Submitted by darth_nadoma t3_z43fnt in Futurology
TheFreakish t1_ixpm4zo wrote
Reply to comment by darth_nadoma in Renault's heavy electric trucks are now available to order by darth_nadoma
My work truck does 1000-1400km. Europe is a lot smaller than Canada though.
MarmonRzohr t1_ixpwp04 wrote
Yeah, naturally, battery-powered trucks like these will not replace diesel on long routes.
Renault says on their site that they are intended for shorter, regional routes. For example they say that the largest truck model coming is 2023 will have a 300 km range with a practical range of 500 km with one, one-hour charging stop.
Kempeth t1_ixptt0u wrote
Germany is working on overhead power lines for trucks. If that works out and is retrofitted onto enough highways then 300km would easily be enough range to get onto the highway and off again, riding the rest of the trip on grid power.
Surur t1_ixpx2et wrote
I really support this idea. The pantographs can be retro-fitted for only a few thousand $, and can be used with both hybrid and electric trucks, and would obviously pay for itself in reduced fuel fees, so I feel this is a system which could easily be rolled out piecemeal, starting on major highways.
anschutz_shooter t1_ixpzqiy wrote
Most trucking isn't like that though - even in Canada. Measuring by "daily journeys", local freight dominates over long-haul, and the average journey is well under 300km - railhead/port to warehouse, warehouse to supermarket.
Or distribution between a company's production sites (e.g. where I am in the UK we have a major manufacturer with six factories and one big goods-inbound logistics centre. So they have a fleet of trucks continuously ferrying components from the centre to factories, all <20km. There will be similar arrangements in some Canadian cities). Ideal application for an electric truck (particularly since you control both ends, and can have charging infra anywhere - though these trucks could do at least 5 rounds trips on a single charge).
In truth, 1400km truck journeys shouldn't exist outside of mad niche cases like Ice Road trucking. Between cities or provinces the cargo should just go on a train. Safer, better timetable reliability, lower carbon, one driver per hundred wagons, instead of one-per-trailer.
Even in the UK, companies like Amazon and Tesco (supermarket) are moving heavily to railfreight because it's just more reliable than road haulage. That's mostly for freight between southern England and Scotland, which is "upto 500km". Also, for stuff arriving at ports, so it goes straight on a train and doesn't touch a road until it's near its final destination.
dc456 t1_ixpsbsw wrote
1400km a day?
TheFreakish t1_ixpx5ac wrote
I've done 1200km for a day of work. 1400km per fuel up.
dc456 t1_ixpxqal wrote
That’s not an issue in the EU, as it wouldn’t be legal - you’d have driven for too long in one day. It’s not about the size of the place, it’s about the number of hours you’re allowed to drive.
MotorizaltNemzedek t1_ixpyn9g wrote
Still, truckers regularly drive 550+ kms/day in Europe
Hippemann t1_ixq5tyb wrote
I think they legally have to stop driving for 45 minutes every 4.5 hours in France (or any combinaison with a similar ratio). Which would be perfectly apt to recharge the truck battery!
thefpspower t1_ixqeaqw wrote
And where are the truck recharging points?
dc456 t1_ixpz0zf wrote
Yeah, and they can continue to use an ICE truck for those journey types, or top up during their break.
ricky302 t1_ixsw5b5 wrote
Really? what do you classify as a day, 12 hours? so non-stop at 100kmh for 12 hours. Yes, really believable.
TheFreakish t1_ixtinqb wrote
110kph most of the time, highway 99% of the way. I can drive 13 hours a day.
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