In a former life I was a marine engineer and loved my 20,000 main engine with 1,000 hp generators and what they could do ie push a 100,000 ship through the water and round the world so diesel, and petrol, torque from an internal combustion engine is something I appreciate.

 

I did not know about this and this is so impressive I think.  Somebody had a brain storm particularly replacing those massive 1,000 litre saddle diesel tanks with battery packs which can be changed faster than the old diesel tanks could be filled with diesel.

 

Maintenance and running most massive big wins.  My big worry would be gangs stealing the battery packs which are worth an absolute fortune !!! 

 

e

Edited 11 March, 20233 yr by lol-lol

That's the most sensible thing I've heard in terms of EV's in a really long time. Love the fact that they're recycling what could well be an end of life vehicle.

The huge torque from an electric motor could really work with trucks and the saddlebag batteries could be made a great idea.

I would hazard a guess that something similar could be done with buses.

Truck stops could be built in areas that suit renewable energy the whole thing could almost go off grid.

In Aus they could have battery stations next to big solar farms.

40 minutes ago, Aspman said:

The huge torque from an electric motor could really work with trucks and the saddlebag batteries could be made a great idea.
I would hazard a guess that something similar could be done with buses.
Truck stops could be built in areas that suit renewable energy the whole thing could almost go off grid.
In Aus they could have battery stations next to big solar farms.

 

My company already licences batteries to be used on Mercedes buses.  Seven 64 kwh solid state Lithium Metal Polyimide batteries five in the roof space above the passengers, two in the spare space in the engine compartment as the lecky motor take up so little space.   Bjorn Nyland popped down to Germany from Norway to do a feature on it.

Thought we might get the Mercedes Truck but they went another way.  We, Bollore, already do 12M EV single deck buses in France and Singapore using a combo of the EV batteries and Ultracapacitors, on daily running it is the capacitors I understand and the lithium MP battery is just to get it back to the depot.  The charging at the bus shelters is positively surreal, 20 seconds in, 20 seconds charge, beat that fossil fuel fillers .....

 

 

    

 

 

Edited 16 March, 20233 yr by lol-lol

39 minutes ago, Aspman said:

The huge torque from an electric motor could really work with trucks and the saddlebag batteries could be made a great idea.

I would hazard a guess that something similar could be done with buses.

Truck stops could be built in areas that suit renewable energy the whole thing could almost go off grid.

In Aus they could have battery stations next to big solar farms.

 

Especially when you consider how far fuel has to be transported in some parts of Aus. 

I didn't know supercapcitors were working tech already. They always stood out as the thing that could be gamechanginf with ev charing rates. It's just how to deliver all that power without melting the cables.

Why recharge them on vehicle?

 

Standard pack, do a swap if you have driving time left and otherwise replace them after your rest period.

1 hour ago, cheezemonkhai said:

Why recharge them on vehicle?

 

Standard pack, do a swap if you have driving time left and otherwise replace them after your rest period.

Are you talking about the bus or the truck? It's not clear which you're referring to. 

For the bus I'd imagine a cable to charge would be less cumbersome than a pit crew changing out batteries at a bus stop.

Edited 16 March, 20233 yr by @Lee

22 minutes ago, @Lee said:

Are you talking about the bus or the truck? It's not clear which you're referring to. 

For the bus I'd imagine a cable to charge would be less cumbersome than a pit crew changing out batteries at a bus stop.

Truck

 

Truck stop = battery swap for a fully charged set. Could replace the fuel card 👍

1 hour ago, cheezemonkhai said:

Truck

 

Truck stop = battery swap for a fully charged set. Could replace the fuel card 👍

Yeah I could see a way with that. ID code on every battery so it's known to have been charged to X amount and paired to X truck could be done easily even with current tech. Now to get a standardised battery with global approval. USB C has shown it's possible to some extent. 

 

7 hours ago, @Lee said:

Yeah I could see a way with that. ID code on every battery so it's known to have been charged to X amount and paired to X truck could be done easily even with current tech. Now to get a standardised battery with global approval. USB C has shown it's possible to some extent. 

 

I was thinking leased batteries, charged, maintained and swap facilities run by suitable companies.

 

Instead of filling up with diesel on a fuel card, it’s a battery swap on an electric “fuel” agreement.

I wonder what happens when you only want half a tank?

 

I imagine that there will be a bank of fully charged mega batteries, rather than the inefficient idea of hauling a huge battery pack around with only partial charge. 

Edited 17 March, 20233 yr by Lady Elanore

Or fit a fully charged half size battery pack...

You would imagine they would set up for one size fits all and it probably doesn't make economic sense to drag around half your battery pack uncharged. Sounds like a couple of tonnes of extra mass to shift. Not being a truck driver, I always assumed they filled up to the brim (assuming they had the time), so I am only guessing that perhaps they don't? 

1 hour ago, toot said:

Or fit a fully charged half size battery pack...

That'd require extra connection points and tooling to accommodate it. I can't see manufacturers going to that expense when they can make one base that accommodates one battery. 

At a guess locally, the EU and other blocs will agree upon a common battery similarly that now USB C will become the norm rather than various USB/ Apple chargers/ connectivity.

 

If a half sized battery, then maybe a half sized battery in a full sized dummy case IYKWIM but even that requires two things where one would do. 

Edited 17 March, 20233 yr by @Lee

@Lee You seem to be actually over thinking this or taking it seriously. 

 

Fifth Gear Recharged had a presenter riding 3 smaller electric bikes / mopeds and trying to carry a cake and she seemed to miss that one bike had 2 battery packs & if you did not put the one in where a tank usually goes you have a space to carry stuff.

http://maeving.com

 

 

Battery packs do not need the connectors to be at the top.  They can be on the side and near the bottom.

 

 

Edited 18 March, 20233 yr by toot

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-60106871

 

http://electrive.com/2022/0125/fortescue-metals-acquires-wae

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 18 March, 20233 yr by toot

1 hour ago, toot said:

@Lee You seem to be actually over thinking this or taking it seriously. 

 

Quite probable, George. It was quite late on Paddy's day  

An Electric Timber Truck trial for 3 years in Southern & Northern Scotland.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-65455941