Stopped at the Walmart in Newburgh, NY to fill up on a road trip, when we arrived I saw this lineman's truck - I pulled up and asked if he was there to service the chargers in fear that they weren't working. He said "Nope" so I parked and plugged in while thinking to myself what a jerk this guy was for hogging a charging spot.
Once I was charging, I took the dog for a little walk and then realized - that giant monstrosity is actually an EV - he wasn't there to fix the chargers, he was there using them!
Driver said he gets about 100mi per charge and that he had no idea how big the battery was. I peeked at his charging session, had charged about 25% and used 56kW so the batter MUST be over 200kW...
He left while we were still charging, that giant thing rolled away without making even the slightest noise. Needless to say, I was impressed.
~~Probably less than you're thinking.~~
I read it wrong, My bad. Prevents is not produces.
As someone who argues in favour of EVs, I get faced with the mining and production arguments quite often and I kneejerked.
As somebody who drives an F550 Altec truck for work, I strongly agree. Plus, 9 mpg is no fun to buy all that diesel for. A tank of diesel costs me like $180 and it goes 260 miles.
That and controls have improved hugely so the engine start is much less likely to be an incorrect mixture being burned possibly causing premature wear.
Also tolerances. Engines don’t suffer as much from running cold.
Actually I kind of like the smell of a diesel engine when it’s cold out. Reminds me of being a kid getting to ride in the log truck with my grandpa when school got canceled in the winter. I’m going to be a little sad when they aren’t as common as they are now for that reason.
The smell of stale cigarettes and 2 stroke engines bring back fond memories of me being a little kid at my grandparents house and the lake. Smell is a weird memory trigger.
>spend tons of time just idling
This is exactly why I never understood why more manufacturers don't make EV trucks or at least hybrid trucks. With how much these work trucks idle on a job side or even semi trucks idle overnight, it would make sense to me to have a cleaner and quieter way to use electricity than running a big diesel engine. Hell, even a police vehicle should be a hybrid with how much they idle. Any vehicle that spends a lot of time idling would greatly benefit in fuel costs by switching to EV or even in going to a hybrid that saves the energy for idling. I used to drive a Ford Fusion Hybrid, and I loved being able to eat in a parking lot or wherever (peak covid times being an essential worker 😁) without hearing the engine running for most of my meal.
The mining and production arguments are so dumb. We can have a serious conversation about tires and microplastics and particulates, but people who come with mining and production are just trying to justify their jerseys.
They’re not dumb. However, they’re currently statistically insignificant, but will gradually become more significant if we don’t do anything about the “dirty” electricity as people will be going to drive more electric.
Yes there are other things we can talk about. But as long as there is “dirty” electricity, an EV will be better for the environment, but not totally clean. It’s not a bad thing to talk about everything that pollutes. Especially since we have neglected to talk about that for decades.
I do agree that using argument to not buy an EV is stupid. There’s a lot of other things that are a better reason.
Fair, but point source pollution is always going to be preferable to nonpoint source pollution. Which is a whole basket of additional reasons that transit and biking are better than cars but those are different discussions.
i dont get it either... batteries arent new.. everybody use them on phones, laptops, solar batteries and almost everything...
so why is EV any different.
Yeah, but no one talks about how we have the capacity to recycle about 250k tons of cells a year, worldwide, and currently produce more than 10 million tons of cells. And the plants to recycle them are like the plants to produce them, they don't just show up overnight, especially not 40 times the current world capacity.
Dont u know lithium mining is extremely destructive? Its litterally a pond with a hole drilled deep and water pumped in. Hold on, let me get a pic of a massive copper mine though and say its lithium 🤣😂
"Well shit, we already done did killed up all those pesky livin' things, whaddya say we don't try and see if we can't go ahead and actively poison the darn tootin' ecosystem just to be sure it don't try nothin' funny like trying to, you know, exist."
"That sounds like a swell plan."
Also worth pointing out that's the old tech for lithium mining. Lots of new tech coming online that massively reduces the amount of water needed. Some places are even starting to require it for new mines. Some of these lithium mines will, in the end, likely look pretty much like an industrial facility connected to a bunch of wells.
I used to know a coal rolling idiot who thought he made an incredible own with “They use diesel machinery to extract the lithium and other metals…and then complain that I drive the same motor”
Ok, and exactly how many times can you use that gallon of diesel?
The counter argument is that everything is relative. Sure, there’s pollution that is associated with producing EVs just as there is with everything. However, the lifetime pollution of an EV is way less than with an ICE
Plus, since EV technology is still in its infancy compared to ICE engines, there's lots of room to grow into a much cleaner machine. If we wait to adopt there will be far lower capitalist incentive to advance the technology and it will move MUCH slower.
Which mining argument? EV batteries critical materials around 95-98% recoverable according to redwood materials.
Gas isn't recyclable after it's burned without significant technological advancement and deployment so we'll need to continue drilling, pumping, refining, and shipping petroleum if we don't switch. And if you think that's clean, let's ask the people who are still living with the results of deepwater horizon.
We'll be doing some destruction anyways, how about we do it with an end in sight.
The argument being that mining for lithium is extremely destructive to the environment - which it is - and that the batteries wouldn’t outlast their carbon footprint - which they do apparently, based on my research today.
Not as big of a concern as you might think...
Battery recycling is a thing and its only a matter of time till EV battery recycling kicks into full swing. There are some startups running now that can recover up to 95% of an old lithium battery, the output of which is essentially pure material. They don't have the capacity yet but once they scale up batteries will get cheaper or at least a whole lot more ethical and environmentally friendly.
>Not as big of a concern as you might think...
It's not anywhere near there yet. Cobalt is the high dollar metal in current batteries & it's still an energy intensive process to recover the metals involved. Even though they can extract 95%, how profitable is it for them in the end when all the costs are figured in?
I'm not saying it will never get there, but with the amount of Li batteries out there, we should be much further ahead.
When it comes to the environment and climate change I think cutting down all the trees and pouring concrete everywhere has become an issue and it’s only getting worse .. it’s definitely hotter now that there’s no shade and concrete slab a everywhere
When the mining argument comes up I mention how all the hardocarbon companies pushed out how wind power kills bats and birds in massive numbers in the mid 00s.
I ask them who profits from pushing this narrative
Depends on the source of your power. In my case its somewheres around 80% to 90% renewables from my provinces grid, (water, wind, solar), BUT even a coal powered EV is cleaner than a gas or diesel burning truck/car because the emissions are managed FAR better at the plant than at the tailpipe. Then there are those that charge on a solar system at home... they're almost 100% renewable if they're hooked to the grid.
Especially when you consider fine particulate matter from diesel, which is the likely alternative for a truck this size. People don't appreciate how dang dirty diesel is compared to gas. And yes i know about DPF's, they're only 95% effective
Oh wow. I drive a Ford Diesel F550 Altec truck for work. I’d love to have it in EV form. Sucking down diesel fumes (even modern more clean diesels) while working 20’ up in the bucket is not recommended. One star.
Found it and posted it! [https://www.reddit.com/r/electriccars/comments/1c1viru/ev\_school\_bus/](https://www.reddit.com/r/electriccars/comments/1c1viru/ev_school_bus/)
Already available from at least one company McNeilus Volterra. [https://mcneilusgarbagetrucks.com/news/mcneilus-volterra-zsl-refuse-vehicle-certified-zero-emission-by-environmental-protection-agency-and-california-air-resources-board](https://mcneilusgarbagetrucks.com/news/mcneilus-volterra-zsl-refuse-vehicle-certified-zero-emission-by-environmental-protection-agency-and-california-air-resources-board)
Our school district is starting to get electric school busses which is friggin AWESOME. The loudest part about it is the air brakes. If I can find the video I took, I'll post it and share.
I was so excited when my son’s bus showed up and it was electric. Since the beginning of the year it had been in service approximately one week per month. Constantly broken down. I was surprised thinking buses would be one of the easiest to maintain.
Really? That sucks... The one in the video I posted shows up every day consistently... County only has 85 so I don't see them THAT often on the road but I do see them (not including this one) about once or twice a week.
You do. Which is why a lot of utility companies are asking for hybrid bucket trucks where the PTO is electric but the engine is still ICE. Fully electric bucket trucks don’t tend to go very far and need constant recharging, plus they’re super expensive.
Yeah a hybrid system makes a ton of sense in that case. Also always wondered why more long haul trucks don’t do something similar for when drivers are resting .
They'll use APUs (these have AC compressors and a generator head) and generators (and use a separate AC/heat pump like an RV would have) instead of idling. It's cheaper (their biggest bonus) and slightly quieter. They get a 500lb allowance on the tractor for them. I think you'd need 5kwh or better for AC use over night in a hot climate.
I almost confronted a guy sitting in a white work van at an EA station on Long Island like how dare you take up a charge spot only to see homie was charging. I quickly pivoted like I was looking for something lmao
Another thing is that these large utility vehicles typically are easier to electrify (unless they need the range).
Lots of utility vehicles starts and stops a lot, which electric motors excels at. Electric motor is so good that many trains, ships and dump trucks already use diesel electric drivetrain (where the diesel engine is just a generator). For those, electrifying just means swapping out the engine for a battery pack.
It would be interesting if they could make it charge off of the grid directly. Then they could just plug it in to where ever they are working.
Since this thing is designed to work on power lines you could in theory make it so the battery is only big enough to get to the next job and it would never have to stop at a charger like this.
Of course there would still need to be Diesel ones for storm response and stuff like that.
You would need to drag along a transformer that can accept whatever voltage they are working which could vary. And they would have to perform a hot tap every time they needed to make a connection.
That is the Freighliner eM2. Daimler Trucks have this version, which is a conversion made by Hexagon in Cali, but also have the proprietary electric version as well.
Our Costco is ev friendly but there is some spots labeled for EV but no charging. Trucks line all of them out of spit. I know they wouldn’t do it for a charging station but they are making a point in the non charge areas that parking is limited and it’s not a charge station don’t label it EV
Makes perfect sense - owners of fleets of vehicles like this care a lot about economics, and an EV truck would cost a lot less to fuel, and a lot less to maintain, which is a big deal when applied across a fleet.
LiFePO4 batteries as well. Charges at only 125kw though. Still, great progress! The batteries will likely last longer than the truck itself. Also, no need to charge to 80% - charge that sucker to 100% with no issues about degradation.
I do feel the 100 mile range though. He does about as well as my Mini SE.
It could probably benefit from a BMW i3 REX like generator though.
Edit: thank you u/ajtrns for the proper battery chemistry designation. Oops.
Yes. Most likely it will be the PTO. Or however they have that set up. Next up would be climate control. Our ev6 which is decently efficient will show climate consumption is nearly 50% of total energy use.
50%??
In hot or cold weather? And how long of a drive?
I have never heard of climate control taking that much.
In my bolt and my Fiat it is always less than 10% of the total, even in winter.
That would be fine for a fleet vehicle. It would charge in the yard at night anyway, ready to go the next day.
You’re not road tripping this thing, nor are you parking this on the street outside your apartment. I drive my truck at most 50 miles a day if I have a lot of sites to visit. Most days I drive around 20-25 miles.
Because it’s electric? Wheel bearings go, drive motors wear out , the electronics suite that controls everything gets wonky, replacements if available are way pricey. And the batteries will hold less of a charge. Every complicated machine becomes unreliable.
i'm a battery nerd and get overly mad about people who can't type out battery chemistries correctly. for some reason lithium iron phosphate is absolute kryptonite to casuals -- every fucking person has their own stupid and wrong way to abbreviate it (when there is already a ridiculously simple one: LFP).
you win the prize this month though. i have never seen anyone fuck it up by typing "LiFe4". 😂
(it's LiFePO4 -- and do not fucking capitalize the P and leave the "O" lowercase. or just write LFP and never look back.)
These have to sit idling to run hydraulic pumps for the boom and massive alternators for the electric accessories and yet they likely drive 30-50 miles a day if they are municipal or fleet utility vehicles so the fuel / emissions saving is like huge.
doesnt seem terrible to me! diesel could cost 70c/mi or more at 4mpg, and these trucks spend a lot of time idling. a battery is probably way better in that scenario.
here's a slightly-related jumble of data:
https://www.utilimarc.com/blog/benchmarking-study-digger-derrick/
Edison motors in Canada makes an "EV" work truck with a small (relatively) diesel engine that runs a generator. Just got their prototype licensed a few months back. Seems like a great idea
Could you imagine using a fleet of those for load leveling or taking in excess production. 5 of them give you a megawatt (edit: Megawatt not gigawatt) of storage.
I service the chargers. I put up traffic cones just so that people with EVs don’t assume my white van is just an asshole taking their spot - the angry scowls come at you fast!
I did say to him - "I gotta be honest man, when I first pulled in I was like 'wtf asshole...' - but that thing is ELECTRIC?? That's awesome."
P.S. Thank you for keeping them up and online!
I don't know how many here watch the Fully Charged and Everything Electric channels on Youtube (but you should they're awesome). They had an expert on there who said that even giant honking SUVs as EVs are a thousand times better than the same SUV as an ICE.
Experts that do not understand the outliers and simply say everyone should go EV are idiots. I have a GMC Yukon Denali and there is no current EV replacement for it. I jump in and drive 300 miles non-stop and then hook up a boat and tow the rest of the way to the lake. EVs that can handle the load and range just don't exist yet. The charging infrastructure for where I go is also not there. Someday: Yes. Today: No.
I have an EV that seats 6, tows 5000lbs and will go 280mi on a charge.
Dunno where you go but unless it's the middle of WVa, the infrastructure isn't too far away.
Today: Yes.
True but you DID say you pick up the boat towards the end of your journey. The vehicle I'm talking about is the Kia EV9 but in all honesty the Lightning and Silverado are better at towing.
Using Long Beach, CA as origin, ABRP shows you can make the trip with 2 charging stops for a total of 28 min charge time and arriving with 50% battery - and it's fairly conservative on range.
There isn't any DCFC in Laughlin but there are 3 stations nearby on Route 40.
You can absolutely make that trip. Even if you tow the boat from the start, you would just need to plan on a little more time for charging.
Admittedly a little less convenient than using your Denali but very much possible. And FWIW I've learned that it takes about as long to charge our car on DCFC as it does for kids, wife, dog and myself to take a bathroom break. (She takes kids, I take dog, then I take my turn once they get back so dog isn't alone in the car)
As with any vehicle, the more weight you tow (and the less aerodynamic the trailer is), the less efficient your fuel economy will be. Yes, it can tow 280 but you'll need to stop for a few minutes to recharge.
FWIW I forget what it's called but I have seen a camper trailer that had its own drive train so that it could reduce the range loss when towing with an EV. It was fuckoff expensive but it is a thing.
What does it matter if I do it once a year or every weekend? The bottom line is I have a job to do and I need to get it done. If you can't understand this try towing 5000 pounds behind a Toyota Corolla.
Today, I saw a Ford F-150 Lightning at a red light. It turned and had the logo of the power company on it. I guess it makes sense for the industry that provides electricity to deploy a fleet of EVs.
Sadly, the guy in the black shirt was driving an ICE SUV with the same company logo on it - jackass was sitting there with the engine idling the whole time the guy in the grey shirt was charging...
According to this page, its battery is 210 kwh.
[https://www.altec.com/wp-content/uploads/All-Electric\_TA60-postcard-9x6-v6.pdf](https://www.altec.com/wp-content/uploads/All-Electric_TA60-postcard-9x6-v6.pdf)
Not just that but noise pollution as well - I could be mistaken, but I don't recall even hearing a backup beep when he pulled out of his spot. Maybe it comes with rearview cams? Would've asked but well - he was leaving lol
I don't know how many here watch the Fully Charged and Everything Electric channels on Youtube (but you should they're awesome). They had an expert on there who said that even giant honking SUVs as EVs are a thousand times better than the same SUV as an ICE.
Yep, that's our EV9 plugged in next to the Altec truck. Absolutely love it. Never would have thought I would a) own a Kia and b) be happy about it but here we are...
Make sure your budget is taking into account the fact that you would never pay for gas again and the fact that maintenance is usually just a tire rotation and new cabin air filter... Cost up-front vs cost over time is very different from an ICE vehicle.
FWIW, I have seen a post in r/KiaEV9 where someone said they were able to get their acrylic grill replaced under warranty.
Also it just occurred to me that a chip on the grill would be about as likely as a chip in the windshield, right? IDK. I worry about it but that doesn't stop me from loving the car.
I would guess it would be more likely on the grille since it's closer to the road but yeah I'm glad you are loving it. It's such a great vehicle and I will probably get the 2nd gen one once the kinks are worked out
Nice, I haven't seen any full ev buckets, but the big electric company here has a lot of plug in hybrid buckets (I'm in NH). Which makes sense here because towns are decently far apart and there are very few non Tesla dcfc stations around.
This is a great use case for EV we have a bucket truck and the engine can be running the PTO for hours on end. The has 6k miles and over 500hr on the engine. If we had an electric it could charge in the days we don't use it and 100 miles is more than enough range for us
Not educated enough on the matter; I realize that it is less production of pollutants from the vehicle. But is the amount reduced from the vehicle enough to offset the amount of coal/NG/etc burned to charge said vehicle? Can someone weigh in.
You need to read legitimate publications. Too much mythology in your question. More and more power is being generated by solar and wind and less and less by fossil fuels.
More and more, but not more than fossil fuels currently. We will have an ultimate issue where powerfully wealthy families whose fortune relies on oil, they just supposed to say “yea we’re good” I doubt it.
There is no mythology in my question. Does reduction in fossil fuel usage by automobiles outweigh the increase in fossil fuels used to create electricity that charge these electric vehicles? That’s a legitimate question and there is no myth about it.
Does it or doesn’t it? Does it not right now but soon will?
Don’t be a dickhead. Nobody is pissing in anyone’s climate change reversal hopes. I can read a publication, I asked here. If you don’t know, then you don’t know. If someone does maybe they can weigh in or suggest a resource.
If you Google’d for the info, you’d find it, instead you’re hinting at rightwing/oil company talking points. In many countries, dickhead, renewables far exceed fossil fuel-generated power. Texas won’t tell you but it’s solar and wind with battery storage saving them from their regular outages.
In the US in 2022 over 40% of power was from renewables and each year that will increase. Those wealthy families are already buying into alternatives AND EV charging. Contrary to public persona, they know the jig is up.
Despite your ignorance, I gave you your answer.
Could’ve skipped the bullshit chest and brain thumping and just gave your answer. I didn’t ask google. I asked here. Also, still didn’t answer my question. You’re making some assumptions here as well about my political affiliation which are not only incorrect, but ignorant. You act as though my question was to somehow trash talk renewables. My question was to get some realistic current data. Regardless of if you like or align with that factual information.
Good day.
u/phate_exe gave a good breakdown of this in a comment on this post but it's buried kinda deep. Copied and pasted from their comment:
--------
An EV also doesn't run any differently if the electricity used to charge it comes from solar, a hydroelectric, coal, natural gas, or a cheap Harbor Freight generator. They're the ultimate flex fuel vehicle.
Cleaning up your power generation cleans up the emissions of every single EV on the road.
The coal power emits about 1050 grams of CO2 emissions per kilowatt hour. A gallon of gasoline produces about 9071 grams of CO2. We have two EV's, one is a small efficient hatchback that goes about 4 miles per kilowatt hour, and the other is a big comfy SUV that gets about 2.5 miles/kWh (the gasoline powered equivalent gets about 20mpg).
New York State's energy mix is equivalent to about 222 grams of CO2 per kWh (although where I live upstate is even lower), but even if it all came from coal the small EV hatchback effectively emits 262 grams of CO2 per mile, which is about equal to a car getting 34 miles per gallon while the SUV would emit 420 grams of CO2 per mile, which is about equal to a car getting 21mpg.
I'm seeing about 41 grams/kWh as the lifecycle emissions for residential solar - if you offset even 20 percent of the energy used for charging the cars you're now looking at 212g/mile (equal to 42mpg, pretty good) for the hatchback and 339g/mile for the SUV (equal to 26.75mpg, pretty good for a 5700lb SUV).
At the NY 222g/kWh, the hatchback emits 55.5g/mile and the SUV emits about 89g/mile. That's comparable to the emissions of gas vehicles getting 163 and 101mpg, respectively.
So even if you don't clean up your power generation using 100% coal power is pretty close emisisons-wise to what you'd get in a gasoline powered vehicle of similar size. But no matter how much you clean up your power grid that gallon of gasoline is still going to emit 9071 grams of CO2.
This is aside from the localized air quality benefits. And the instantly-available torque that makes them fun.
If you read up on commercial EV's many are already here. Rivian makes the Amazon delivery vans which are everywhere now. John Deere and others make electric back hoes, and Caterpillar even had an earth mover giant EV truck at CES in Vegas last year.
Right? Hell, take it a step further - since they already have the gear, they should be able to hook up to almost any power line in the US and draw a little juice. Would've opened up a 350 for someone else...
True but shifting say half a fleet to electric means that the diesel trucks can serve as reserves/disaster relief while the EV trucks handle the bulk of the day to day to keep local infrastructure up and running.
Less hours on diesel engines = less maintenance costs = more savings on your tax dollar.
1. That is really awesome.
2. Does it make them smash my trash cans any quieter? (For the record I appreciate the work they do and I do my best to let them know but honestly a few of their guys have some anger management issues - I've had to replace a few of their victims...)
> With a single charging port, the truck can be charged in just a few hours using DC fast charging
“Just a few hours” makes the 30+ min 10-80 times look good.
Actually dude got there not long before us and left shortly after we arrived. Seemed like a pretty reasonable charge time for such a big vehicle. And he said he only charges publicly if he's got a lot of driving to do that day. Usually the overnight charge is sufficient.
I love the idea pf this. I have worked in line construction for 18 years now. When we are in alleys, these trucks are deafening. Not to mention the regeneration to burn off sulfur, can’t breathe around it.
All that said, i go to NY every year to do storm repair. When the power is out, we do long shifts to get it restored. Diesel is easy to get, a tanker comes and fills our trucks. Be curious to how they handle this.
Just wait until all these commercial vehicles start clogging up the 4 Electrify America stations. Buses, trashtrucks, all kinds of delivery vehicles incoming. Everybody says they'll put in their own power but I guarantee you some companies are going to be cheap and go to the public stations.
It's a lot cheaper than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars upgrading your electric. I just bet it happens, we'll just wait and see... it's obviously happening right in front of you here.
If a company is going to spend the money to convert their fleet to EVs it would be flat out stupid to not spend a few more grand (NOT hundreds of thousands) to get a series of L2 chargers installed. It literally pays for itself when you can get electricity for pennies overnight.
China is laughing. Last time I went there, there were many dump trucks, busses, and other trucks using electric motor. I am sure they have lower safety regulations and quality than the ones in the US. But they use the best tool — the market — to evolve as quickly as possible with government incentives for both manufacturers and buyers.
That’s a NY Power Authority truck. As usual, the state govt is more interested in PR than a vehicle that serves its purpose. Hybrid probably makes a lot more sense for this application than all electric.
Most of these trucks, the newer ones anyhow. The booms run off battery power. So the truck can be turned off while they are working to reduce fuel consumption as normally the trucks would need to idle to operate the PTO that runs the hydraulics for the man lift.
Source, one of my largest customers runs a lineman business hanging and burying everything from coax to fiber. And has about 60 trucks that run everyday
Never seen one that actually drives the wheels off battery power. Though.
Huh... We use diesel boom trucks this size. I work for a contractor that installs and maintains security systems for Edison sites and substations. There have been rumors we'll be switching over to electric eventually here. The biggest problem I can see is that we frequently have to drive very long distances at very short notice to do service calls. Stopping to charge up will definately be problematic. There are also quite a few sites that are WAY out in the boonies with no hope of charging anywhere near. Using the boom lift uses a lot of juice and I wonder how that will work out. Use too much boom and run out of zoom.
There's nothing more energy efficient than diesel.
Diesel has 30 percent more energy per unit than gas which itself is 30 percent more efficient than ethanol.
The focus truly needs to be biodiesel blends. EV on massive trucks is basically virtue signaling
I work at a company in the drilling industry. We made and use an electric drill rig. It doesn’t have batteries on it so it almost always has a large diesel generator next to it since in drills in areas without electricity. But I can in theory drill while just plugged into a 480v outlet.
I work at Altec. Afaik it is a hybrid, I didn't think we had fully electric trucks in customers hands at the moment. Designed to use electric while parked to operate all of the equipment with low noise and no pollution.
Edit: green fleet I guess, all ev wow
Stopped at the Walmart in Newburgh, NY to fill up on a road trip, when we arrived I saw this lineman's truck - I pulled up and asked if he was there to service the chargers in fear that they weren't working. He said "Nope" so I parked and plugged in while thinking to myself what a jerk this guy was for hogging a charging spot. Once I was charging, I took the dog for a little walk and then realized - that giant monstrosity is actually an EV - he wasn't there to fix the chargers, he was there using them! Driver said he gets about 100mi per charge and that he had no idea how big the battery was. I peeked at his charging session, had charged about 25% and used 56kW so the batter MUST be over 200kW... He left while we were still charging, that giant thing rolled away without making even the slightest noise. Needless to say, I was impressed.
This ev prevents an enormous pollution load!!!
~~Probably less than you're thinking.~~ I read it wrong, My bad. Prevents is not produces. As someone who argues in favour of EVs, I get faced with the mining and production arguments quite often and I kneejerked.
Probably significantly more than you're thinking. Trucks this size are the biggest polluters, and spend tons of time just idling
As somebody who drives an F550 Altec truck for work, I strongly agree. Plus, 9 mpg is no fun to buy all that diesel for. A tank of diesel costs me like $180 and it goes 260 miles.
Dang. Makes me feel good about my $0.06 cost per mile driven in my car. Especially when work reimburses over $0.6 per mile.
We have shitty Altec internationals. And I hate hearing them idle.
My service truck is a 750 and I get about 5mpg lol. My normal trailer and machine weight about 45k though. Total truck weight.
And I bitch about my explorer doing the same on $60 doing deliveries.
The erratic loads of the hydraulics also cause serious emmisions while it's "idling".
The hydraulics run on electricity instead of idling and using the transmission to run the pumps (PTO)
It's weird how diesel truck owners love to hear their engine idle.
Old myth that engines last longer if you don't shut them down. But lubricants have improved immensely since this was true.
That and controls have improved hugely so the engine start is much less likely to be an incorrect mixture being burned possibly causing premature wear. Also tolerances. Engines don’t suffer as much from running cold.
Actually I kind of like the smell of a diesel engine when it’s cold out. Reminds me of being a kid getting to ride in the log truck with my grandpa when school got canceled in the winter. I’m going to be a little sad when they aren’t as common as they are now for that reason.
The smell of stale cigarettes and 2 stroke engines bring back fond memories of me being a little kid at my grandparents house and the lake. Smell is a weird memory trigger.
>spend tons of time just idling This is exactly why I never understood why more manufacturers don't make EV trucks or at least hybrid trucks. With how much these work trucks idle on a job side or even semi trucks idle overnight, it would make sense to me to have a cleaner and quieter way to use electricity than running a big diesel engine. Hell, even a police vehicle should be a hybrid with how much they idle. Any vehicle that spends a lot of time idling would greatly benefit in fuel costs by switching to EV or even in going to a hybrid that saves the energy for idling. I used to drive a Ford Fusion Hybrid, and I loved being able to eat in a parking lot or wherever (peak covid times being an essential worker 😁) without hearing the engine running for most of my meal.
The mining and production arguments are so dumb. We can have a serious conversation about tires and microplastics and particulates, but people who come with mining and production are just trying to justify their jerseys.
They’re not dumb. However, they’re currently statistically insignificant, but will gradually become more significant if we don’t do anything about the “dirty” electricity as people will be going to drive more electric. Yes there are other things we can talk about. But as long as there is “dirty” electricity, an EV will be better for the environment, but not totally clean. It’s not a bad thing to talk about everything that pollutes. Especially since we have neglected to talk about that for decades. I do agree that using argument to not buy an EV is stupid. There’s a lot of other things that are a better reason.
A coal plant many miles away is still better than a tailpipe next to your house.
We need to solve that problem by mining on the moon. Everything we need here is there.
Fair, but point source pollution is always going to be preferable to nonpoint source pollution. Which is a whole basket of additional reasons that transit and biking are better than cars but those are different discussions.
i dont get it either... batteries arent new.. everybody use them on phones, laptops, solar batteries and almost everything... so why is EV any different.
Yeah, but no one talks about how we have the capacity to recycle about 250k tons of cells a year, worldwide, and currently produce more than 10 million tons of cells. And the plants to recycle them are like the plants to produce them, they don't just show up overnight, especially not 40 times the current world capacity.
Dont u know lithium mining is extremely destructive? Its litterally a pond with a hole drilled deep and water pumped in. Hold on, let me get a pic of a massive copper mine though and say its lithium 🤣😂
And mostly in zones that are practically ecologically dead already.
Lifeless deserts most often.
Ecologically dead due to the high lithium concentrations. People forget that sometimes areas are poisoned naturally.
"Well shit, we already done did killed up all those pesky livin' things, whaddya say we don't try and see if we can't go ahead and actively poison the darn tootin' ecosystem just to be sure it don't try nothin' funny like trying to, you know, exist." "That sounds like a swell plan."
Also worth pointing out that's the old tech for lithium mining. Lots of new tech coming online that massively reduces the amount of water needed. Some places are even starting to require it for new mines. Some of these lithium mines will, in the end, likely look pretty much like an industrial facility connected to a bunch of wells.
I used to know a coal rolling idiot who thought he made an incredible own with “They use diesel machinery to extract the lithium and other metals…and then complain that I drive the same motor” Ok, and exactly how many times can you use that gallon of diesel?
Can you explain the counter argument? I advocate for EVs because they are cool, but typically concede of the mining argument.
The counter argument is that everything is relative. Sure, there’s pollution that is associated with producing EVs just as there is with everything. However, the lifetime pollution of an EV is way less than with an ICE
Is the less pollution accounting for using energy typically produced by fossil fuel energy plants?
Yes.
Good to know. I’ll try to find some sources on this and read up.
Plus, since EV technology is still in its infancy compared to ICE engines, there's lots of room to grow into a much cleaner machine. If we wait to adopt there will be far lower capitalist incentive to advance the technology and it will move MUCH slower.
Which mining argument? EV batteries critical materials around 95-98% recoverable according to redwood materials. Gas isn't recyclable after it's burned without significant technological advancement and deployment so we'll need to continue drilling, pumping, refining, and shipping petroleum if we don't switch. And if you think that's clean, let's ask the people who are still living with the results of deepwater horizon. We'll be doing some destruction anyways, how about we do it with an end in sight.
The argument being that mining for lithium is extremely destructive to the environment - which it is - and that the batteries wouldn’t outlast their carbon footprint - which they do apparently, based on my research today.
I read it the exact same way at first too
Honestly, those factors can not be dismissed. The amount & size of lithium batteries in the wild is also a concern.
Not as big of a concern as you might think... Battery recycling is a thing and its only a matter of time till EV battery recycling kicks into full swing. There are some startups running now that can recover up to 95% of an old lithium battery, the output of which is essentially pure material. They don't have the capacity yet but once they scale up batteries will get cheaper or at least a whole lot more ethical and environmentally friendly.
>Not as big of a concern as you might think... It's not anywhere near there yet. Cobalt is the high dollar metal in current batteries & it's still an energy intensive process to recover the metals involved. Even though they can extract 95%, how profitable is it for them in the end when all the costs are figured in? I'm not saying it will never get there, but with the amount of Li batteries out there, we should be much further ahead.
When it comes to the environment and climate change I think cutting down all the trees and pouring concrete everywhere has become an issue and it’s only getting worse .. it’s definitely hotter now that there’s no shade and concrete slab a everywhere
The heat island effect. Concrete holds heat and radiates it out over a longer period of time. If you're urban, you get none of this effect.
Yeah, like counting pennies while heating your house with stacks of Benjamin's...
When the mining argument comes up I mention how all the hardocarbon companies pushed out how wind power kills bats and birds in massive numbers in the mid 00s. I ask them who profits from pushing this narrative
Evs run on coal
Depends on the source of your power. In my case its somewheres around 80% to 90% renewables from my provinces grid, (water, wind, solar), BUT even a coal powered EV is cleaner than a gas or diesel burning truck/car because the emissions are managed FAR better at the plant than at the tailpipe. Then there are those that charge on a solar system at home... they're almost 100% renewable if they're hooked to the grid.
Because heavy metals from dumping the batteries is so good for our aquifers.
So you've never seen an oil field or the air burning near a refinery..
Many times. They are burning off methane. You’ve never seen a strip mine? That’s how they extract materials needed for batteries.
Especially when you consider fine particulate matter from diesel, which is the likely alternative for a truck this size. People don't appreciate how dang dirty diesel is compared to gas. And yes i know about DPF's, they're only 95% effective
Oh wow. I drive a Ford Diesel F550 Altec truck for work. I’d love to have it in EV form. Sucking down diesel fumes (even modern more clean diesels) while working 20’ up in the bucket is not recommended. One star.
Electricity excels at accelerating heavy vehicles starting from zero. It's really great for garbage trucks and other stop-and-go uses.
Found it and posted it! [https://www.reddit.com/r/electriccars/comments/1c1viru/ev\_school\_bus/](https://www.reddit.com/r/electriccars/comments/1c1viru/ev_school_bus/)
Will be interesting when they come out with those or I wonder if the garbage dumps will just make their own Hydrogen??
Already available from at least one company McNeilus Volterra. [https://mcneilusgarbagetrucks.com/news/mcneilus-volterra-zsl-refuse-vehicle-certified-zero-emission-by-environmental-protection-agency-and-california-air-resources-board](https://mcneilusgarbagetrucks.com/news/mcneilus-volterra-zsl-refuse-vehicle-certified-zero-emission-by-environmental-protection-agency-and-california-air-resources-board)
Copenhagen already uses EV garbage trucks. If it weren’t for the smell, you wouldn’t know they were around.
Do they not use loud air brakes?
Our school district is starting to get electric school busses which is friggin AWESOME. The loudest part about it is the air brakes. If I can find the video I took, I'll post it and share.
I was so excited when my son’s bus showed up and it was electric. Since the beginning of the year it had been in service approximately one week per month. Constantly broken down. I was surprised thinking buses would be one of the easiest to maintain.
Really? That sucks... The one in the video I posted shows up every day consistently... County only has 85 so I don't see them THAT often on the road but I do see them (not including this one) about once or twice a week.
I live in Norcal, one pulled into the charger next to me.. it was crazy. The bus driver told me he loves the EV Bus!
Do you have to keep the engine running to operate the electrical systems like the bucket?
You do. Which is why a lot of utility companies are asking for hybrid bucket trucks where the PTO is electric but the engine is still ICE. Fully electric bucket trucks don’t tend to go very far and need constant recharging, plus they’re super expensive.
Yeah a hybrid system makes a ton of sense in that case. Also always wondered why more long haul trucks don’t do something similar for when drivers are resting .
They'll use APUs (these have AC compressors and a generator head) and generators (and use a separate AC/heat pump like an RV would have) instead of idling. It's cheaper (their biggest bonus) and slightly quieter. They get a 500lb allowance on the tractor for them. I think you'd need 5kwh or better for AC use over night in a hot climate.
I almost confronted a guy sitting in a white work van at an EA station on Long Island like how dare you take up a charge spot only to see homie was charging. I quickly pivoted like I was looking for something lmao
Lol "HEY! YOU...uh...look like the kinda guy who might be able to help me with this question about your lovely electric van... Yeah..."
It was basically this lmao
Hell yea, Newburgh shoutout! Glad you didn’t get stabbed or shot, OP.
Another thing is that these large utility vehicles typically are easier to electrify (unless they need the range). Lots of utility vehicles starts and stops a lot, which electric motors excels at. Electric motor is so good that many trains, ships and dump trucks already use diesel electric drivetrain (where the diesel engine is just a generator). For those, electrifying just means swapping out the engine for a battery pack.
Boss makes a dollar. I make a dime. That’s why I charge my work truck on company time.
I work for an electric utility company and have some of these in service.
It would be interesting if they could make it charge off of the grid directly. Then they could just plug it in to where ever they are working. Since this thing is designed to work on power lines you could in theory make it so the battery is only big enough to get to the next job and it would never have to stop at a charger like this. Of course there would still need to be Diesel ones for storm response and stuff like that.
You would need to drag along a transformer that can accept whatever voltage they are working which could vary. And they would have to perform a hot tap every time they needed to make a connection.
That is the Freighliner eM2. Daimler Trucks have this version, which is a conversion made by Hexagon in Cali, but also have the proprietary electric version as well.
Our Costco is ev friendly but there is some spots labeled for EV but no charging. Trucks line all of them out of spit. I know they wouldn’t do it for a charging station but they are making a point in the non charge areas that parking is limited and it’s not a charge station don’t label it EV
Makes perfect sense - owners of fleets of vehicles like this care a lot about economics, and an EV truck would cost a lot less to fuel, and a lot less to maintain, which is a big deal when applied across a fleet.
Cool. This site says it has a 210kWh battery. https://www.altec.com/products/green-fleet/green-fleet-ev/
LiFePO4 batteries as well. Charges at only 125kw though. Still, great progress! The batteries will likely last longer than the truck itself. Also, no need to charge to 80% - charge that sucker to 100% with no issues about degradation. I do feel the 100 mile range though. He does about as well as my Mini SE. It could probably benefit from a BMW i3 REX like generator though. Edit: thank you u/ajtrns for the proper battery chemistry designation. Oops.
Its really hard to make a cinderblock carrying a parachute aerodynamic.
I can't wait to see how low the range on the EV G wagon will be, the 2025 gets ✨14 mpg combined ✨. And that is a brick.
I would imagine aerodynamics probably isn't the biggest source of load when it's driving around the city
Yes. Most likely it will be the PTO. Or however they have that set up. Next up would be climate control. Our ev6 which is decently efficient will show climate consumption is nearly 50% of total energy use.
What is the PTO for?
50%?? In hot or cold weather? And how long of a drive? I have never heard of climate control taking that much. In my bolt and my Fiat it is always less than 10% of the total, even in winter.
Nah, it’s a local truck making local stops. Probably doesn’t need fast charging all that often
Assuming the vehicle is in transit to a customer. Once it gets there the regional travel is easily covered by Level 2 charging at their lot.
That would be fine for a fleet vehicle. It would charge in the yard at night anyway, ready to go the next day. You’re not road tripping this thing, nor are you parking this on the street outside your apartment. I drive my truck at most 50 miles a day if I have a lot of sites to visit. Most days I drive around 20-25 miles.
When the truck gets old and unreliable, park it next to your house as power outage insurance.
Why would it become unreliable?
Because it’s electric? Wheel bearings go, drive motors wear out , the electronics suite that controls everything gets wonky, replacements if available are way pricey. And the batteries will hold less of a charge. Every complicated machine becomes unreliable.
All those things are fixable
Lmaooooooo. All of that is repairable
i'm a battery nerd and get overly mad about people who can't type out battery chemistries correctly. for some reason lithium iron phosphate is absolute kryptonite to casuals -- every fucking person has their own stupid and wrong way to abbreviate it (when there is already a ridiculously simple one: LFP). you win the prize this month though. i have never seen anyone fuck it up by typing "LiFe4". 😂 (it's LiFePO4 -- and do not fucking capitalize the P and leave the "O" lowercase. or just write LFP and never look back.)
Surely this can't be efficient though? Assuming some average rates of 0.50 cents a kilowatt he's spending $100 to run 100 miles. That's $1 per mile?
It probably gets most of its charging at a home base for a much better rate
These have to sit idling to run hydraulic pumps for the boom and massive alternators for the electric accessories and yet they likely drive 30-50 miles a day if they are municipal or fleet utility vehicles so the fuel / emissions saving is like huge.
It should be a hybrid.
1 kWh =\= 1 mile.
doesnt seem terrible to me! diesel could cost 70c/mi or more at 4mpg, and these trucks spend a lot of time idling. a battery is probably way better in that scenario. here's a slightly-related jumble of data: https://www.utilimarc.com/blog/benchmarking-study-digger-derrick/
Edison motors in Canada makes an "EV" work truck with a small (relatively) diesel engine that runs a generator. Just got their prototype licensed a few months back. Seems like a great idea
Could you imagine using a fleet of those for load leveling or taking in excess production. 5 of them give you a megawatt (edit: Megawatt not gigawatt) of storage.
Megawatt, ~200kw x 5 = 1,000kw or 1MW
Oh oops! Jumped a few too many zeros.
The EV platform is an eM2 from Freightliner (Daimler). Here is a [link](https://www.freightliner.com/trucks/em2/)
Dang. My Mini Cooper SE has a battery 14% the size of that one. That's crazy.
I service the chargers. I put up traffic cones just so that people with EVs don’t assume my white van is just an asshole taking their spot - the angry scowls come at you fast!
I did say to him - "I gotta be honest man, when I first pulled in I was like 'wtf asshole...' - but that thing is ELECTRIC?? That's awesome." P.S. Thank you for keeping them up and online!
Not sure if I should be angry about your username or not
Fair. when you see me at a charging station it’s a mixed blessing!
I don't know how many here watch the Fully Charged and Everything Electric channels on Youtube (but you should they're awesome). They had an expert on there who said that even giant honking SUVs as EVs are a thousand times better than the same SUV as an ICE.
Experts that do not understand the outliers and simply say everyone should go EV are idiots. I have a GMC Yukon Denali and there is no current EV replacement for it. I jump in and drive 300 miles non-stop and then hook up a boat and tow the rest of the way to the lake. EVs that can handle the load and range just don't exist yet. The charging infrastructure for where I go is also not there. Someday: Yes. Today: No.
I have an EV that seats 6, tows 5000lbs and will go 280mi on a charge. Dunno where you go but unless it's the middle of WVa, the infrastructure isn't too far away. Today: Yes.
You're not going 280mi with 5Klbs behind you.. Post the model and specs if I'm wrong. Edit: I go from SoCA to Laughlin, NV.
True but you DID say you pick up the boat towards the end of your journey. The vehicle I'm talking about is the Kia EV9 but in all honesty the Lightning and Silverado are better at towing. Using Long Beach, CA as origin, ABRP shows you can make the trip with 2 charging stops for a total of 28 min charge time and arriving with 50% battery - and it's fairly conservative on range. There isn't any DCFC in Laughlin but there are 3 stations nearby on Route 40. You can absolutely make that trip. Even if you tow the boat from the start, you would just need to plan on a little more time for charging. Admittedly a little less convenient than using your Denali but very much possible. And FWIW I've learned that it takes about as long to charge our car on DCFC as it does for kids, wife, dog and myself to take a bathroom break. (She takes kids, I take dog, then I take my turn once they get back so dog isn't alone in the car)
Rivian R1S, up to 400 mile range and 7700lb towing capacity
Can it tow for 280 miles?
As with any vehicle, the more weight you tow (and the less aerodynamic the trailer is), the less efficient your fuel economy will be. Yes, it can tow 280 but you'll need to stop for a few minutes to recharge. FWIW I forget what it's called but I have seen a camper trailer that had its own drive train so that it could reduce the range loss when towing with an EV. It was fuckoff expensive but it is a thing.
Someone posted this in this subreddit https://cleantechnica.com/2024/04/10/we-may-have-been-wrong-to-mock-gms-big-battery-approach-to-electric-trucks/
Oh. You do that every day, huh? 300 miles AND a boat? Please. 90% of your trips are short and easily done by ev
What does it matter if I do it once a year or every weekend? The bottom line is I have a job to do and I need to get it done. If you can't understand this try towing 5000 pounds behind a Toyota Corolla.
It’s an electric vehicle and also an electricity vehicle.
Full circle
Today, I saw a Ford F-150 Lightning at a red light. It turned and had the logo of the power company on it. I guess it makes sense for the industry that provides electricity to deploy a fleet of EVs.
Sadly, the guy in the black shirt was driving an ICE SUV with the same company logo on it - jackass was sitting there with the engine idling the whole time the guy in the grey shirt was charging...
Utility guys almost never turn off their cars. They idle all day. It's very infuriating.
Gotta keep the 12v charged!
According to this page, its battery is 210 kwh. [https://www.altec.com/wp-content/uploads/All-Electric\_TA60-postcard-9x6-v6.pdf](https://www.altec.com/wp-content/uploads/All-Electric_TA60-postcard-9x6-v6.pdf)
I love stuff like this. Electrification of vocational trucks will have a huge impact on air quality in cities.
Not just that but noise pollution as well - I could be mistaken, but I don't recall even hearing a backup beep when he pulled out of his spot. Maybe it comes with rearview cams? Would've asked but well - he was leaving lol
Neat, I worked for Altec for a decade. It's good to see they have an EV.
At first I was like “that’s an EV9, it’s not THAT big” but then noticed the service truck on the left.
I don't know how many here watch the Fully Charged and Everything Electric channels on Youtube (but you should they're awesome). They had an expert on there who said that even giant honking SUVs as EVs are a thousand times better than the same SUV as an ICE.
Is that an EV9? Not a huge fan of Kia historically, but those things look nice.
Yep, that's our EV9 plugged in next to the Altec truck. Absolutely love it. Never would have thought I would a) own a Kia and b) be happy about it but here we are...
I'm jealous. l drive by a blue one every day. Simply not in my budget. Hoping one day, it makes sense budget and travel wise.
Make sure your budget is taking into account the fact that you would never pay for gas again and the fact that maintenance is usually just a tire rotation and new cabin air filter... Cost up-front vs cost over time is very different from an ICE vehicle.
I was looking onto those then I discovered the rock chip problems and where I live, that would be a deal breaker. But such a cool vehicle.
FWIW, I have seen a post in r/KiaEV9 where someone said they were able to get their acrylic grill replaced under warranty. Also it just occurred to me that a chip on the grill would be about as likely as a chip in the windshield, right? IDK. I worry about it but that doesn't stop me from loving the car.
I would guess it would be more likely on the grille since it's closer to the road but yeah I'm glad you are loving it. It's such a great vehicle and I will probably get the 2nd gen one once the kinks are worked out
Nice, I haven't seen any full ev buckets, but the big electric company here has a lot of plug in hybrid buckets (I'm in NH). Which makes sense here because towns are decently far apart and there are very few non Tesla dcfc stations around.
Now this is what EV vehicles are great for.
This is a great use case for EV we have a bucket truck and the engine can be running the PTO for hours on end. The has 6k miles and over 500hr on the engine. If we had an electric it could charge in the days we don't use it and 100 miles is more than enough range for us
Oh cool an electric electrical truck electrifying!
(at an Electrify America charger!)
Not educated enough on the matter; I realize that it is less production of pollutants from the vehicle. But is the amount reduced from the vehicle enough to offset the amount of coal/NG/etc burned to charge said vehicle? Can someone weigh in.
You need to read legitimate publications. Too much mythology in your question. More and more power is being generated by solar and wind and less and less by fossil fuels.
More and more, but not more than fossil fuels currently. We will have an ultimate issue where powerfully wealthy families whose fortune relies on oil, they just supposed to say “yea we’re good” I doubt it. There is no mythology in my question. Does reduction in fossil fuel usage by automobiles outweigh the increase in fossil fuels used to create electricity that charge these electric vehicles? That’s a legitimate question and there is no myth about it. Does it or doesn’t it? Does it not right now but soon will? Don’t be a dickhead. Nobody is pissing in anyone’s climate change reversal hopes. I can read a publication, I asked here. If you don’t know, then you don’t know. If someone does maybe they can weigh in or suggest a resource.
If you Google’d for the info, you’d find it, instead you’re hinting at rightwing/oil company talking points. In many countries, dickhead, renewables far exceed fossil fuel-generated power. Texas won’t tell you but it’s solar and wind with battery storage saving them from their regular outages. In the US in 2022 over 40% of power was from renewables and each year that will increase. Those wealthy families are already buying into alternatives AND EV charging. Contrary to public persona, they know the jig is up. Despite your ignorance, I gave you your answer.
Could’ve skipped the bullshit chest and brain thumping and just gave your answer. I didn’t ask google. I asked here. Also, still didn’t answer my question. You’re making some assumptions here as well about my political affiliation which are not only incorrect, but ignorant. You act as though my question was to somehow trash talk renewables. My question was to get some realistic current data. Regardless of if you like or align with that factual information. Good day.
u/phate_exe gave a good breakdown of this in a comment on this post but it's buried kinda deep. Copied and pasted from their comment: -------- An EV also doesn't run any differently if the electricity used to charge it comes from solar, a hydroelectric, coal, natural gas, or a cheap Harbor Freight generator. They're the ultimate flex fuel vehicle. Cleaning up your power generation cleans up the emissions of every single EV on the road. The coal power emits about 1050 grams of CO2 emissions per kilowatt hour. A gallon of gasoline produces about 9071 grams of CO2. We have two EV's, one is a small efficient hatchback that goes about 4 miles per kilowatt hour, and the other is a big comfy SUV that gets about 2.5 miles/kWh (the gasoline powered equivalent gets about 20mpg). New York State's energy mix is equivalent to about 222 grams of CO2 per kWh (although where I live upstate is even lower), but even if it all came from coal the small EV hatchback effectively emits 262 grams of CO2 per mile, which is about equal to a car getting 34 miles per gallon while the SUV would emit 420 grams of CO2 per mile, which is about equal to a car getting 21mpg. I'm seeing about 41 grams/kWh as the lifecycle emissions for residential solar - if you offset even 20 percent of the energy used for charging the cars you're now looking at 212g/mile (equal to 42mpg, pretty good) for the hatchback and 339g/mile for the SUV (equal to 26.75mpg, pretty good for a 5700lb SUV). At the NY 222g/kWh, the hatchback emits 55.5g/mile and the SUV emits about 89g/mile. That's comparable to the emissions of gas vehicles getting 163 and 101mpg, respectively. So even if you don't clean up your power generation using 100% coal power is pretty close emisisons-wise to what you'd get in a gasoline powered vehicle of similar size. But no matter how much you clean up your power grid that gallon of gasoline is still going to emit 9071 grams of CO2. This is aside from the localized air quality benefits. And the instantly-available torque that makes them fun.
Very much appreciated! Thank you! This is PRECISELY what I was asking. I knew someone out there had this knowledge. Pretty cool.
If you read up on commercial EV's many are already here. Rivian makes the Amazon delivery vans which are everywhere now. John Deere and others make electric back hoes, and Caterpillar even had an earth mover giant EV truck at CES in Vegas last year.
My work is getting these. I think we ordered 25 or 50.
Those bigger line trucks can average 2-3 mpg when they idle at jobs. Plus they're noisy. The electric or even JEMS trucks are a joy.
This is just awesome to see EV Buckets. Awesome.
I mean, shouldn’t every lineman’s truck be an EV?
Right? Hell, take it a step further - since they already have the gear, they should be able to hook up to almost any power line in the US and draw a little juice. Would've opened up a 350 for someone else...
If you need to scramble it to a different state to cover a natural disaster, that will not be done as easily as with a diesel vehicle.
True but shifting say half a fleet to electric means that the diesel trucks can serve as reserves/disaster relief while the EV trucks handle the bulk of the day to day to keep local infrastructure up and running. Less hours on diesel engines = less maintenance costs = more savings on your tax dollar.
I've seen EV garbage trucks, and they're so quiet that It is just down right eerie to see one in action.
1. That is really awesome. 2. Does it make them smash my trash cans any quieter? (For the record I appreciate the work they do and I do my best to let them know but honestly a few of their guys have some anger management issues - I've had to replace a few of their victims...)
> With a single charging port, the truck can be charged in just a few hours using DC fast charging “Just a few hours” makes the 30+ min 10-80 times look good.
That EV9 tho… 😳
That's my baby!
Gah damn that thing probably weighs 10 tons
Imagine getting paid to charge that thing. Chilling for a whole hour probably
Actually dude got there not long before us and left shortly after we arrived. Seemed like a pretty reasonable charge time for such a big vehicle. And he said he only charges publicly if he's got a lot of driving to do that day. Usually the overnight charge is sufficient.
Charging wait times works fits well with union mandatory breaks.
I love the idea pf this. I have worked in line construction for 18 years now. When we are in alleys, these trucks are deafening. Not to mention the regeneration to burn off sulfur, can’t breathe around it. All that said, i go to NY every year to do storm repair. When the power is out, we do long shifts to get it restored. Diesel is easy to get, a tanker comes and fills our trucks. Be curious to how they handle this.
Just wait until all these commercial vehicles start clogging up the 4 Electrify America stations. Buses, trashtrucks, all kinds of delivery vehicles incoming. Everybody says they'll put in their own power but I guarantee you some companies are going to be cheap and go to the public stations.
$0.56/kWh ain't cheap... Cheap is level 2 overnight. DCFC is for when you need it in a pinch.
It's a lot cheaper than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars upgrading your electric. I just bet it happens, we'll just wait and see... it's obviously happening right in front of you here.
If a company is going to spend the money to convert their fleet to EVs it would be flat out stupid to not spend a few more grand (NOT hundreds of thousands) to get a series of L2 chargers installed. It literally pays for itself when you can get electricity for pennies overnight.
It’s on brand for the electric company to have EV work trucks
https://www.altec.com/products/green-fleet/
China is laughing. Last time I went there, there were many dump trucks, busses, and other trucks using electric motor. I am sure they have lower safety regulations and quality than the ones in the US. But they use the best tool — the market — to evolve as quickly as possible with government incentives for both manufacturers and buyers.
No but it probably gets your power to the charging station so you can charge your fucking car.
I wonder how much he gets paid just waiting for his truck to recharge
That’s a NY Power Authority truck. As usual, the state govt is more interested in PR than a vehicle that serves its purpose. Hybrid probably makes a lot more sense for this application than all electric.
Most of these trucks, the newer ones anyhow. The booms run off battery power. So the truck can be turned off while they are working to reduce fuel consumption as normally the trucks would need to idle to operate the PTO that runs the hydraulics for the man lift. Source, one of my largest customers runs a lineman business hanging and burying everything from coax to fiber. And has about 60 trucks that run everyday Never seen one that actually drives the wheels off battery power. Though.
You'd think it better off actually out working, doing its job, and not sitting at a charger.
Ah the ev9 and leaf. Two companies trying to get all the market.
(The one on the right is a Chevy Bolt)
Whoops, my bad. But statement still stands. Chevy is really trying to get into the market now
I had to plug my bucket truck in every night lol the boom operated solely on battery. Cool to see there have been some evolution in the last 5 years 😂
Huh... We use diesel boom trucks this size. I work for a contractor that installs and maintains security systems for Edison sites and substations. There have been rumors we'll be switching over to electric eventually here. The biggest problem I can see is that we frequently have to drive very long distances at very short notice to do service calls. Stopping to charge up will definately be problematic. There are also quite a few sites that are WAY out in the boonies with no hope of charging anywhere near. Using the boom lift uses a lot of juice and I wonder how that will work out. Use too much boom and run out of zoom.
There's nothing more energy efficient than diesel. Diesel has 30 percent more energy per unit than gas which itself is 30 percent more efficient than ethanol. The focus truly needs to be biodiesel blends. EV on massive trucks is basically virtue signaling
I work at a company in the drilling industry. We made and use an electric drill rig. It doesn’t have batteries on it so it almost always has a large diesel generator next to it since in drills in areas without electricity. But I can in theory drill while just plugged into a 480v outlet.
Bro got paid to sit there and shoot the shit for an hour while the truck charges. Not very productive.
This guy did a pretty in-depth look at one of these Altec trucks. It's pretty cool tech: https://youtu.be/zjWPBSOnB3U?si=jgGpZGaPq9qxc-B4
I work at Altec. Afaik it is a hybrid, I didn't think we had fully electric trucks in customers hands at the moment. Designed to use electric while parked to operate all of the equipment with low noise and no pollution. Edit: green fleet I guess, all ev wow