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Rolling resistance of vehicles with rubber tires is an order of magnitude worse than steel wheels of a train. Steel wheels are the key reason why trains are so
by pornel 4y ago
Rolling resistance of vehicles with rubber tires is an order of magnitude worse than steel wheels of a train. Steel wheels are the key reason why trains are so efficient.
- nomel 4y agoSince it's not feasible to lay track everywhere, and since this could be implemented in software, it could be an achievable, relatively cheap, and possibly near term, improvement. "Long range" road trains could include some hardware. This isn't some new idea [1], so I'm not sure why I'm being downvoted. This has always been a goal for self driving. 1. https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1076588_sartre-self-driving-road-train-takes-to-public-roads-video https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1076588_sartre-self-driv...
- pornel 4y agoThe track isn't an inconvenience to be removed, track is the major source of the efficiency. Rubber-wheeled train cosplay would not achieve the same levels of efficiency.