Replace your diesel truck with electric?

[JDean]

Check this out: http://www.popularmechanics.com/car.../?mag=pop&list=nl_pnl_news&src=nl&date=051216
- John D

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

Good thing I still had my Muck Boots on while I was reading this lol!! HP and TQ #'s are impressive IF the idea on paper can actually pan out!!

One thing that has me reaching for my chest waders is the power to weight thing... I am confused with the HP claims since a 15HP electric motor running from 480v 3 phase power weighs about the same as a 350 small block Chevy engine!! :-laf:-laf

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

It would be neat to see the idea take off, but I have my doubts for now. IMHO it is WAY uglier than my '91 Pete cab-over lol!!

 

[Wayne M.]

I'm not even biting on the link. There's just no way. I understand the Tesla car is enjoying some success, but the limit is the battery tech. I'll tell you one case where I do prefer electric over Any IC engine- fork lift. They are great and trouble free. Being stuck in absolute libtard NYC, I am forced to experience all kinda alternative tech, and anything on road electric is trouble at some point. Without details, I heard of a Nissan Leaf failure where they were forced to relinquish the veh. Class 8 hybrid of any stripe? NOPE! We have this euro looking pure electric small truck- I think it's called a Smith, it's constantly down for one reason or other.
The only alt tech I've been impressed with are the brothers from different mothers- the 2gen Prius and hybrid Ford Escape. Bulletproof, until like most Asian vehicles, they just collapse.

 

[JDean]

From the article: "With electric motors at all six wheels, the concept truck even claims to offer active torque vectoring. That means better traction, better cornering, and better braking. And with the diesel engine gone, Nikola created a more aerodynamic design that offers much better visibility from the driver's seat, as well as 30 percent more interior space than a regular truck, with room for two full-size beds, a closet, a real refrigerator and freezer, a microwave, a 40-inch TV, and more."
That's a bigger tv than I have in my living room.
I bet that natural gas turbine turbine sounds pretty cool also, but I wonder what other solutions they looked at. Maybe if they scaled back the interior decorating and put the diesel engine back in to run the generator until our hydrogen economy caught up with it. Then you would have a completely silent fuel cell power source scalable to whatever size hauler you needed. - John D

 

[jhenderson]

I don't understand why no one has tried to develope an electric truck designed like a locomotive. Diesel engine powered generator and electric motors at each wheel. Turbines aren't fuel efficient and need gear reduction to the gen set.

 

[Wayne M.]

I don't understand why no one has tried to develope an electric truck designed like a locomotive. Diesel engine powered generator and electric motors at each wheel. Turbines aren't fuel efficient and need gear reduction to the gen set.

It's kinda been done, and I've driven it. That type of hybrid is a series hybrid, as opposed to a Prius which is a parallel hybrid. The wheel motor tech ain't there yet, so it has a huge motor where the trans was and a regular drivetrain after that. A Cummins isl drives a generator that keeps a bank of ultra capacitors charged, and they juice the motor. It worked well, but current management was rough, especially taking off on a steep hill.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

I think an electric tow rig would be awesome. Full torque, full HP with a slight blip of the throttle. I just don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. At least a version that's affordable...

 

[Wayne M.]

I think an electric tow rig would be awesome. Full torque, full HP with a slight blip of the throttle. I just don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. At least a version that's affordable...

We got yelled at by the forklift warranty guy when our 4k yales were new. The clicking chipped gear sound we were hearing was the commutator segments that popped up because we twisted the armature by pushing and pulling stuff.
Forklifts are excellent uses of electric tech. They start every time and very low maint, no fumes in the shop, quiet.

 

[RustyJC]

Turbines aren't fuel efficient and need gear reduction to the gen set.

Gas turbines using modern metallurgy and blade/nozzle cooling techniques are pretty darned fuel-efficient, although not quite up to diesel engine levels unless you use exhaust heat recovery on the gas turbines. Gas turbine efficiency goes up with firing temperatures which are limited by materials and cooling technologies that are improving all the time. The gas turbine could come pretty close to the diesel's fuel consumption IF you designed the GT to run at constant speed at its best BSFC design point to charge the batteries and/or provide output to the wheels with the batteries taking the load swings from the wheels. The greatest benefit of the entire package would be the energy recovery that would recharge the batteries during regenerative braking - times when today's trucks would be using engine brakes and/or wheel brakes and just dumping the kinetic energy into the air as heat.

It would be very interesting to see the overall energy balance comparison between this gas turbine hybrid design and today's diesel-powered trucks over a coast-to-coast loaded run.

Rusty

 

[jhenderson]

My idea was to eliminate the batteries and direct supply the electric motors. Save cost and weight as well as complexity.

 

[Jim W]

I think you would still need a generator to provide the electricity to drive the wheel motors as this would be a cost and additional weight over just a gas turbine and wheel motors. Also brake retards are required for these type of vehicles. BTW they all ready exist in the market place and have been around for some time. They are call electric mining trucks which have diesel engines driving a generator that supplies electricity to individual wheel motors with retards for brakes. See the following link for the Cat 795F AC mining truck: http://www.westrac.com.au/pages/product.aspx?pid=18232553

 

[RustyJC]

You must have the batteries (or a WHOLE BUNCH of supercapacitors) to get the fuel consumption advantage of a hybrid. Regenerative braking recharges the batteries - if you don't have the batteries, the energy used for braking just disappears as heat.

Rusty

 

[jhenderson]

That's why my original post cited locomotives as an example. No batteries. Direct voltage supplies electric wheel motors. I suspect if having batteries involved was more efficient the railroad would be doing it.

 

[RustyJC]

That's why my original post cited locomotives as an example. No batteries. Direct voltage supplies electric wheel motors. I suspect if having batteries involved was more efficient the railroad would be doing it.

The problem with this approach on railroads is the very low coefficient of friction between the steel wheel and rail. If only the locomotive is equipped with regenerative braking, it can generate very little retarding horsepower (and recovered energy) before the locomotive wheels start to slip. That's not the case with the semi that's the subject of this thread.

Rusty