How Far Can an Electric Truck Tow?

[racerone]

Darn and I missed grade 6 long ago.

 

[440roadrunner]

Sorry but some of you are delusional. EVs are not going to be practical even for cars and very lightweight trucks, much less heavy towing, and there are many many reasons
1....Battery deterioration. By the time most any EV gets to the point that the battery is so far denegrated that replacement is a "must" the rest of it won't be worth the cost. There WILL BE NO "used cars."

2....See "1" above. Recycling waste and pollution will be over the top. Some seem to forget or fail to realize that recycling itself has a LOT of pollution

3....Do "I" really want to make some trip hauling "whatever" get there, and then wait, stay over, burn hortel hours for a day or two while the darn thing recharges? I would suggest a diesel genset behind, but we are "in the future" and such things have been "banned."

4...Finite resourses. People have gotten this somehow, "me, me, me", "now now now" mentality, that "I want, I have." So now everthing we have, EVERY thing, has to be battery powered. Hell I was in one of the "thrift stores" some time back, and here is a battery powered "swizzle stick." Just how much lithium, etc, is there?

5...Winter. I cannot imagine "recreating" some of my trips in the day, EG just last winter we read about the passes being closed over to Seattle and traffic sitting for HOURS (most of 1 day) until things were unsnarled. A trip from here to Seattle is already "over the top" on EV range, now add up heater, wiper, the added hp required to plow through snow and slush and then...........getting stuck for hours.

6.....Recharging/ power. Have any of you asked yourselves WHERE the added grid capacity will come from? One thing I do NOT see around here is our much hated (Avista) power company furiously installing 4X grid capacity to not only deal with charging stations, but what (government) wants--which is getting rid of combustion appliances in homes--and go all electric. (On that note, heat pumps are not all that great around here, either........I used to maintain and repair them)

7....NOT last and not least is the imaginary "green power" source. I just recently read that down in NV they are dismantling a multi million dollar solar mirror salt boiler experiment because.......well....it had problems. Wind and solar are NOT without BIG problems. LOLOL Not the least of which is the huge mess of broken windmill blades Even up here in the PNW, most of our power is hydro, but it doesn't cover everything. You think NG turbine generators are great? They use a HELL of a lot of water, that's what. I found out years ago (when the power company was trying to expand them) that instead of building the gas turbines BY THE RIVER, they are using aquifer wells---and the county commissioners finally put their foot down on water useage.

IF YOU ARE GETTING THE idea that there is problems with all of this, you are correct. EDIT by moderator - too political

WA governor Inslee, as well as Canada have recently both declared the banning of new gas / diesel vehicles by 2030 or 2035. THERE IS NO possible way this "technology" will be even remotely out of the experimental stage by then.

Hell we already have people building DIESEL POWERED CHARGING STATIONS. Just think that over for a minute............

*****Edited out the most blatant political comments. This is a warning for everyone to keep out of the politics of this.

 

[tpenfield]

According to a few articles, (Car and Driver, etc) the range while towing is going to be less than half of the published range. (so call it 100 miles or less).

Lots of things to be worked out regarding electric vehicles, which some of the post have touched upon. If there were a retreat to fossil fuel power, because of the issues, I don't think many of them would get resolved. The decade of 2030's should be interesting in that regard. Battery technology and the source of electricity are at the heart of the issues.

For now, we are in the 'early adopter' phase of a long journey.

 

[tpenfield]

As far as infrastructure to support a new transportation technology, the world has been 'down that road' a hundred years ago in the early days of the automobile. Think of all the things that were not in place then and had to be figured out.

Gas stations, roads, traffic control, vehicle safety, driver training, repair shops, used vehicle disposal, etc . . .

 

[alldodge]

Mods have taken care of it ...

Your getting political 440

 

[racerone]

Agreed----cars were more expensive than horses and mules.------Mankind is lazy and loves convenience.---Air travel is more expensive than sailing ships.---Electric transportation is going to be more expensive.-----But it appears that many people are not aware of it at this time

 

[tpenfield]

I do hope that the heavy use of fossil fuels continues for a while as my retirement portfolio is a little too heavy on petroleum stocks, and I’ll need more time to diversify

 

[dingbat]

EV is in its infancy. Give it time…case in point.

My great grandmother was 3 when the Wright Brothers first took flight.

She was 59 when she took a jet from Cleveland to Hawaii to see her second born son.

She was 69 when she watched the moon landing on my Grand parent’s color TV.

The year she passed away (1995), the Concorde set a new speed record for a round-the-world flight at 31 hours 27 minutes

 

[racerone]

One of the issues is that the general public has a poor understanding of how much power is needed to generate electricity.-----Need to visit one of those science centers for kids.----Sit on a stationary bike to light up some light bulbs.----But yes over time every body will become more educated on the subject.------And folks who do not even own a car might suffer because the demand for EV power will drive up the cost of running a toaster.

 

[alldodge]

Power consumption, mining for Bitcoin uses more then some cities

 

[aspeck]

Looks like a staged vid hoping to get hits

Yep, I am sure it is staged, but it humorously identifies the way SOME people think ...

 

[BWR1953]

That video was hysterical.

 

[briangcc]

Ev's have their place....depending on climate of the area you're going to be operating it in. BUT....all it takes is Mother Nature opening up a big old can of NOPE and that puts a wrench in the works...

‘Never Seen Anything Like It': Drivers Stranded for 24 Hours on I-95 in Virginia

Drivers are finally off Interstate 95 after being stuck on a 50-mile stretch in the Stafford County, Virginia, area for more than 24 hours, the Virginia Department of Transportation said.

www.nbcwashington.com

For me, in my area, an EV isn't practical for any number of reasons posted above - no infrastructure, storms, snow, etc. Could it get there in time? Maybe? During my lifetime? Doubtful.

The technology is there to improve mileage in traditionally powered vehicles. My 2017 Honda Accord 2.4L CVT got 42mpg commuting to/from work. It was not a hybrid model. The pitfall is that it won't tow a boat so there are tradeoffs for sure.

 

[BWR1953]

There have always, always, always been nay-sayers. No different today.

But nowadays they're called Larry.

But EV and other technologies will happen in time. It's an evolutionary process, not a switch that gets thrown and it suddenly happens overnight. We're in the early stages now, but it is happening. The last time I heard, all of the reservations for the new electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickups had been pre-sold. I think it was 150,000 units, but I can't remember. (Senior moment. )

The numbers are climbing.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-ta...et-slow-growth-in-u-s-faster-in-china-europe/


As for me, when my stepson leaves home in a couple years, I'll take my first dip into EV with an electric Zero Turn Radius mower, like this one:

https://www.ryobitools.com/products/details/46396035745

With that mower, I won't have to worry about changing belts, checking oil and whatnot. Just plug and play.

 

[racerone]

Most folks are unaware of the fact that 7 lightbulbs of 100 watt consume / need about 1 HP put onto the grid somewhere.---Most EV charging stations that I have seen were not ---" vehicle with a trailer friendly " ---so to speak

 

[racerone]

When the battery goes dead on the Zero Turn mower it is a bonus.-------Run the cord out to it and open door on the refreshment cold storage bin.---Electric is the way of the future but not cheap.-----Local garage put new tires on a Tesla after 20,000 miles.-----Not sure if owner was driving in sport mode.----Or heavy battery did the damage ?

 

[WIMUSKY]

One thing, amongst many, that come to mind is people investing millions into classic cars. At some point will they be worthless? One would think. Just think of all the items we use that need petroleum... Lawn mowers was mentioned, I couldn't imagine being in the lawn business and having to use electric mowers... I've had to mow 15 acres at one account... Granted a single charge will get exponentially better, but at what cost? Talk about overhead just in equipment....

 

[racerone]

This electric stuff is not going to be cheap.------EV cars will depreciate at an alarming rate.

 

[alldodge]

Nothing is cheap except cheap stuff

 

[BWR1953]

When the battery goes dead on the Zero Turn mower it is a bonus.-------Run the cord out to it and open door on the refreshment cold storage bin.---Electric is the way of the future but not cheap.-----Local garage put new tires on a Tesla after 20,000 miles.-----Not sure if owner was driving in sport mode.----Or heavy battery did the damage ?

Right? Honestly, if I didn't have so many home, boat and other projects going on right now, I'd buy the mower today. Gotta keep saving my pennies for the time being though...

And thinking more about it, I no longer have any ICE powered yard tools other than mowers & tractors. I sold my gas powered trimmers, blowers and even my badarse Makita chainsaw. I have a cordless electric chainsaw, tree trimmer, blowers, drills, impact drivers, etc. I sold or otherwise disposed of most of my plug-in electric power tools awhile back.

So, I'm already on my way.

As for the Tesla tires... I suspect the heavy foot of the owner!