Good Sam Club Open Roads Forum: Tow Vehicles: Dino juice v Electrons....


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time2roll

Southern California

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Posted: 06/30/22 01:58pm

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valhalla360 wrote:

We've also been told the flying car and fusion power are just a couple years away for decades.

Building the first working model is the hard part.
Working Semi prototype has been built. Class 2 truck is in production. Flying car and fusion, not so much.

Otherwise it is just an artists dream.

Never see this one either...
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/al-piloted-sky-cruise-plans-195708439.html

* This post was edited 06/30/22 02:22pm by time2roll *

2001 F150 SuperCrew
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valhalla360

No paticular place.

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Posted: 06/30/22 02:42pm

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time2roll wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

We've also been told the flying car and fusion power are just a couple years away for decades.

They have had prototype flying cars going back to the 50's...that actually fly. Yet, no one selling them last time I checked.

Likewise, the Tesla semi and pickup...not hard to put together a prototype. The trick is transitioning to actual viable production.

Tammy & Mike
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fj12ryder

Platte City, MO

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Posted: 06/30/22 04:11pm

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Wow, I had totally forgotten about cold fusion, and resulting "tempest in a teapot".

Howard and Peggy

"Don't Panic"

PA12DRVR

Back in God's Country

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Posted: 06/30/22 05:14pm

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"We've also been told the flying car and fusion power are just a couple years away for decades."

I rode (on the ground, some years ago) in a flying car. Even though my flying machine was built 76 years ago (!!!!...although rebuilt a time or two in-between), I was scared spitless of the build quality of that flying car and refused to proceed with the driver into the air.

Jetpack...that's it, I'm waiting for the jet pack.

CRL
My RV is a 1946 PA-12
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BB_TX

McKinney, Texas

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Posted: 06/30/22 07:18pm

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PA12DRVR wrote:

Regarding the "not in my lifetime"....

...My old man saw the first airplane to fly in Montana as a kid; made everyone within the state (Alaska at the time) have a bit of a family reunion to see footage of the moon landing in '69. Ultimately traveled 'round the world on a variety of jet aircraft before passing.
...Friend of the old man's "Bob", who died in the '50's, had a career as a mariner: started as a kid on sailing ships and retired after several years working on Panamax diesel carriers.
...one 12drvr traveled from Los Anchorage to Seattle as a kid: 4-engine connies and/or DC-somethings, stops in Yakutat, Juneau, Ketchikan, Seattle, about a 8 hour trip if not interrupted by weather. Same 12drvr (YEARS later) routinely traveled non-stop Chicago - London or Ewe-stun - Africa non-stop on dedicated Boeing 747 Charters.

Point is that a lot can happen in a lifetime, although I suspect electric tow vehicles to rival the class 3 trucks won't make it in mine.

Depends on whose lifetime. 10 years old or 90 years old. I am closer to the latter than the former. [emoticon]

free radical

Canada

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Posted: 06/30/22 07:52pm

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Which one of you diesel worshipers does this for fun. Be honest now

https://youtu.be/naMc7cWVk3M

[emoticon]

cummins2014

Utah

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Posted: 06/30/22 09:29pm

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Grit dog wrote:

Lantley wrote:

The so called realist turn to pessimist when they imply EV towing will never happen or claim not in our lifetime..

Idk man, there's alotta old farts on here..."not in my lifetime" seems could be pretty certain for many! LOL

If you’re lucky you’ll get to be one .

Turtle n Peeps

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Posted: 06/30/22 09:41pm

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Lantley wrote:

I think there is a chance that EV Semi's may be on the road and ready for prime time within my lifetime.

The problem is energy density. GM, Ford, Tesla or whoever, they all have the same problem; energy density with LI batteries. They just don't have enough energy to tow very far at all. It only gets worse with the bigger the tow vehicle.

Watches and phones and motorcycles and small cars; LI batteries are pretty good. The bigger and heavier the vehicle the worse it gets.

This Lightning has a 131kwh battery in it. It got to the 86 mile mark towing a small 6K trailer on pretty flat ground.

Lets have fun with a little math. Lets put a 500kwh battery in the lightning truck and see what that gets us.

BTW 500kwh battery is the size of the battery that the CEO of Tesla says they are going to use in the Semi.

500 / 131= 3.8 So we are going to have to put almost 4-131kwh batteries in the Lightning to get 500kwh.

Now the problem is the lightnings battery is rumored to be 1,800 lbs. And that is just the battery weight!

Now, the ER Lightning weighs 6,600 lbs. So, if we take 6,600 lbs and add 3.8- 1,800 lb batteries to it we now have a 13,440 lb 1/2 ton truck.

Cr@p, that's not going to work!! It doubles the weight of our haft ton truck and then some!!! All well, lets plod on.

So lets see how far our new cool electric truck can go shall we! So, if we get to go 86 miles with a 131kwh battery we now get to go? 131 x 3.8= 413 miles!!! Not bad!!! That's better than my diesel truck!!!

Oh cr@p, I forgot about the weight thing. [emoticon]

We are now dragging around another pickup and then some along with our 6K trailer. Shoot, now we are down to like 300 miles. Not too bad still? Right? Oh shoot, here comes a 3,000 foot mountain I have to get over!!! Dang!! Now I'm down to 250. Then the AC or heater is going to gobble up another 10 to 20 miles.

Well that didn't end well. Missed it by .. much. [emoticon]

This is with a 19K little tiny truck and trailer.

Does anybody seriously think that a big ol 80 thousand pound Semi can go 621 miles with a 500kwh battery pack?

Remember a 500kwh battery can hold about 12.2 gallons worth of diesel energy. 2x 12.2 (because motors are twice as efficient as ICE's) gives us about 25 gallons of diesel worth of electrical energy for our Semi. [emoticon]

Sorry LI batteries "as they are today", are not going to be used for long haul trucking......EVER. For towing a tent trailer with your Lightning a few miles to the lake CG? Maybe.

~ Too many freaks & not enough circuses ~

"Life is not tried ~ it is merely survived ~ if you're standing
outside the fire"

"The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly."- Abraham Lincoln