Another day, another better battery for consumer product promise. I really hope one day we will get rid of stinking non electric cars from the streets.
I think electrifying the trains is still worth doing, but if we want to reduce CO2 emissions and dependence on fossil fuels, it's not as important as getting those diesel-powered trucks off the road somehow.
That's why electric truck will save them $250k per year in diesel.
Of course it requires massive capital investment, a modal shift for the last mile, and it's somewhat inflexible.
I still don't see why PHEVs aren't a thing in Semis so you can get regen braking, torque, efficiency, and range, but what do I know.
Efficiency certainly isn't unimportant but fast charging can overcome it.
I would also argue that EVs can't succeed unless fast charging overcomes efficiency. For EVs to succeed and overtake ICE vehicles they need to work for vehicles that are inherently inefficient, such as minivans, 3-row family SUVs, trucks, and commercial vans.
This is especially true since large vehicles are often the most profitable in the US.
All three are important and sure you can somewhat brute-force either aspect, but ultra fast charging stations are not as prevalent as you think it is. Most stations are still 50kW, but there are few 150kW. 250kW and more are still super rare.
And again efficiency is important but EVs won't succeed unless they can include inefficient vehicles that are a necessity or a strong preference for many buyers, which is why 250kW+ charging stations are important if the US is ever going to adopt EVs as a full ICE replacement.
If I need a truck with an 8 foot bed and a body-on-frame vehicle to carry building supplies to my commercial property that I own across state lines and it currently gets 20mpg using the most advanced ICE technology on the market, I'm going to need 250kW+ chargers available if I'm ever going to replace that vehicle with an EV. Doubly so if I need to tow a trailer.
I'd bet $10 that China is well-covered with 1000kW charging within 10 years.
We already have laws.
We'll hit that point soon enough (if we haven't already with some nice truck that hasn't crossed my newsfeed). In the meantime, there's lots of shorter haul trucking routes, and routes with access to fast chargers half way (300 mile electric semis definitely exist), to convert.
The slots-in-the-road approach is a bit more expensive, but it can be used by cars and trucks, whereas the overhead lines are just for trucks.