2 ms·

The proposal is not the electrification of trains. It's the moving of trucks to trains, and then the electrification of trains. But it would depend on a lot of

by xracy 4y ago

The proposal is not the electrification of trains. It's the moving of trucks to trains, and then the electrification of trains. But it would depend on a lot of infrastructure investment in trains that I recognize we're not going to do.

bombcar 4y ago
Electrification of trucks might be almost more reasonable - and it's been proof-of-concept'd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3P_S7pL7Yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3P_S7pL7Yg Many people do NOT realize just how empty most trucks are - and major intercity trucking can be relatively easily "trained" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer-on-flatcar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer-on-flatcar - but the vast majority of local deliveries are trucks that aren't even half full. When shipping (trucking is just shipping) each "transfer" costs you money and time, so you want to reduce those as much as possible. To encourage trains, you just make the transfer cost "worth" it - interstate road-mile taxes, for example would do it.
- xracy 4y ago
  What if I told you... That Trains aren't just proof-of-concepted... They're real. And they don't require adding wires over miles of highway. I do appreciate they're thinking outside of the Battery-Electric Trucks here, but it's incredibly frustrating to have people miss the obvious solution staring them in the face in place of the solution they're hoping will become autonomous in "the future". Also, I know it's a tough sell because of the number of jobs created by trucking, but there are already L3+ autonomous vehicles, and they are trains... Lastly, the fact that most trucks aren't even half full seems very much a fact of last-mile delivery. That would be a great place to apply a battery electric-vehicle. Seems like you would want a non-class 8 Truck for that space... (and that you would save a lot more mileage for that)

by xracy 4y ago

bombcar 4y ago

Electrification of trucks might be almost more reasonable - and it's been proof-of-concept'd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3P_S7pL7Yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3P_S7pL7Yg Many people do NOT realize just how empty most trucks are - and major intercity trucking can be relatively easily "trained" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer-on-flatcar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer-on-flatcar - but the vast majority of local deliveries are trucks that aren't even half full. When shipping (trucking is just shipping) each "transfer" costs you money and time, so you want to reduce those as much as possible. To encourage trains, you just make the transfer cost "worth" it - interstate road-mile taxes, for example would do it.

xracy 4y ago
What if I told you... That Trains aren't just proof-of-concepted... They're real. And they don't require adding wires over miles of highway. I do appreciate they're thinking outside of the Battery-Electric Trucks here, but it's incredibly frustrating to have people miss the obvious solution staring them in the face in place of the solution they're hoping will become autonomous in "the future". Also, I know it's a tough sell because of the number of jobs created by trucking, but there are already L3+ autonomous vehicles, and they are trains... Lastly, the fact that most trucks aren't even half full seems very much a fact of last-mile delivery. That would be a great place to apply a battery electric-vehicle. Seems like you would want a non-class 8 Truck for that space... (and that you would save a lot more mileage for that)