6 ms·
Just to put in perspective if my math's right based on 139k btu per gallon and say 40% diesel engine efficiency and 60 gallons per minute truck stop diesel pump
by SigmundA 7y ago
Just to put in perspective if my math's right based on 139k btu per gallon and say 40% diesel engine efficiency and 60 gallons per minute truck stop diesel pump flow, the diesel pump is equivalent to about a 60 megawatt charger.
Which is why a diesel semi can refill in a few minutes and go for 1000+ miles while an electric semi will take half hour to charge for 500 miles at 2MW.
Obviously though for mining operations where its short range goes up and then back down electrification is perfect, its also great for urban buses with regular short routes.
- sunstone 7y agoApparently the largest electric mining trucks on earth never have to charge. They go up the hill empty, load up with tons of rock, and regen all the way back down which is more than enough to recharge. This makes my engineer's heart smile.
- SigmundA 7y agoYes that is a beautiful application of regenerative braking I have to say.
- alkonaut 7y agoHere I was thinking stuff was loaded down in the mine and then driven UP out of the mine. I realize there are differnt kinds of mines, but assuming it's a hole in the ground, the truck takes the material up, and the hole isn't situated on a hill... why and where is it going down with material? Really interested to read about this.
- goliatone 7y agoProbably meant to write a quarry rather than a mine. I think GP was talking about edumper[1] https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/26/edumper-electric-mining-truck-self-charging/ https://www.autoblog.com/2019/08/26/edumper-electric-mining-...
- alkonaut 7y agoOk " drives up a 13-percent incline to pick up the 65 tons of lime and marl it needs to bring to a nearby cement factor" It was a particular scenario where the quarry was uphill from a factory. Most mines and quarries probably don't have that possibility (They are both holes).
- sgc 7y agoMany quarries are on mountains and this is not an uncommon scenario.
- bryanlarsen 7y agomore details about that particular truck: https://hackaday.com/2019/08/22/electric-dump-truck-produces-more-energy-than-it-uses/ https://hackaday.com/2019/08/22/electric-dump-truck-produces...
- rayiner 7y ago> Apparently the largest electric mining trucks on earth never have to charge. Well that can't be true.
- tupshin 7y agoYes. Yes it can. Regenerative braking downhill, while holding a full load, can generate more power than it takes to move the empty truck back up.
- ska 7y ago> Well that can't be true. Think it through a bit more, there isn't any physics being broken here, because the load (i.e. mass) only travels one way.
- randyrand 7y agoThose trucks still have to plug in though but to discharge. Regen breaking stops working when the battery is full.
- elihu 7y agoWith a big enough hill, you could use the excess energy to smelt the ore on the way down.
- journalctl 7y agoThe key to sustainability is to organize manufacturing across large height differentials. I’d better open some mines in Denver.
- adrianmonk 7y agoThe mines are located at the top of a hill? I tend to think of mines as being down underground. Are we talking about strip mining here?
- detaro 7y agoin that case, top of the hill compared to where to material needs to go, which is at the foot of the mountain.
- callesgg 7y agoSimilar stuff happens in a ore mine in Sweden with freight trains going downhill to the coast from the mine. https://www.schaeffler-tomorrow.com/tomorrow/76/index.html https://www.schaeffler-tomorrow.com/tomorrow/76/index.html
- jacquesm 7y agoCommercial vehicles are in a position of advantage here. Many of the places they visit are industrial in nature and those will already have large power hookups. Using the loading/unloading time to charge would seem to be an obvious thing to do.