4 ms·

No one is claiming electrification isn't practical for mail delivery vans. The grandparent comments are discussing long-haul trucking.

hackernewds 4y ago
This a post about USPS delivering? Grandparent comments are off topic
- redundantly 4y ago
  USPS also does long haul.
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    [deleted]
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - vonmoltke 4y ago
    USPS generally contracts out long-haul.
  - thinkcontext 4y ago
    The 9,250 vehicles the article discusses are for local delivery.
Retric 4y ago
Long haul trucking is solved by electrifying US highways. Trains can charge from overhead lines at 200+MPH doing the same for trucks at highway speeds is relatively trivial and allows for on trip charging. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_road https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_road An EV semi with a relatively modest 100 mile range battery easily solves the last mile problem off highways while weighing the same as a traditional ICE engine + fuel.
- thepasswordis 4y ago
  >this is relatively trivial No it is not.
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  - Retric 4y ago
    Why do you assume that? We were doing this 100 years ago for inner city trolly’s. Trains travel 3x the speed of highway trucks, vastly higher power draw, and we solved that decades ago. There’s even been successful demos of actual highway trucks and power delivery. With modern battery technology we don’t even need a continuous system just enough to keep trucks topped off on highways so maintenance is easy and existing automated toll lanes even cover billing. So, yes it really is trivial as shown by how cheap existing demo’s have been.
    - pm_me_your_quan 4y ago
      e.g., the system deployed in Germany: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3P_S7pL7Yg&t=193s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3P_S7pL7Yg&t=193s
- Reubachi 4y ago
  C'mon guys. "Relatively trivial" is not the two words I would use to describe electrifying highway grids. And to convert road vehicles to conduct off that highway? The words I would use to describe/implement that is "Absolute Taxpayer Aversion". Billions and billions in R&D with no guarantee of adoption and likely greater operating costs for 10s of reasons.(Maintenance, contract costs, accidents, teething. Many counties, even liberal ones, in the US still have dirt roads. In western ireland it's about half the roads are dirt that I saw. If we can't figue out laying concrete at scale, how can we accomplish this "trivially"?
  - Retric 4y ago
    There is zero need to electrify dirt roads, just specific loans on ~1% all us roads due to that 100 mile range battery I just mentioned. We had electric trollies 140 years ago and modern trains have surfaces in contact at 3x the speeds and much higher power draws. Trucks in comparison don’t need constant power, so you can maintain the line without interfering with traffic. But you don’t need to trust me it’s a proven technology with the obvious revenue stream of charging for electricity. PS: America has dirt roads because dirt roads work well when you have low traffic. Their old, cheap, and therefore proven technology just like electrified roads.

hackernewds 4y ago

This a post about USPS delivering? Grandparent comments are off topic

redundantly 4y ago
USPS also does long haul.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- vonmoltke 4y ago
  USPS generally contracts out long-haul.
- thinkcontext 4y ago
  The 9,250 vehicles the article discusses are for local delivery.

Retric 4y ago

Long haul trucking is solved by electrifying US highways. Trains can charge from overhead lines at 200+MPH doing the same for trucks at highway speeds is relatively trivial and allows for on trip charging. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_road https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_road An EV semi with a relatively modest 100 mile range battery easily solves the last mile problem off highways while weighing the same as a traditional ICE engine + fuel.

thepasswordis 4y ago
>this is relatively trivial No it is not.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Retric 4y ago
  Why do you assume that? We were doing this 100 years ago for inner city trolly’s. Trains travel 3x the speed of highway trucks, vastly higher power draw, and we solved that decades ago. There’s even been successful demos of actual highway trucks and power delivery. With modern battery technology we don’t even need a continuous system just enough to keep trucks topped off on highways so maintenance is easy and existing automated toll lanes even cover billing. So, yes it really is trivial as shown by how cheap existing demo’s have been.
  - pm_me_your_quan 4y ago
    e.g., the system deployed in Germany: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3P_S7pL7Yg&t=193s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3P_S7pL7Yg&t=193s
Reubachi 4y ago
C'mon guys. "Relatively trivial" is not the two words I would use to describe electrifying highway grids. And to convert road vehicles to conduct off that highway? The words I would use to describe/implement that is "Absolute Taxpayer Aversion". Billions and billions in R&D with no guarantee of adoption and likely greater operating costs for 10s of reasons.(Maintenance, contract costs, accidents, teething. Many counties, even liberal ones, in the US still have dirt roads. In western ireland it's about half the roads are dirt that I saw. If we can't figue out laying concrete at scale, how can we accomplish this "trivially"?
- Retric 4y ago
  There is zero need to electrify dirt roads, just specific loans on ~1% all us roads due to that 100 mile range battery I just mentioned. We had electric trollies 140 years ago and modern trains have surfaces in contact at 3x the speeds and much higher power draws. Trucks in comparison don’t need constant power, so you can maintain the line without interfering with traffic. But you don’t need to trust me it’s a proven technology with the obvious revenue stream of charging for electricity. PS: America has dirt roads because dirt roads work well when you have low traffic. Their old, cheap, and therefore proven technology just like electrified roads.