I'm sick and tired of the lack of attention to asthetics. why does it have to be so ugly? same thing is happening with operating system UI design since after Vista and OSX leopard. even new consumer cars and trucks are ugly with NPC gray paint jobs and huge plastic front bumpers.
U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
421–430 of 503 posts
Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
#422> President Joe Biden signed an executive order at the start of his presidency saying all federal vehicles would have to be zero-emission by 2035. Well, that isn't going to work. Batteries don't do well in the cold, like in Alaska.
Alaska has a tiny road network. Regular cars don't work there either.
Mail in most Alaskan towns comes by plane. In Anchorage and Fairbanks, eTransits will be more than enough.
Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
#423The mailman stopping and starting the engine at every mailbox is so ridiculously wasteful, not just of energy but also time. That’s an additional 15-20 seconds between mailboxes fiddling with the ignition and transmission. In various neighborhoods I’ve lived in all the mailmen did this. Looking forward to EV delivery trucks to make life easier for the drivers and not having to hear that screeching of the ignition at…
I guess density of housing is a big factor. Where I live they postlady parks her van centrally ish near the post box, collects that then fans out on foot delivering stuff. But some rural roads you've got a long distance between properties.
In American suburbs where there’s a mailbox in front of every house, the mailmen will roll up to each one. They don’t even need to step off. Go to next, stop their Grumman LLV, sort the mail for that address, reach out and stuff, repeat.
Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
#424Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really love the concept of ebikes, for an urban/suburban area it's a viable alternative to a car. This issue as I see is that the regulations just aren't there and people are ebikes ride like complete idiots. Pre-ebike if you were riding at 25mph chances were you were a pretty good cyclist and had good control over your bike, now anybody that can find an ebike is zipping along at 25mph. This wouldn't be a problem i…
As an avid cyclist it really bothers me when any cyclist, e-bike or not, violates the rules of the road. It's so important we follow them. Much of the hatred received is because of bikers doing things they are not supposed to giving us a bad reputation.
The road system and rules were built with cars in mind. They do not make sense for a cyclist, and following them is not the safest way to ride. I will follow rules that keep me safe, and allow my free movement. I won’t follow rules that make me less safe
Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
#425Earlier quoted context omitted.
Long haul trucking is solved by electrifying US highways. Trains can charge from overhead lines at 200+MPH doing the same for trucks at highway speeds is relatively trivial and allows for on trip charging. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_road An EV semi with a relatively modest 100 mile range battery easily solves the last mile problem off highways while weighing the same as a traditional ICE engine + fuel.
>this is relatively trivial No it is not.
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Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
#426The mailman stopping and starting the engine at every mailbox is so ridiculously wasteful, not just of energy but also time. That’s an additional 15-20 seconds between mailboxes fiddling with the ignition and transmission. In various neighborhoods I’ve lived in all the mailmen did this. Looking forward to EV delivery trucks to make life easier for the drivers and not having to hear that screeching of the ignition at…
And every startup (or minute idling) is pushing particulate pollution out onto residential streets. People don’t appreciate the difference EVs make just by shifting the pollution burden of traffic away from the human environment.
I really noticed how much better the air near me (in the UK) was during the first lockdown, when there really wasn't much vehicle traffic in the suburban area I live in. I go for a walk every morning, and the air was noticeably better then. As the cars started to reappear, I began to notice just how smelly they are.
I now have an EV as my family's main car, and it was driven in part by this (obviously obvious!) realisation.
Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
#427The mailman stopping and starting the engine at every mailbox is so ridiculously wasteful, not just of energy but also time. That’s an additional 15-20 seconds between mailboxes fiddling with the ignition and transmission. In various neighborhoods I’ve lived in all the mailmen did this. Looking forward to EV delivery trucks to make life easier for the drivers and not having to hear that screeching of the ignition at…
And they are loud. I can hear the mail person in my basement when they arrive each day. Their trucks sound like the mufflers fell off years ago.
Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
#428Earlier quoted context omitted.
Long haul trucking is solved by electrifying US highways. Trains can charge from overhead lines at 200+MPH doing the same for trucks at highway speeds is relatively trivial and allows for on trip charging. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_road An EV semi with a relatively modest 100 mile range battery easily solves the last mile problem off highways while weighing the same as a traditional ICE engine + fuel.
C'mon guys. "Relatively trivial" is not the two words I would use to describe electrifying highway grids. And to convert road vehicles to conduct off that highway? The words I would use to describe/implement that is "Absolute Taxpayer Aversion". Billions and billions in R&D with no guarantee of adoption and likely greater operating costs for 10s of reasons.(Maintenance, contract costs, accidents, teething. Many count…
There is zero need to electrify dirt roads, just specific loans on ~1% all us roads due to that 100 mile range battery I just mentioned.
We had electric trollies 140 years ago and modern trains have surfaces in contact at 3x the speeds and much higher power draws. Trucks in comparison don’t need constant power, so you can maintain the line without interfering with traffic.
But you don’t need to trust me it’s a proven technology with the obvious revenue stream of charging for electricity.
PS: America has dirt roads because dirt roads work well when you have low traffic. Their old, cheap, and therefore proven technology just like electrified roads.
Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
#429Re: U.S. Postal Service starts nationwide electric vehicle fleet, buying 9,250 EVs
#430Earlier quoted context omitted.
Long haul trucking is solved by electrifying US highways. Trains can charge from overhead lines at 200+MPH doing the same for trucks at highway speeds is relatively trivial and allows for on trip charging. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_road An EV semi with a relatively modest 100 mile range battery easily solves the last mile problem off highways while weighing the same as a traditional ICE engine + fuel.
>this is relatively trivial No it is not.
Why do you assume that?
We were doing this 100 years ago for inner city trolly’s. Trains travel 3x the speed of highway trucks, vastly higher power draw, and we solved that decades ago. There’s even been successful demos of actual highway trucks and power delivery. With modern battery technology we don’t even need a continuous system just enough to keep trucks topped off on highways so maintenance is easy and existing automated toll lanes even cover billing.
So, yes it really is trivial as shown by how cheap existing demo’s have been.