Tesla Pickup Truck

[jcl]

Originally Posted by pteck

It's part of the strength and momentum that Tesla has. Not only are they the mileage range leader by virtue of their technology and efficiency, their infrastructure including all networks puts them in a league of their own.

In our home province of BC, EV sales last year were around 4% as a share of sales of light duty vehicles. This year to date they are at 9%, and we now have the highest per capita sales of EVs in North America, with California at 8% and Quebec at 7%. Our provincial target is 10% by 2025, and we expect to reach that 5 years early. Sales are legislated to achieve 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

Surprising to me was that 43% of those EV sales this year were Tesla models, despite there being 44 models of EVs for sale here. They have the momentum.

A friend with a Model 3 visited us this weekend. We discussed EVs as he is an EE, and we are planning on putting in 168 EV charging points in our strata (one for each strata lot owner). He mentioned in passing that he has a Tesla pickup on order. He will wait to see what the final iteration looks like, but is interested. He lives in a rural area far from Vancouver and his Tesla is not common there. He was amazed how many he saw on the road here. I checked, and we have three Tesla dealers within 15 minutes of us.

[mtbackpacker]

Range anxiety is a pretty big deal for EVs... but after towing my airstream 6000 miles with a 6.2L GMC (which has been pretty solid to be honest) I realized I am already very familiar with range anxiety due to an extremely undersized fuel tank giving me a useful range while towing of 220-240 miles. In retrospect I have had a few range anxiety moments (headwind headed East in eastern Washington ) but have managed just fine. I tow at 65mph consistently and I hope that the 500 mile Tesla truck gets half that towing which would be better than my current setup. Also I looked at the Tesla page for supercharger on their site and I was surprised to see that they are everywhere! I guess when you aren’t looking for them you don’t see them but that doesn’t mean they are not out there. The Tesla model 3 is even the third best selling car in California according to a random article I read. If true that would be a lot of people looking for EV infrastructure today let alone in four years when this truck is likely to ship...

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, here are some of my thoughts and I'm sure there are plenty of answers. I'll start with range anxiety. In my years I have come extremely close to running out of gas. In my younger years I ran out of gas quite often. Now if my battery is dead, I can get a jump start. If I run out of gas, I get a gas can and make it to the nearest gas station. If I run my electric vehicle battery dead, I stuck. No can of gas or jump start will help me. So a tow truck to a charging station is the answer?

At this time I have no interest in an electric tow vehicle and at my age, I don't think they will be ready for me in time before I quit towing. [ten or more years left, maybe] And I think my F-150 will last that long or longer.

But I might consider an electric car / SUV in the future. My 2000 Lincoln Navigator won't last forever even though it sort-of already has. My wife's 2005 BMW X-3 is still a great car, but we might want something new in our future. I'm thinking something along the line of the Ford Mustang Mach E SUV could work for us. We would use it like we do the Lincoln and BMW now for short errands [Costco, Winco, Walmart ETC.] and day trips which would be around 200 miles total.

[Bill M.]

Maybe we need to start a business. A truck mounted generator that can fast charge EV's enough to get them moving again. Or pick them up and carry them home?

My Dodge Diesel has about a 450 mile range while towing. But it also has about a $7500 penalty at the Dodge dealership if you run it out of fuel. So I have had a few anxious moments but so far have not actually run it out.

[truckasaurus]

I was curious so I Google'd it https://electrek.co/2016/09/06/aaa-e...harging-truck/

[Isuzusweet]

So, how about a electric diesel hybrid as the perfect tow vehicle?

Electric drive motors on both axles, (even better, motors on all wheels), amazing torque, quiet; but with a small, and I do mean small, diesel motor/generator that sends power to the battery pack to power the motors should batteries become depleted. The motor/generator would run at an optimal rpm, which maximizes efficiency. The Chevy Volt works this way.

Add to this, would be the ability for the TV to power the trailer from its batteries; with 120 volt being through an inverter, (TV based or trailer based). Also the diesel motor/generator would also be able to be programmed to run once batteries were depleted if boondocking. Once plugged into shore power, (600 or 800 volt), shore power would recharge TV battery pack, and though step down converters, 120 volt to the trailer.

This would give us a vehicle with all the benefits of an electric, with the range of an ICE; as long as you remember to fill up the diesel tank.[emoji848]

Cheers
Tony

[kscherzi]

I think the Chevy Volts gas engine is regular sized to be able to generate the amount of electricity to motivate the car at normal speed once it's batteries charge is depleted. So a tow vehicle will then need a pretty robust diesel generator setup to provide the equivalent power.

[mtbackpacker]

A Honda 7000 generator pushing a 30 amp 240v outlet would give you 18-20miles of range per hour of charging.

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by kscherzi

I think the Chevy Volts gas engine is regular sized to be able to generate the amount of electricity to motivate the car at normal speed once it's batteries charge is depleted. So a tow vehicle will then need a pretty robust diesel generator setup to provide the equivalent power.

Yes, the Volts powerplant is 1.5L, because it not only powers a generator, but through a clutch and gear set, powers the wheels. So my Volt anology wasn't a good one.
I however am positive that improvements in battery capacity, generator efficiency, and a host of new technologies would negate having to have a large diesel engine as a powerplant, as I would not want the motor to directly drive the wheels.

[truckasaurus]

I don’t think that provides all the benefits of an electric vehicle, surely a main benefit for many people is not needing gas or diesel. speaking for myself and my application I’ll be happy to stop more frequently on the rare occasions I need to charge away from home rather than have anything to do with diesel

[pteck]

Originally Posted by Isuzusweet

So, how about a electric diesel hybrid as the perfect tow vehicle?

Electric drive motors on both axles, (even better, motors on all wheels), amazing torque, quiet; but with a small, and I do mean small, diesel motor/generator that sends power to the battery pack to power the motors should batteries become depleted. The motor/generator would run at an optimal rpm, which maximizes efficiency. The Chevy Volt works this way.
<snip>

Perfect? Or behind the times? It would be interesting to note that the Volt is now discontinued.

The industry and market has been playing with variations of hybrids for the last 10 years. The clear signal today is that hybrids are a transition configuration and the movement is towards pure electric. If a design were to add more weight, it should be in additional battery capacity.

I've owned EVs for about 10 years now. Yes, the initial fear of newer owners is range anxiety. With today's EV ranges, it's no different than an ICE car. I've run out of electrons exactly 0 times. Had to use public chargers less than 10 times in my ownership. "Fueling" stations are widely deployed as everyone's homes becomes a fueling station. Actually, modern EVs would make great sense for remote living situations as charging could happen at home instead of driving 10s of miles to reach a gas station.

The public infrastructure is catching up. Already, I have no qualms about traveling longer distances (albeit not towing). Punch in a destination, the trip computer maps out a "fueling" strategy, and says exactly where and how long to charge at each destination.

I do hope the cybertruck will surprise us and get even better than 500+ mile range. If it can muster 300 miles under tow, that would be good. 350+, that would make me a happy camper.

[Bill M.]

So we need a fuel cell/electric hybrid?

[markdoane]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

So we need a fuel cell/electric hybrid?

I like any hybrid that doesn't have a crankshaft, air filter, pistons, camshaft, cooling fan, or oilpan.

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by Isuzusweet

Yes, the Volts powerplant is 1.5L, because it not only powers a generator, but through a clutch and gear set, powers the wheels. So my Volt anology wasn't a good one.
I however am positive that improvements in battery capacity, generator efficiency, and a host of new technologies would negate having to have a large diesel engine as a powerplant, as I would not want the motor to directly drive the wheels.

The pre-2016 volt did not have the mechanical connection to the engine.

[skyguyscott]

While a diesel or gas hybrid might assuage range anxiety in the short term, the tradeoffs are not trivial. The added complexity of the design and of course the complexity of the ICE itself mean more frequent and expensive maintenance and repair headaches; not to mention the failure to make much of a dent in carbon emissions for those to whom doing their part to save the planet means something.

I agree the added weight and volume of an ICE would be better utilized to add more battery storage -- solves the problem without the added complexity or carbon cost.

Perhaps some enterprising person will market a spare battery pack one could haul in the back of the TV and plug into the truck. That would add some weight and additional costs, but be removable (depending on it's weight, it's heavy but not Lead-acid heavy) and totally solve the range anxiety issues plus be an energy source for boon docking.

The cybertruck's specs (just hype at this point) would seem to be able to handle the extra weight, and one could make the extra battery back modular so an individual could load and unload it one battery module at a time. If a module goes bad, one could easily replace it rather than the whole battery pack.

[skyguyscott]

Does anyone know exactly how much heavier an EV is compared to it's ICE equivalent?

I would imagine that while some maintenance costs will be eliminated, others like tires, suspension, axels etc. will be greater. Our roads may also take a beating, and I imagine that someone's driveway or garage foundation may not handle the added weight. Crashes will have more energy to dissipate as well.

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by skyguyscott

Does anyone know exactly how much heavier an EV is compared to it's ICE equivalent?

I would imagine that while some maintenance costs will be eliminated, others like tires, suspension, axels etc. will be greater. Our roads may also take a beating, and I imagine that someone's driveway or garage foundation may not handle the added weight. Crashes will have more energy to dissipate as well.

The weights are comparable, so none of the above will be a factor. They need to be light to optimize range.

Chevy Volt 3794 lb

Chevy Impala 3867

The contractor and delivery vehicles will crack your driveway long before the EV will.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by Countryboy59

The pre-2016 volt did not have the mechanical connection to the engine.

The Voltec powertrain was always capable of mechanically connecting the engine to the wheels under the right conditions. It could run either as a series hybrid (engine only charges batteries) or as a parallel hybrid (engine and batteries drive wheels together.) It was designed to run mostly in all-electric or series-hybrid modes.

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by skyguyscott

Does anyone know exactly how much heavier an EV is compared to it's ICE equivalent?

I would imagine that while some maintenance costs will be eliminated, others like tires, suspension, axels etc. will be greater. Our roads may also take a beating, and I imagine that someone's driveway or garage foundation may not handle the added weight. Crashes will have more energy to dissipate as well.

Tesla's Model S weighs about 4800 lb. For competitive comparison, an AMG E63 weighs around 4500 lb and an S-class weighs around 5,000. My F150 Supercrew weighs around 5400.

[Northerngirl]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

Do you know whether those Tesla charging stations are universal? I don’t know whether each manufacturer has their own process or is it standard like our 30A or 50A camper inlets?

Tesla has a unique plug but they have adaptor that can be used on none specific Tesla charge stations. At my home visitors with EV’s of various makes including Tesla, are able to use the designated EV plug in the driveway without complaint.

Many of the public charge stations that are being installed around these parts are not actually being installed and/or sponsored by Tesla.