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Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

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Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

#41

Post by jimnotgym »

just_some_user wrote: post #7

Cool, but I don’t see the real benefit. Electronic trucks already work quite well, start at around 150k (vs. 150k for a retrofitted e trailer), and are afaik mostly limited by the charging infrastructure. If you now add a an electronic trailer to your diesel truck, you now also have to care about charging. Yes, in Europe the legally required rest periods can already be used for efficient charging, but this is not an…

I suppose the trailer has a lot of space for solar panels on top, which the tractor does not. But those could be connected to the tractor rather than the trailer. Of course

Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

#42

Post by mothballed »

crote wrote: post #37
Dreami wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least from the truckers I watch on YouTube from Germany, there is already a shortage of rest stops for trucks. Sometimes you can see them even in the entrance of the rest stops, parked in a dangerous spot. If they all have to charge, then that becomes a problem, because they can’t find a space even „creatively“. Not saying that electric trucks are bad, just one more problem to solve

The hard part is getting the NIMBYs to let you build any truck stop. Adding a bunch of chargers afterwards is a piece of cake.

That's interesting. In blue collar parts of USA it is not too bad to get a truck stop in. Truckers are a constant flow of money into town that is welcomed, and more importantly they just stop at the highway exit area and then get the fuck out after shedding their currency without going into actual town where the residents live.

Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

#43

Post by clintonbush »

It'd be nice if researchers compared the impact on environment of disposing of the batteries (toxic metals, chemicals, other components) with the impact on the environment of the truck burning fossil fuels. In the end, what's the net benefit? Maybe it's great, I don't know. I feel we're getting a very one-sided assessment, though.

Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

#44

Post by actionfromafar »

clintonbush wrote: post #43

It'd be nice if researchers compared the impact on environment of disposing of the batteries (toxic metals, chemicals, other components) with the impact on the environment of the truck burning fossil fuels. In the end, what's the net benefit? Maybe it's great, I don't know. I feel we're getting a very one-sided assessment, though.

CO2 increasing is a pretty one-sided and horrible effect, too. It's by far the dominant problem.

Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

#45

Post by ErroneousBosh »

shrubble wrote: post #40

The placement of the Krone pack in the photo at link, makes me laugh: it would never survive in the USA, given the way truck drivers drive and the bumps and curbs etc. that trucks drive over. It would be ripped off or at least heavily damaged within 50K miles.

So, what you're saying is, we should be preventing shitty drivers from operating 40-tonne lorries?

Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

#46

Post by torpfactory »

clintonbush wrote: post #43

It'd be nice if researchers compared the impact on environment of disposing of the batteries (toxic metals, chemicals, other components) with the impact on the environment of the truck burning fossil fuels. In the end, what's the net benefit? Maybe it's great, I don't know. I feel we're getting a very one-sided assessment, though.

These are old talking points from the fossil fuel industry. The batteries themselves will be recycled to recover their valuable minerals. The process will certainly require care to avoid localized pollution. Compare that with burning fossil fuels- baked into their design is emission of heat trapping gasses which systemically affect the entire planet. It’s clear we need to stop burning fossil fuels lest we overheat the earth.

Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

#47

Post by iterateoften »

actionfromafar wrote: post #44
clintonbush wrote: post #43

It'd be nice if researchers compared the impact on environment of disposing of the batteries (toxic metals, chemicals, other components) with the impact on the environment of the truck burning fossil fuels. In the end, what's the net benefit? Maybe it's great, I don't know. I feel we're getting a very one-sided assessment, though.

CO2 increasing is a pretty one-sided and horrible effect, too. It's by far the dominant problem.

OP is asking about the environment impact of manufacturing this.

Like the whole supply chain for these trailers produce CO2 for each trailer it outputs.

I had a similar thought as my city replaced 500,000 curb side recycling bins because of the color. How many years of my personal environmental savings did that operation cost? They had people flown in from the other side of the country for months just to offload the bins from the trailers.

At what point does the second and third order side effects action offset the benefits.

Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

#48

Post by ErroneousBosh »

WindyTree wrote: post #4

In the US, commercial trailers are used like these crappy sheds, you go get one and the ABS unit is gone, the only thing worth stealing. For any company where this doesn’t hold it’s a big deal. The bigger deal is really RV trailers. You power assist, with simple motors controlled by pulling, and you can pull a huge one with ANY car, you don’t need truck, just modified mirrors. Plus the RV trailer benefits from slow s…

> and you can pull a huge one with ANY car, you don’t need truck, just modified mirrors

So pretty much like everywhere outside the US?

Here in the UK it's not uncommon to pull a 1500kg caravan with a bog standard Ford Focus, without any problems at all, and well over two tonnes on a twin-axle one with something like a Volvo V60.

People come from all over Europe to holiday here with their caravans, and are towing them at "realistic Autobahn speeds" behind perfectly ordinary cars.

It just seems to be the US where you need a 7.5 tonner to pull a trailer the size of a suitcase.

Re: Self-Powered Trailers Promise Leaner Freight Runs

#49

Post by black_puppydog »

clintonbush wrote: post #43

It'd be nice if researchers compared the impact on environment of disposing of the batteries (toxic metals, chemicals, other components) with the impact on the environment of the truck burning fossil fuels. In the end, what's the net benefit? Maybe it's great, I don't know. I feel we're getting a very one-sided assessment, though.

That's what's called a life cycle assessment and these are standard in products like this for a long time. If they came out negatively, you can be damn sure that the fossil fuel industry would make us know.
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