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opeth10657 t1_ixsrfvd wrote

Reply to comment by JollyTotal3653 in Caterpillar Successfully Tests First All-Electric Large Mining Truck by Sorin61

Diesel is waaaaay more energy dense than a battery though

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JollyTotal3653 t1_ixsv6aq wrote

some mines already use overhead cables to power trucks waiting in long lines and going up long grades. Really it’s a matter of allowing the trucks to go from the cables to a load site and then back to the cables… reasonable imo

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opeth10657 t1_ixsvnb5 wrote

Extra weight drains battery extremely fast, look at what towing does to EV range. Unless these have incredibly high transfer voltage they're going to spend a lot of time charging

If they're using cables in long lines and climbing, how much better will these really be vs a diesel electric?

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JollyTotal3653 t1_ixswrig wrote

I’m no engineer so don’t expect a crazy in debt analysis from me, I’m just saying they already use overhead cables. Some electric trains have batteries for short movements away from overhead lines… I’m assuming this is a similar idea, recall these things have multi ton engines that are being removed not just diesel. If that huge engine is only being used for short distances it may be viable in the future to change those out for batteries as the electric drive system is already in place what would be removed is the diesel (more energy dense than battery I know) and the massive diesel engine and all it’s components, (all together likely close to the same if not less energy dense for short trips from the cables to the load site and back) considering all the electric system really needs to add is batteries and a controller it may be possible that the battery powered trucks could be viable in the future given the site has the proper infrastructure to support it.

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opeth10657 t1_ixsx6be wrote

> recall these things have multi ton engines that are being removed not just diesel

Similar to ICE and electric cars, it's just that the batteries weigh more than everything they remove. They'll probably have to add a lot of weight in batteries even to move it a short distance

Our current battery tech is pretty limiting

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MyPacman t1_ixtmvqg wrote

>Our current battery tech is pretty limiting

An incremental improvement is better than no improvement. These are a better choice, and what comes after them will be an improvement too.

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