The Expensive Folly of Electric 18-Wheelers

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/the-expensive-folly-of-electric-18-wheelers

Willem Post

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INTRODUCTION 

Various states, dominated by woke Democrat politicians and Democrat bureaucrats just do not want to give in to reality, which is, the federal subsidy gravy train has ended.

They have been promoting electric 18-wheelers with all sorts of federal and state subsidies, and rules and regulations and mandates.

But Trump is taking away the federal subsidies, which are the major part of all subsidies, which means EV cars, trucks and buses are not going to replace gasoline and diesel vehicles.

This article describes some of the issues surrounding EV 18-wheelers

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A MAJOR TRUCK STOP

Each day, a major truck stop, open 24/7/365, is visited by a few hundred 18-wheelers, otherwise the restaurant would not have enough customers to survive.

Every major truck stop would need two 25 MW power plants, plus a fuel storage system.

Two power plants are required, because one power plant could be down for maintenance.

The cost of extending the grid to each major truck stop would be excessive.

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TRUCK BATTERIES AND TRANSITION

Remember, the replaceable, 1000 kWh battery packs of these electric tractors would last at most 6 to 8 years, whereas the rest of the tractor would still be useful for service.

Each 18-wheeler would be equivalent of 12 to 14 EV cars

About 100 charging stations would be needed; some would be down for maintenance.

The existing fuel pumping/storage system would remain in place during the "decades long transition period" to switch from diesel to electricity.

All this looks good on paper, but in reality, it is a super-expensive, unnecessary Rube Goldberg.

Plus, it would do NOTHING measurable regarding the climate

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Plus, the batteries weigh 4 tons each so that’s 8 tons of capacity sacrificed.

Those batteries are located under the driver.

If just one of those 1000 kWh battery packs goes up in flames, you close the truck stop. You know shit happens!

How many loads of “perishables” will be lost, when the battery dies before the truck reaches the next “charging station?”

Has anyone factored in the additional battery drain, if the cargo has to be refrigerated?

What percentage of battery charge is that going to use up, even when stationary with on-going refrigeration?

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A PONY EXPRESS SET UP?

For the EV mirage to work, those major truck stops would have to become like the Pony Express stations of the Wild West.

Truckers would hurry to them before their batteries ran out, then drop off their tractors for a 10-hour charge, while they grabbed another tractor that had been recharged, hitch it up to their trailer to continue on their way.

A very inefficient use of labor. Not to mention you may need 4 to 5 trucks, instead of one, to make a cross-country trip.

There might be some mileage (pun intended) in the “Pony Express” idea, but it would probably be overly expensive to have all those additional tractor units that will be unproductive while charging.

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COMMENT

More rain is not a problem.
Warmer weather is not a problem.
More arable land is not a problem.
Longer growing seasons is not a problem.
Increased flora and fauna on earth, due to more CO2 in atmosphere is not a problem.
There is no Climate Crisis.

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Without using coal, oil and gas, we would have:

Nothing made of plastic

No electricity 

No running water 

No central heating or air conditioning 

No transportation aside from walking or horseback

Inadequate food

No communications aside from shouting or smoke signals

No WINDMILLS, SOLAR PANELS, EVs and BATTERIES

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Without coal, oil, gas, we would be:

Walking on moccasins
Using dugout canoes
Riding with no saddles on horseback
Living In tepees and stone-back log cabins
All just like the US natives, who did not know how to use fossil fuels

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We have come a long way, baby, and fossil fuels made it happen.
Drill, baby, drill!