Tesla Semi, Other Electric Trucks, Charging Station $$$$$$$ ???

Status
Not open for further replies.

Joethemechanic

Senior Member
Location
Hazleton Pa
Occupation
Electro-Mechanical Technician. Industrial machinery
What are your thoughts about what it will cost to install a charging station with chargers drawing over a megawatt each? My thought is the costs are going to be crazy high.
 
Probably not going to be fast chargers, but battery swap out stations. Still going to be a lot of juice charging the batteries that were swapped. FedEx is trying out electric delivery trucks, I went to quote charging stations for them a couple of years ago. They thought they could just come of the maintenance shop to feed them, but even though it was a 480 volt feed, it was only 200 amps. They had four trucks at 100 amp each.
 
Probably not going to be fast chargers, but battery swap out stations. Still going to be a lot of juice charging the batteries that were swapped. FedEx is trying out electric delivery trucks, I went to quote charging stations for them a couple of years ago. They thought they could just come of the maintenance shop to feed them, but even though it was a 480 volt feed, it was only 200 amps. They had four trucks at 100 amp each.

I can kinda see it working out for smaller delivery trucks, but when they are talking about Class-8 trucks with a battery storage capacity of close to one megawatt hour It seems like the costs are going to be astronomical.

Mack has some electric refuse trucks working at New York Department of sanitation and for Republic Services, but they are very short routes and if I remember right the batteries are somewhere around 350 kilowatt hour capacity
 
I think there will be some in production but that future technology will leave them behind. There definitely will be a network if them and the money for it will be printed. Consumer ones I think are here to stay just look at how cordless tools took over and now some jobs sites never even get a real temp service they just rough in till we show up and then hope the utility can rush getting the new service live. It's an inconvenience but starting to become the norm.

So 20 years from now people would probably be fine with charge time and things like that. From the commercial delivery side as soon as it looks like a poor investment and the consumer climate isn't all for the electrification of that then I think they'll go hydrogen or biofuel or something not yet figured out just because that's what the bean counters will figure out.

McDonald's didn't invent fast food but they had some big time efficiency figured out and came on top. If the Semi manufacturers and Transport companies come up with a solution that can make more money they most definitely will start doing it and all their competitors will follow suit.
 
Keep the cost in perspective: Existing Class-8 semi trucks consume $100,000 worth of Diesel fuel annually; ain't nobody forecasting the long-term price of Diesel fuel to go down.

Installing sufficient generation & transmission will be a challenge, of course. I'd like to see solar farms covering every flat roof in the country.
Which, I acknowledge, wouldn't be much direct help to the package-delivery biz whose trucks need to ply their appointed rounds during business hours. (unless we also install solar panels on truck & trailer roofs)

I foresee a shakeup in the trucking biz - less dependence on gypsy owner-operators, more interconnected structured short routes enabling drivers to be home every day. (if they continue to use drivers at all!) There's no reason a trailer needs to be hauled by the same tractor and the same driver for its entire trip.
 
Keep the cost in perspective: Existing Class-8 semi trucks consume $100,000 worth of Diesel fuel annually; ain't nobody forecasting the long-term price of Diesel fuel to go down.

Installing sufficient generation & transmission will be a challenge, of course. I'd like to see solar farms covering every flat roof in the country.
Which, I acknowledge, wouldn't be much direct help to the package-delivery biz whose trucks need to ply their appointed rounds during business hours. (unless we also install solar panels on truck & trailer roofs)

I foresee a shakeup in the trucking biz - less dependence on gypsy owner-operators, more interconnected structured short routes enabling drivers to be home every day. (if they continue to use drivers at all!) There's no reason a trailer needs to be hauled by the same tractor and the same driver for its entire trip.
I could even see automated driving take off at night time when loose cannon rush hour drivers aren't out and the AI could maybe keep up or have an advantage being non drowsy and able to see in other spectrums
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top