Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

gothamist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 579 posts

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#111

Post by peteradio »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #26
legitster wrote: post #11

> “ With current technology, full electrification isn’t possible now for some parts of our fleet, but we are monitoring closely and really hope it will be,” Gragnani said. We are really letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. At this moment in time, Plug-in hybrids are the superior technology for nearly every application. I don't understand why they get so overlooked by consumers and manufacturers alike.

I've been saying this for years. I just don't understand it. A car that can drive ~40 miles on pure electric that has an ICE for longer trips would satisfy the needs of everyone. For like 90+% of people, it would mean never using gas for their commute while also eliminating range anxiety. I'm especially surprised about the lack of plug-in hybrids for semi trucks. I'd think having a little extra electronic torque woul…

Hows maintenance cost for hybrids compared to pure ice?

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#112

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

burkaman wrote: post #99
chitowneats wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It never ceases to amaze me that the self styled "Greatest City on Earth" can't come up with a reasonable solution for its garbage.

Doesn't basically every city call itself the greatest city on earth?

I've never heard Red Deer, Alberta make that claim.

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#113

Post by jwagenet »

jeffbee wrote: post #75
ecshafer wrote: post #70

Battery operated garbage trucks don't sound like a great idea, at least for all day use. With the push for EV I am not sure why we aren't seeing a push for the installation of streetcar power lines, these already exist and are used for busses. If we have a garbage truck that has the battery capacity for say 30 minutes, then it could be on the power line for the majority of the time. This would limit battery waste as…

NYC garbage trucks spend a very long time parked in front of the same building all night, crushing bags full of plastic coffee cups. Ask anyone who has ever tried to sleep in Manhattan. A completely reasonable solution that doesn't require a wholesale change in the way refuse is collected in that city would be to plug the truck in at the building where it is standing. That said, a wholesale change is what they need.

I’m very much interested in this underground system (I don’t know if it is actually implemented): https://www.core77.com/posts/102208/Amsterdams-Smart-System-...

It seems to me this sort of trash deposit system would greatly simplify trash collection.

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#114

Post by chitowneats »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #112
burkaman wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't basically every city call itself the greatest city on earth?

I've never heard Red Deer, Alberta make that claim.

You don't even hear people from LA or SF boast the way they do in New Yawk.

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#115

Post by hourago »

The "Elektromote", the world's first trolleybus,[6] in Berlin, Germany, 1882. Maybe New York is lacking the infrastructure, but the technology has existed for a long time. A trolleybus may be expensive to implement in rural areas but in the biggest city in the USA it should be quite cost effective.

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromote

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#116

Post by echlebek »

novok wrote: post #105
chitowneats wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It never ceases to amaze me that the self styled "Greatest City on Earth" can't come up with a reasonable solution for its garbage.

They can sacrifice street parking spots systematically throughout the city for garbage dumpsters, as many others have suggested, but it's politically untenable to do so because americans love their cars, even in NYC. Another politically untenable solution is to do what Taiwan does and force people to put out their garbage in very tight time windows and otherwise store it privately in their houses and businesses, but…

The reality is that most other major cities have garbage collection figured out in a better way. For instance in my city, garbage is kept in a dedicated garage area in each apartment building, and on a scheduled day, it's picked up either right in the building or in the alley after the caretaker moves the dumpsters there. The fact that this is considered politically untenable in New York is frankly insane, glad I don't live there.

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#117

Post by brookside »

mabbo wrote: post #104

Why are they using garbage trucks to plow snow? Looks, I get that I'm biased being in Canada, but do they understand that you can buy dedicated vehicles for plowing snow ? They're called... snowplows. They're pretty fantastic. You need garbage trucks every day, all year. Electrify those. You need snowplows on a handful of days per year- and that number is falling thanks to climate change. So buy purpose-built snowplo…

> Why are they using garbage trucks to plow snow?

You are sort of answering your own question here.

> snowplows a few days per year that you need them

NYC has 6,300 miles miles of streets. Maintaining an entirely separate fleet of plow vehicles large enough to clear the streets quickly would have its own additional costs.

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#118

Post by WalterBright »

danans wrote: post #91
legitster wrote: post #11

> “ With current technology, full electrification isn’t possible now for some parts of our fleet, but we are monitoring closely and really hope it will be,” Gragnani said. We are really letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. At this moment in time, Plug-in hybrids are the superior technology for nearly every application. I don't understand why they get so overlooked by consumers and manufacturers alike.

> At this moment in time, Plug-in hybrids are the superior technology for nearly every application. I don't understand why they get so overlooked by consumers and manufacturers alike. Plugin hybrids cars are expensive, not at the least because they require both a traditional ICE drivetrain and a large battery and electric motor, and specialized power split transmissions to make those work together. Therefore, most pl…

> specialized power split transmissions

The thought occurs to me to make the rear wheels powered by the ICE and the front wheels electric.

Then no wacky transmissions.

I don't know anything about a "power split" transmission, but isn't that the sort of thing a differential gear set does very well at?

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#119

Post by MrMan »

chitowneats wrote: post #77
jeffbee wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYC garbage trucks spend a very long time parked in front of the same building all night, crushing bags full of plastic coffee cups. Ask anyone who has ever tried to sleep in Manhattan. A completely reasonable solution that doesn't require a wholesale change in the way refuse is collected in that city would be to plug the truck in at the building where it is standing. That said, a wholesale change is what they need.

It never ceases to amaze me that the self styled "Greatest City on Earth" can't come up with a reasonable solution for its garbage.

What are you talking about

Re: NYC officials say they can't find EV garbage trucks powerful enough to plow snow

#120

Post by KoftaBob »

Wouldn't Tesla's Semi truck fit the bill in terms of power? If so, could the motor and batteries used in the Semi theoretically power an EV garbage truck for long enough to plow snow for more than the 4 hours they state they're currently seeing?
Post reply on HN