing the gas-free years prior (or hadn't been setting aside the cash to pay for that battery change).

It'll be interesting to see how the used car market adapts ....or if mainstream electric cars will become "disposable" items when a battery change comes due. Which will potentially be even more interesting on a truck that may have seen an unknown level of use/abuse (both physical and electrical).

You are approaching it the wrong way.

First, the $8k "battery replacement" is off by a mile. Used Model S batteries are $13k and Model 3 $8500 on eBay.

Second: 300,000 to 500,000 miles is the current prediction for Tesla battery life. You can abuse it to less. And naturally some have failed sooner than that.

Third: The thing to do when considering a used Tesla is to charge the battery to 100% and note what the car reports as remaining range. A Tesla Model S 85 (not 85P) would report 265 miles with a new battery. Divide 265 into whatever you found on a full charge. If the idiot used car dealer is keeping a 100% charge on the battery, run away. Clueless idiot. Should not be allowed to run low, nor kept high. Tesla recommends charging to 90% for daily use, less for long term storage, 100% only immediately before need. These are charge limits one can select in the car or smartphone app.

 

[Grumpycat]

Not sure about the charging rates but I assume that you can only drive the rate so fast and then you have an overheating issue with the battery pack.

120kW into my 85kWh Tesla Model S is only 1.4C. Your phone and laptop charge harder than that. However, Tesla wishes to protect the (~7100) 18650 cells.

I guess my issue comes from where the power originates. it's not some magical genie supplying the power to the charge station, it's fossil fueled and nuclear plants supplying the juice and they both pollute but in different ways.

People tend to discount the initial generation of the power heavily and play the 'green' dream. From that standpoint, I still prefer the infernal combustion engine. With that, I know where the related pollution originates at. With a plug in, not so much.

Tesla Model S (power hog) powered by coal is responsible for the similar emissions as a gasoline automobile which gets 30 MPG. But unlike the gasoline automobile the Tesla can effortlessly switch from coal to nuclear to hydro to solar to natural gas, or any combination thereof.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Why? The proper time to charge an EV is at night when generating capacity is surplus. So much so utilities offer discounts for using electricity at night.



Induction charging of a moving vehicle is very difficult because you have one coil moving over another coil. Ever see that before? Doesn't it sound like an electric motor? It is. Requires more force to move one coil over the other than you can couple between in energy. Plus it is a highly lossy transmission medium. Doesn't much matter for a couple watts on your phone but for 20kW to move an EV at 70 MPH it gets significant.

"Doesn't much matter for a couple watts on your phone but for 20kW to move an EV at 70 MPH it gets significant."
Thanks! You answered my question then. There are 263+million registered vehicles in the US alone. Let's say half, or less, say 100M go electric.
What's (100Mil)(20,000W)? 2T watts. That's 2,000,000,000,000 a lot of power.

 

[Grumpycat]

Electric-car batteries recharge in ten minutes when the heat is on : Research Highlights

I recently learned about this factor when charging the Nissan Leaf with the 30 kWa battery at WalMart (Electrify America). With the battery cold (60F) vs war (90F-100F) the same amount of charge cost me 2x as much cold as warm for the same amount of charge. That is using the CHAmoDE DC charger. Since the charging fee is per minute you can see how much faster a heated battery can charge vs a cold battery. Charging a cold battery can lead to plating that leads to long term battery degradation.

The biggest problem you had is that it is illegal in Kentucky to resell electric power. So EA can not bill you by the kWh, they have to bill you by the minute to rent the parking space. And while you rent the space they can give you electricity.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Those who have EVs enjoy and embrace them. Those who don't shouldn't be forced into buying one.