4 ms·

Yah I just think it’s not great product market fit right now. Not sure what’s the fix, trailers with batteries? But who wants a $40,000 boat trailer?

toomuchtodo 4y ago
Like aviation, might be a use case where there is no avoiding combustion. Probably biodiesel until battery energy density sufficiently improves for light vehicle towing. You can’t replace all transportation with biofuels, but there is room at the margins for some mix of hydrogen, ammonia, ag and waste oil fuel, etc.
- brianwawok 4y ago
  If you watch the road, any given day < 1% of people tow. But ~20% buy a truck because they might want to tow.
theluketaylor 4y ago
Ford has a patent out on a removable bed box that contains a range extender. Looks like it's not just a defensive patent either; they have been spotted testing something very similar. With a big battery capable of providing extra juice when climbing long hills or accelerating they should be able to put a fairly small engine in and always run it at peak efficiency. Especially if they can be rented from a dealer it would really takes care of the casual truck user's needs. I have a buddy who daily drives his F-150 to work and then a couple times a year tows a big camper long distance for family vacations. His daily needs could easily be electric and he could rent an extender for 3 or 4 weeks a year to tow with. It would still slash his annual fuel consumption and as biodiesel or other synthetic fuel becomes available/reasonably practical even with a big truck his carbon emissions would be very low (it does help the grid here in Ontario is extremely clean already)
- brianwawok 4y ago
  Yah that would do it. We also need higher power chargers or maybe the ability to plug in 2 to really maximize a huge battery. Ideally you want to charge a 300 KwH battery at like 600 Kw/h or higher.

toomuchtodo 4y ago

Like aviation, might be a use case where there is no avoiding combustion. Probably biodiesel until battery energy density sufficiently improves for light vehicle towing. You can’t replace all transportation with biofuels, but there is room at the margins for some mix of hydrogen, ammonia, ag and waste oil fuel, etc.

brianwawok 4y ago
If you watch the road, any given day < 1% of people tow. But ~20% buy a truck because they might want to tow.

theluketaylor 4y ago

Ford has a patent out on a removable bed box that contains a range extender. Looks like it's not just a defensive patent either; they have been spotted testing something very similar. With a big battery capable of providing extra juice when climbing long hills or accelerating they should be able to put a fairly small engine in and always run it at peak efficiency. Especially if they can be rented from a dealer it would really takes care of the casual truck user's needs. I have a buddy who daily drives his F-150 to work and then a couple times a year tows a big camper long distance for family vacations. His daily needs could easily be electric and he could rent an extender for 3 or 4 weeks a year to tow with. It would still slash his annual fuel consumption and as biodiesel or other synthetic fuel becomes available/reasonably practical even with a big truck his carbon emissions would be very low (it does help the grid here in Ontario is extremely clean already)

brianwawok 4y ago
Yah that would do it. We also need higher power chargers or maybe the ability to plug in 2 to really maximize a huge battery. Ideally you want to charge a 300 KwH battery at like 600 Kw/h or higher.