It's a Team's Life

Electric Big Trucks

We have been seeing more and more articles about Electric Big Trucks (EBT).  So, are they here to stay?  Will they replace diesel?  How far in the future will we see huge fleets of them on the road?  And many more questions.  We have no answers to all the above questions.  But sure, seeing a lot of talk that is for sure.

If, you watch television most of the car manufactures all they advertise are electric and or hybrid vehicles.  But, most of these manufactures do not build heavy duty trucks.  You do not see many if any of the major heavy duty truck manufacture advertise on television.

Will the EBT be capable of running Over The Road (OTR)?  Will it allow a driver to complete their hours of service before having to “refuel” plug in.  What about team trucks, enough charge to keep them rolling 24/7.  Do not know.  We recently saw and article a company was going to be creating charging system that will charge as the vehicle drives down the road.  They were going to start with only a one-half mile stretch of road in West Lafayette, IN.  This system will be much like the cordless charging currently for cell phones and tablets.  It will be interesting follow this and see how successful it will be. 

Then we have parking.  It is at a premium as we type this.  Every parking spot have a charging station?  This will be interesting who supplies the cord?  Each of the car manufactures pretty much use a different connector.  We figure the truck manufactures will do the same.  Who will pay for installing the station and will the truck driver have to pay to hookup.

If, you have been in the trucking industry for some time you might remember different companies you might remember that companies attempted to create idle free zones.  One for example we remember is IdleAire.  They are still in business but very few of the sites they built are still used or functional.  One of our favorites and you still can find them is when a truck stop will install electric hookups like in a RV park.

Can the electric grid handle all the extra load on it?  We have seen in some states rolling blackouts and problems when storms come through and knock out power.

Here is link to a list of current list of manufactures of Electric trucks.

 

Sandy & Stephen

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