• blackn1ght@feddit.uk
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    6 days ago

    I wonder what the future will look like for long-distance haulage. These solutions should be fine for trucks that always return to their depots within 24 hours, but what about those that are away all week? Haulage companies will want confidence that they can have their trucks charged anytime, anywhere.

    • WFH@lemmy.zip
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      6 days ago

      Maybe we need to make freight trains a thing again. Less stress on the roads, less infrastructure changes.

    • Im_old@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      in Europe there are fast charging hubs in all main highways. Maybe not every service station, but every other yes. I drove with my EV from north to south Europe 3 times and had zero problems. And about charging times: a toilet break and a coffee.

    • f314@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      I guess this is mainly a problem for the US or say Australia. I can’t really imagine anywhere in Europe where you could/would drive a truck of that size that isn’t also within the range of this truck’s battery pack away from a charging station.

      • blackn1ght@feddit.uk
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        6 days ago

        Scotland, mid-wales, lot of places in rural England? There’s strict laws around how long drivers are allowed to drive for, so driving a couple of hours out of the way might not be an option.

    • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
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      6 days ago

      They seem to have a capacity per pack of 80 kwh, for a total of 560kwh. Ultrafast chargers could take that from 0 to 100 in less than 30 minutes, theoretically. (1.5 MW flash charger). Or just have them charge overnight slowly when the driver is asleep. A single basic 100 KW DC charger would suffice to do it in 6 hours.

      • blackn1ght@feddit.uk
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        6 days ago

        Or just have them charge overnight slowly when the driver is asleep. A single basic 100 KW DC charger would suffice to do it in 6 hours.

        Assuming they can get to a charger. Lots of trucks pull up in laybys, instrustial estates and other random locations so the driver can sleep, and there’s strict laws around how long a driver can drive for.

        Maybe existing petrol stations would pivot to being more like truck stops, where trucks can stop overnight and charge.

      • CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de
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        6 days ago

        Truck stops with multiple 1MW chargers are pretty rare, but the infrastructure can be built in time. 100kW is a challenge in the numbers that would be used for overnight charging; again, it’s just time and investment.

        These are European long haul vehicles which are different than for example Australian or North American long haul - the trips are much shorter. Expectations would have to change, though that’s probably a good thing for safety.

    • eta@feddit.org
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      6 days ago

      Depending on where you are you you don’t even need trucks with this much range, because the time that drivers are allowed to drive by law is already the limiting factor. Elektrotrucker is a german guy who has been driving long haul with electric trucks for some time now and with a bit of planning and an app that he helped develop he could drive through all of Europe. He’s actually starting a round the world journey with an electric truck right now.