EV Trucks Can't Replace Gas Trucks Yet. Hybrids Can

[JCsTruck]

But Elon throwing two Nazi salutes behind the US presidential seal earlier this year was the last straw for me.

I would say this is likely not true unless you‘re kidding. That was probably the fake news spinning a story to create a narrative to fit their agenda to slander Elon.

Tesla does make a superior electric drivetrain which is decades ahead of the competition, however the rest of the car as far as fit and finish and functionality needs work. You can tell some Tesla cars were designed by computer geeks and not traditional car people.

Elon needs to find different more mainstream customers to buy his product other than wealthy people who live in major metropolitan areas. If only he could find a way to make a more affordable vehicle that appeals to the masses and maybe that might involve some kind of compromise like a hybrid, or maybe he has a trick up his sleeve. I bet his company will be the one that comes up with some kind of battery technology breakthrough that raises the bar.

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[Snakebitten]

, or maybe he has a trick up his sleeve. I bet his company will be the one that comes up with some kind of battery technology breakthrough that raises the bar.

I have no problem giving credit where credit is due. Or put another way, I am well aware that my Mach-E would not even exist if it wasn't for Elon/Tesla.
But at this point, the enormous lead Tesla had over the rest of the automotive industry is less than it was, and is diminishing continuously. (That's just natural)

Battery technology breakthroughs are fair game for a lot of different companies, and even industries, now that the appetite for "electrification" has expanded far beyond just cars. In fact, the Chinese battery industry is the current darling for EV's and the exploding so-called solar generator realm.

 

[turbopilot]

I have no problem giving credit where credit is due. Or put another way, I am well aware that my Mach-E would not even exist if it wasn't for Elon/Tesla.
But at this point, the enormous lead Tesla had over the rest of the automotive industry is less than it was, and is diminishing continuously. (That's just natural)

Actually, with a big sigh, the credit is due to the California Air Resources Board if we connect the dots back to the beginning. EV's were forced on us either by regulations, taxes or the ability to drive in the HOV lane. Big picture, it was a good thing (for a while) because it allowed EV technology to quickly scale. We will all be driving EV's some day (except for collectors of historical vehicles). With the right infrastructure they are a far more practical and economical way to move our bodies around. This applies to trucks as well. When class 4 high speed DC chargers are as common as gas/diesel pump you will charge a battery in about the same time you fill a tank.

 

[JCsTruck]

I have no problem giving credit where credit is due. Or put another way, I am well aware that my Mach-E would not even exist if it wasn't for Elon/Tesla.
But at this point, the enormous lead Tesla had over the rest of the automotive industry is less than it was, and is diminishing continuously. (That's just natural)

Battery technology breakthroughs are fair game for a lot of different companies, and even industries, now that the appetite for "electrification" has expanded far beyond just cars. In fact, the Chinese battery industry is the current darling for EV's and the exploding so-called solar generator realm.

Are you drinking? You left me scratching my head on that one.

How about this.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/electric/ram-1500-rev.html
or this take on an eletric truck with range extending generator V6 engine. https://www.ramtrucks.com/electric/ram-1500-ramcharger.html

 

[PCfordguy]

I would say this is likely not true unless you‘re kidding. That was probably the fake news spinning a story to create a narrative to fit their agenda to slander Elon.

See for yourself-



It’s also important to note that Elon has made very distasteful Hitler/Nazi memes on X and supports the far right AFD party in Germany. I used to be very supportive of Elon until all this Nazi BS.

If it walks and talks like a duck…

 

[mwf5888]

I agree with a lot of what was said. My two issues.

1. My wife and I travel, mainly to Florida, where my kids and grandkids are located, and to Minneapolis, for the same reason. I make it in two days and one day from Port St Lucie, FL to Key West, (where I got 31 mpg in 30 - 45 mph traffic). Can't do that in an EV.

Last year, I was in FL talking to my wife as her 2019 Escape was hit by an F250 (she was fine - Escape totaled). I drove from FL, starting at 2 pm, and arrived home the next morning at 8:30 am. That would never happen with an EV.

2. I can't get a Level 2 or 3 charger in my home from the power company. I have had discussions with my insurer, and he has advised not to get an EV as they may no longer provide home insurance if you park one in the garage.

I average 23 - 24 mpg in my PowerBoost and love the 7.2.

 

[Snakebitten]

Are you drinking? You left me scratching my head on that one.

How about this.
https://www.ramtrucks.com/electric/ram-1500-rev.html
or this take on an eletric truck with range extending generator V6 engine. https://www.ramtrucks.com/electric/ram-1500-ramcharger.html

I was responding to what I THOUGHT was a remark regarding battery technology itself. Not necessarily the application of a battery.

In other words, Tesla raised the bar on battery chemistry, thermal management, charging and battery management, as well as battery packaging. But the subsequent competition has made up a ton of ground and in some aspects caught and passed Tesla. The Chinese battery industry is behind LFP, for example. Both Tesla and Ford (and others) have to license the use of LFP in their current EV's using LFP.

As for the Ramcharger, that's a clever enough idea, but Stellantis is not the first to manufacture vehicles with the ER approach. They are just the first to be able to bring it to the USA and that's more about politics and trade.

 

[JCsTruck]

Was that gesture you're referring to from a speech by Elon Musk at a celebratory event following the recent inauguration on January 20th in DC. I think he might have made that gesture impulsively. He’s also somewhat on a spectrum (autistic) which makes him act awkwardly sometimes in the public eye.

Decades of media coverage, education, and historical documentation have made the gesture a symbol for Nazism, so any similar arm movement, especially by a public figure risks being interpreted as a reference, whether intentional or not. Because he publicly supported DJT and the fact that the mainstream media hates DTJ and his movement more than anyone else on the planet, I think they took the opportunity to slander him and created the reference to the Nazi solute that went viral. I honestly don't think Musk is a Nazi or intended to make reference to it in that speech.

 

[JCsTruck]

And it looks like Tesla may have a game changer already with a new cheaper battery technology too.

 

[Calson]

It is the people living in cities that have been most injured by diesel exhaust and the fastest way to fix the problem after the widespread cheating by the auto and truck manufacturers is to move to EV where there is zero local pollution of the air. Check the air in major cities like Houston or Los Angeles or London or Tokyo or Mexico City and the severity of the problem is quite evident.

The diesel exhaust and particulates result in asthma that costs families billions of dollars in ER visits and steroid medications in the United States alone. This is in effect a subsidy of the trucking industry by families in the country. We also subsidize the truckers with low DMV fees and low fuel tax on diesel that does not begin to cover the costs to build highways able to take their very heavy vehicles and the cost to maintain these roads year after year.

A pickup has an axle load of less than 4,000 lbs but a semi trailer has a load at each axle of more than 20,000 lbs and the difference one can see driving long the highways with the resulting damage and frequent need for road crews to resurface. There are major highways in the California that never see trucking traffic and have not needed to be resurfaced in the past 40 years where there is only passenger vehicle traffic and an occasional RV.

 

[Snakebitten]

Ahhhh, Rural life.

But it's not exactly the diesel exhaust in places like Houston that we are avoiding by abiding in the coastal country. It's mostly that Big City coocoo culture?

No offense to my big city Texas neighbors. I just don't know how you do it.

 

[F150 John]

Maybe if the large semi truck are the issue people are seeing in large cities we should just help them out by simply not delivering any goods to those cities anymore and end there suffering.

A permanent boycott seems like a great idea, we can cut off all fuel shipments and anything else that comes on a truck and they can live there happy lives free of all the issue's such bad trucks bring. I am sure it will work out just fine.

 

[Snakebitten]

I resisted.
But yeah. Those pesky truckers!

 

[eharri3]

The free market has spoken, government can't manufacture a popular trend where there is none. People gave it a shot, found out the limitations, and the market share is going to settle back down now that everybody has gotten a real life education in the potential and the limitations. Somewhere above where it used to be but well below where proponents hoped it would be, over-taking ICE as the popular option.

Hybrid technology is mature enough and attractive enough to buys that manufacturers will get more bang for the buck improving on it than they will bringing EVs leaps and bounds forward. It was an interesting little experiment but manufacturers started cancelling and scaling them back as soon as they were no longer being prodded down that road. They knew it was a business loser to ramp up on such a drastic scale in such a short time.

 

[nomarhits400]

Oh boy, here we go...

He's gotta be trolling.....

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