[cdswans]

Electric Big Rigs Get 100 Miles Per Charge - Portland News Story - KPTV Portland

"The eStar electric big rig does not use any fossil fuel . . "

Portland, OR and Buffalo, NY are two of the very few cities in the country where you could legitimately make that claim. That is if they're also built with fossil free rubber and plastics.

[Malaki86]

Hmmm - 100 miles per charge, with a top speed of 50mph all for only $150,000. Ya - that'll work out perfect. Lets replace every otr truck out there with em.

Wonder how long it takes to charge? 8-10 hours?

[GMAN]

I can't imagine there being much of a market with only a 100 mile range. The only way that could work is to change out batteries one or more times a day while the other battery was being charged. I don't understand why someone can't invent a charging system that will charge batteries while traveling down the highway.

[Orangetxguy]

If the truck has a 100 mile range....was that determined the way it is depicted in the photo...no bed, box, or cargo....just the chassis?? If so....then it is more likely that it has a 40 or 50 mile range....at 26,000 pounds! Less...if it has to pull a hill!

Hehehehehehehehe....and Portland OR is known for it's flat areas!! :thumbsup:

[Mr. Ford95]

GMAN, Top Gear tried building their own electric car and came up with a dandy idea of using a generator to keep the batteries charged up since it could run so long on 1 tank of fuel. It might have worked had they been able to rig up a better exhaust method for the generator. They were hoping it would run 8+ hours but never got a good test since their exhaust idea was not working properly. You could probably do the same thing with current items on trucks like the on-board generators that some trucks have which also run the bunk stuff right? Somehow tie it all in, shouldn't be too hard.

[cdswans]

Originally Posted by GMAN

. . I don't understand why someone can't invent a charging system that will charge batteries while traveling down the highway.

This is a great point. I . . (que the harp music) . . I drift back to my youth when we had bicycles and little electric motor/generators with a rub wheel which, when secured against one of the tires, would power the lights. I'm not making a direct comparison but it seems to me that there's a lot of untapped potential energy on every truck.

And then there's solar and wind. The equipment is both lighter and more efficient than ever. Why isn't there a fan somewhere on the front of my truck and why isn't there a solar panel on the roof of every trailer? It seems, to this simple mind, that we should be powering the truck stops through a "reverse idleaire" instead of the other way around.

As to the economics of the eStar, in round numbers, 100 miles translates to 12 - 15 gallons of fuel or $36 - 45 dollars at today's prices. No matter how you run it, that's a substantial savings or quick payback, less charging cost, on the $150k (an early production speculative number). I don't see these things being used as road tractors for awhile, at least. I'm thinking more in terms of medium to heavy, short haul crew and maintenance trucks.