I would like to see Eric A. Meece address his claims here. His claims are easily debunked, but he seems to have disappeared. Let me show a consecutive run down of how the claims were made, and then I will show how they are completely false. In a thread about oil reserves Eric stated, Why not start building the alternatives now in time also to avoid the worst effects of climate change caused by using them? To which, Michael Cooper retorted, The are no alternatives for oil in transport and shipping. You will not have an EV tractor trailer. -- A key point is that what is specified is tractor trailer -- *First claim* Eric - Theres no reason trucks cant run on electricity too. He then started a new thread to make his point, Unlike what Michael Cooper (from Texas) says, electric trucks are already on the market. Heres just one company: boulderev/ Well, it is pretty obvious to see that the link Eric gave in his OP was for light vans guised with the title of truck. None the less, Eric continued to arrogantly assert his false assumptions: *Second claim* (theyre already here) - You asked what are we going to use to transport goods, as if trucks could never be EVs. Well, they are already here. The world is going right past you fossil fuel lovers. Michael Cooper asked again, Find me an EV tractor trailer..., and continued with an astute argument against EVs as trucks, The problem with EVs is range drops in direct proportion to weight of load. Erics rebuttal... Batteries are getting more powerful all the time. Progress IS possible - Its opined and backed by nothing. Then unsurprisingly it is followed up by an assertion, The point is that trucks can be EVs. He then continues to... *Third claim* (EVs are brand new) - This is brand new, so expect larger trucks to be EVs too - apparently not a history major for electric vehicles. And immediately followed by... *Fourth claim* - We need to phase out carbon entirely, and it will happen by 2030... - Im not touching this one because I dont have a crystal ball, but I invite anyone else who wants to, please be my guest. So, while he had fun asserting these claims, and then running, he also failed to address every counter point made against EVs. Im not going to cover all of reasons EVs suck on the OP. Anyone passing by is welcome to, but Im just going to show that his claims are bollocks. For his claims to hold merit they have to be feasible in reality. Point in case: with current technology we could build a tractor trailer that is EV, but it would only be able to drive EMPTY, and for about one seventh of the mileage of what a normal trucker would drive. That would not constitute his claim being valid, as the truck serves no purpose and no one would use it, let alone buy it. In his link were stats for two models. The 500 series, and 1000 series. The company gave the range and payload stats, but not the recharge time. Both the 500, and 1000 series claim an 80 - 100 mile range, and a 4000, and 6500 pound net payload respectively. Keep in mind that, as was pointed out, the larger the payload, the shorter the range. I did find a similar Renault EV truck, with a 75 mile range, where the site gave a recharge time (7 hours) Now, heres where the people who are not fluent with mileage, and weight of tractor trailers will start laughing with the rest of us. I already mentioned an EV having one seventh of a normal tractor tailer daily mileage, but lets put that 100 miles available vs. 700 miles needed aside for now. Im a truck driver, and lets say, hypothetically, that I have a load of wheat that needs to get from my terminal to Kraft Milling in Toronto. I need to make a 326 mile round trip hauling nearly 90,000 pounds of wheat. How would my tractor trailer compare to the EV? Ill even be generous, as Pete Gross pointed me to an EV that could carry as much as 16,000 pounds, though I couldnt find its range. Lets crunch the numbers: My tractor trailer takes all 90,000 pounds in one trip. The EV needs to split it into 6 trips. My tractor trailer will take 6 hours to make the trip (ignoring unload time). The EV will need to charge half way to Toronto, again in Toronto, and again half way back. That will take 24 hours (ignoring unload time). It also needs to be charged at the terminal every time. Because of the laws in keeping a log, the driver of the EV will only be able to drive one way per day. He will drive for 6 days for a total of 60 hours, then be off on the 7th, and go another 6 days, making the total time 13 days to move the same product I moved in 6 hours. If Eric seriously thinks EV tractor trailers are in the future He has a long time to wait. As you can see, I already covered claim one, and two in the same shot. However debunking claim three might give him some better perspective on just how long we would have to wait until trucks really can be EV... probably never. The fact is that EVs were invented to replace steam. Between the years 1832, and 1839 inventors had been creating the first electric cars - better known as electric carriages back then. Batteries werent sufficient enough to even be stored and recharged on board until 1859. The batteries were substantially improved in 1865, and 1881. By the end of the 19th century, and early 20th most EVs had up to a 35 mile range, and a top speed up to 18 miles per hour. However they were not intended to pull any significant weight above their curb weight around 2,500 pounds. The best EVs of the time were extraordinary though, such as the 1908 Fritchle Model A Victoria. It had a 100 mile range. Thats the same as the 2010 Nissan Leaf. Now ask yourself, Eric, how soon will tractor trailers be EV knowing that an electric car made over a hundred years ago is comparable to todays? gas2.org/2014/09/18/why-dont-commercial-plug-in-trucks-and-vans-sell/ lowtechmagazine/2010/05/the-status-quo-of-electric-cars-better-batteries-same-range.html
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 10:10:35 +0000
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