Meeting the W-15 Electric Pickup Truck
cleantechnica.com
cleantechnica.com
On a side note, I do have a Model 3 LR on order to replace the Volt as it is now capable of doing the two long trips I take each year. The reason I bring this up is because the battery pack on the LR is a little over 1000 pounds which should show the reason why a REX solution is viable because you have to get into heavy duty trucks with full fuel loads to even approach that much weight.
*edit: changed 17 Volt to 2017 Volt
For me the Volt has enough that I can do my 105km a day commute without ever using gas. (I charge at work and at home).
If this truck ever actual goes on sale for consumers, I will buy one assuming the Canadian pricing isn't ridiculous. While I don't enjoy driving trucks, I live on a hobby farm and we need a hauler.
I don't know about hydrogen, but natural gas in vehicles has a planned obsolescence problem: the fuel tanks expire, and replacing them is expensive (both parts and labor). There's also a pretty sparse network of filing stations (some of which require a lengthy preregistration process) -- adding a different dimension of range anxiety doesn't really solve the range problem. (I tried to get a natural gas crown Vic last year, and gave up because it was way too hard)
Carbon fiber is one of the first things we need to replace in car manufacturing if we want to scale hybrid and EVs manufacturing by orders of magnitude.
It'll be interesting to see how the carbon fiber body survives. It will probably depend mostly on whether the trucks wind up supporting maintenance work or putting around to check out faulty equipment reports.
They could even implement what that Israeli EV startup wanted to do, quick charge by physically swapping the pack.
If enough contractors use electric pickups, I could see a contractor supply shop also renting these range extender packs and swapping them for charged packs. A construction supply shop is a good place to do this, as it already has storage, loading bays, weight carrying equipment and people used to heavy loads.
That kind of defeats the purpose of having the truck to in the first place.
For a contractor doing repairs your value is the fact that you have the replacement part on the truck. That means you have bins of sensors, motors, valves and such sitting around because every 3 months you need each and the customer needs it fixed now.
For a contractor doing new work there are less materials (that is generally delivered by a different truck), but you still have tools.
You could avoid it on cars, but for a truck it makes a lot of sense.
CF is expensive, but I'd expect it to last longer than steel - it won't rust.
The thing that makes me nervous about CF cars is how quickly they burn. Look up videos of Lambos on fire; the entire car is engulfed in a matter of seconds. Epoxy holds carbon fiber together, and it's very flammable.
Maybe they should disclose this at the top of the article, not the bottom.
I really like the fact that the creators investigated and addressed the issue that all-electric trucks will always have - they are used fundamentally different from sedans and coupes. You will not get very far on a 100 mile charge if you are trying to tow 15,000lbs.
It was also interesting to read that the company targeted a company like UPS as their customer instead of everyday folks. Neat!
No it isn't. There are series hybrids and parallel hybrids.
https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/electric-vehicles/seri...
(Toyota dubiously calls their plugless parallel hybrids “self charging electric vehicles” in UK ads!)
Something else to add to my wish list to Santa.
Sounds like a series hybrid to me. On some series hybrids the engine isn't connected to the wheels at all.
...BUT as soon as the thingy will be FAA approved, a new Law will - rightly - prohibit using it in New York (or in any city, for that matters).
It will be a long time before self-driving multicopters will be allowed anywhere near densely inhabited areas.
It is years that everyone dreams about these "flying cars", but set aside the cost, if they work and become common, they won't be usable in cities because of traffic.
When confronted with such a puddle, the driver (in an ICE vehicle) usually does some mental calculations and sometimes forges ahead. I've never been stuck (yet).
I wonder what happens with an EV? Anybody got real world experience?
It seems you can drive safely through deep water, there are actually tests for this.
I'd still be nervous about it!
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/06/tesla-model-s-floats-bo...
But don't.
>Updated: As mentioned in the comments below, another issue with ICEs is water—which is incompressible—getting into the engine via the air intake.
It's kind of sad and funny that the author had to be told by the commenters that the intake is the issue and not the exhaust.
The electric truck I think has most promise is the Bollinger B1 (https://www.bollingermotors.com/). Itching to get my hands on one of those. Analog gauges on an all-electric truck has serious appeal.
I really hope it’s optional, because that sort of thing only appeals to people who customize the style of their vehicle, by decorating it with aftermarket accessories.
Also, that low hanging front bumper is very city and highway oriented. Decorative, and not durable. A curb might rip it off, and a fender bender’s going to turn it into flotsam on the median. The downward stretched proportions feel almost lowrider-ish.
I suppose the expectation is that they’ll only expect serious buyers, as early adopters, from that segment anyway?