We are going to need nationwide charging stations for electric semi(s) that are the equivalent of truck stops
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Nationwide charging stations for electric semi(s)
- Thread starter Mockingbird
- Start date
scottf200
Well-Known Member
Not for a very long time. Chargers at all the companies pickup docks/ports/warehouses and most semis will certainly be used for short-haul. There are many many 1000s of those and can satisfy the e-semi demands for many years to come.
"Short-haul trucking involves transporting shipments within a 150-mile radius. Unlike long-haul or “over the road” (OTR) trucking, which involves driving hundreds of miles, short-haul truckers stay closer to home. Since short-haul routes are relatively brief, truckers can complete multiple routes on the same day."
"While definitions vary regarding what exactly counts as long-haul and short-haul driving, generally routes that involve a 200-mile radius or less should be considered short-haul, whereas anything over 250 miles is considered long-haul driving."
It's a start anyway.
https://www.truckinginfo.com/10186927/volvo-pilot-to-build-public-heavy-duty-truck-charging-network
"The Volvo Group and Pilot Company signed a letter of intent to develop a national, public charging network to support the scaling of Class 8 battery-electric trucks.
To accelerate development of the charging network, Pilot intends to install high-performance charging infrastructure at selected existing network of Pilot and Flying J travel centers across the U.S. The network will be open to all heavy-duty vehicle brands, and will be able to support medium-duty truck charging as well.
The partnership will address charging infrastructure accessibility and roadblocks, including long project lead times and high installation costs, that can otherwise delay scaled deployment of battery-electric vehicles, Volvo officials said in a press release."
ElectricIAC
Good-Natured Rascal
Why limit yourself to short haul when you’ve been marketing the damned thing as an alternative to long haul operations?
Tesla will build it and truckers will come.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
At the beginning, since there will be very few EV trucks, I imagine that fleets will charge their EV trucks using their own chargers while trucks get loaded,
- Which explain why those trucks will return to the depot after delivering goods to customers. Pepsi is a good example.
- An other use case will be fleet trucks going from depots to depots, such as Tesla transporting batteries from Reno to Fremont.
But little by little, some new charging locations will be build at some strategiques locations, such as halfway between majors cities.
- So for some fleets, drivers could meet and exchange trucks to return home after a day of driving. UPS is a good example.
When there will be enough truck EV charging stations, it will be possible for EV trucks to perform cross country transportation.
One advantage for the EV trucks will be that they don't keep their motor running like diesel trucks do, so those rests areas will be much quiter,
and will not need to be build in isolated areas and could be located near towns where independent drivers could charge their own trucks.
Trucks will also need service, mostly tire replacement, however for tires they could use existing truck service locations.
I noticed that Tesla truks are now using dual wheels instead of the single more efficient single tires.
I believe this was to create less logistic depedency for finding replacement tires.
Dual wheel is about weight loading an axle. The rear axle need to support massive weight, the truck plus half the load of the trailer. Putting that on A single tire would be a heckuva tire just to bear the weight sitting, much less under load. To reduce damage to roads inter state travel will require that.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
It seems that Tesla initialy used those single tires, but swtiched to dual tires, may be from requests from customers in the US.
But I would not be surprised if the Tesla trucks might use single tires in Europe where they seems to be more popular?
See this article for more information:
Fleets Weigh Benefits, Drawbacks of Wide-Base Tires Versus Duals | Transport Topics
Motor carriers consider many factors — and come to different conclusions — as they evaluate wide-base tires versus standard duals for their tractors and trailers.
Mike Roeth, NACFE’s executive director, said the fuel efficiency difference
between singles versus dual configurations has decreased in recent years.
However, wide-base tires undoubtedly save on weight, which is important
for tanker fleets and others that haul the maximum legal amounts.
In Europe, singles are a cheaper purchase option than the dual configuration.
Li said they are “dominating” the European trailer market with near 100% use
in trailers with load capacities over 20 metric tons. Those trailers are being
exported to the Middle East and Africa, where demand is increasing as well.
Right, I could see on trailers. I have a hard time seeing that in the truck itself. However, those tires they are using in Europe are a heckuva tire. Thanks for the link. I see that the single tire use in USA declined as they made better tires for duals.
The weight savings was interesting. In our bulk goods loads they are running larger than normal tires anyway. But duals. Heavy tires but they dont blow out .
The weight savings was interesting. In our bulk goods loads they are running larger than normal tires anyway. But duals. Heavy tires but they dont blow out .
Last edited:
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
This was a point that attracted my attention.
In US, trucks certainly travel longer distances in isolated areas,
so when a tire blows up (mostly because of reshapped trailers tires for cost saving)
it is still possible to drive cautiously to a safe location or a repair shop,
instead of been stranded on the side of the road in middle of nowhere.
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