rezerekted
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The engineers can't even figure out how to run the electrical grid efficiently without electric cars so If you think this is going to come hassle free, well, think again.
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The Tesla Semi Revealed
- Thread starter monkeymagick
- Start date
The engineers can't even figure out how to run the electrical grid efficiently without electric cars so If you think this is going to come hassle free, well, think again.
rezerekted
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What does Florida use for power? Coal? Coal is being phased out, better come up with a new plan.
He's full of it. I have lived in Ontario (Toronto and Ottawa) for 20+ years. The problems he describes are bullshit.
In 2 decades, the power outages that hit me, were almost entirely storm related (knocking down power lines), not any engineering problem with the grid.
Yeah I missed a zero. 5k mid day, maybe. The average would be significantly less
SparkedFire
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Most of our power comes from natural gas, but we use coal and nuclear as well.
That's good to hear.
You're probably right, especially since the panels will probably be laying flat on top.
Guess I'm spoiled in Manitoba where we have more damns then we need.
The main issue for us in most Canadian provinces is as you say that our crown corp power companies like to sign pretty so so export contracts with our friends to the south. Manitoba Hydro complains about $ short falls, as they build more production then the 1-1.2 million living in Manitoba will need for 40 years and sell it for next to nothing to the Americans.
Really though by the time the majority of cars and trucks on the road are electric the amount of generation will be there. MB Hydro has been investing in wind and I'm sure they aren't the only one investing. I know we have 2 farms operating now the newest is putting out 140MW which is of course a fraction of our biggest hydro dam at Limestone (1350 MW) that was build in the 90s... but 140mw is right around the same power the Seven Sisters damn puts out that was built during the hydro boom in the 30s and 40s. The St. Leon wind farm cost around 350 million which is pretty good compared to the costs of 100-150 MW hydro damns these days.
sirmonkey1985
[H]ard|DCer of the Month - July 2010
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that would be easy due to the gear shifts.. the normal diesel rig would have to start in third gear and immediately shift to 4th about 3 seconds later by which the electric truck would then cause the drive shaft of the opposing one to twist and break during the gear shift.
all depends on the companies.. for example where i live our provider started prepping for the electricity demand from electric cars 5 years ago and has the capacity to provide 250% more power than they currently do if it was needed. hell they even installed 300 charging stations around the city to use for free.
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velusip
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Container ships next.
rudy
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It wouldn't be worth it for emergency, cause you can just send someone out to tow the truck for less than the cost of the solar array for the very few times something goes wrong.
However just for charging, I think it is something that is becoming a possibility. We have a lot of new solar technologies that are lighter or more efficient. And the trailer provides a massive surface to charge off of. I know nothing more about the electrical engineering of the batteries though. There are some car startups that are trying to do this. The idea being your car charges at work etc.. Would actually be cool because then some cars would actually want to be in the sun =]
I think the big problem with moving solar arrays (anything on top of a moving vehicle) is that solar panels need to be aligned to face a specific direction to maximize energy absorption. Since a vehicle would be changing directions constantly the array would always be pointing in some sub-optimal manner that just makes the whole thing useless.
Solar panels on the top of shipping containers. Who gives a shit if they aren't optimally aligned? Something is better than nothing. Should we just skip them entirely because it could work better in a different location? I personally think that every unused surface should be covered in solar panels. And to the folks saying that the grid can't handle it, you may be right. But you have to accept at some point that batteries are getting better and we are going to move from equipment directly powered by fossil fuels to electricity and batteries, and it's coming fast. These days most professionals who are buying new power tools are getting battery operated models. They are lighter, more responsive and have more power. Speaking as someone who uses power tools professionally on a daily basis, there are very few tools that I would buy that aren't battery powered.
Wake up people! It's happening. It doesn't matter if you don't like it. With demand will come supply.
Wake up people! It's happening. It doesn't matter if you don't like it. With demand will come supply.
sfsuphysics
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I wouldn't say useless, "optimally placed" solar panels never be optimally aligned most the day either. If you take a standard shipping container you can get about 20-300 watt panels on it, or about 6kW of panel. say 4 hours of "optimal sunlight" (to take into account the "suboptimal" angular orientation) that's about 24kWh per day for a Semi. Any specs given to the battery on these things? I mean I know the new roadster is a 200 kWh battery, but that's a much lighter vehicle, and that would only increase the range by about 12% of something that small, and hazarding a guess 6kW of instant power isn't going to be enough to move the thing.
SamuraiInBlack
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I could see LTL services using this for city pickups/deliveries, but over the road/line haul runs, I would think diesel will still remain in use until the range at least hits the 600+ mark. You still have to account for getting stuck in traffic, getting stuck at places that take forever to load/unload you, etc. Then there is also team drive runs too, where when one driver runs out of hours they have to stop and switch out. Getting diesel anywhere is still far easier than getting electric power. I know that's changing, but if Tesla and other players seriously want to get something like this going, they need to make getting the supercharger grid a little more widespread to support it.
Also, I'm not sure, but doesn't temperature also affect battery life as well? If so, there could be a performance difference in colder/hotter climates.
I think this has a lot of potential. But I don't see O/O's getting on board with these right away.
Also, I'm not sure, but doesn't temperature also affect battery life as well? If so, there could be a performance difference in colder/hotter climates.
I think this has a lot of potential. But I don't see O/O's getting on board with these right away.
velusip
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With those operational cost figures it wouldn't surprise me if distributors are throwing money at the screen. It will be interesting to see official pre-order numbers over the next few years. There is a lot of time to install "megacharger" infrastructure, and I'm certain those interested will have a say in where it goes first.
Also, the battery packs are temperature controlled via HVAC. There is still an issue of total charge capacity under extreme heat or cold, but you would be looking at less than 10 percent. I haven't heard any complaints from the Tesla owners around here, so we assumed the temperature related variance is factored before range.
Standard shipping containers get stacked, pushed against each other, etc. It wouldn't be a good idea to start slapping solar panels on them.