SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
In a recent article on Jalopnik.com, Shep McAllister talks about the Nikola Motor Company and the Nikola One. The Nikola One will be the first hybrid hydrogen-electric class-8 semi.
Six months ago the Nikola Motor Company came out of nowhere and announced it was going to put the first electric-powered big rig on American roads. We've been skeptical, but Nikola just revealed a full-sized model that apparently works, and more importantly a plan to build and sell it at scale.
[...] The Nikola One is a semi-truck sleeper cab, meaning it's got a little apartment behind the driver's seat. The Nikola Two will be a day cab version that's a little shorter and cheaper, but running the same hyrdogen[sic]-charged electric motor set.
[...] So the Nikola truck is supposed to be able to cover 1,200 miles without refilling its hydrogen supply, but we've been hearing that figure and the 1,000 horsepower, 2,000 lb-ft of torque claims since the first renders of this thing were unveiled back in the summer.
It's an interesting concept and if it works out we might be seeing the end of diesel trucking in the US.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday December 04 2016, @09:57PM
the range on these trucks may allow them to make it from on hydrogen refuelling station to next, but I still don't understand why diesel-electric hybrids aren't a better bet for the short-to-medium term.
Especially for things like garbage trucks, with continuous start-stop, high-torque and plenty of opportunity for regenerative braking.
Retro-fitting existing petrol/gas stations to sell hydrogen won't happen soon.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1) by chucky on Sunday December 04 2016, @10:36PM
The garbage trucks in our area have a hydraulic press inside, so I tend to think the electric part of the diesel-electric would just become extra weight. This town also bought hybrid buses -they start/stop a lot too- and then it turned out you can't really turn off A/C for most of the year. I'm not even sure that the possible advantage of regenerative braking will ever justify the costs of the bus. Hybrids hardly ever fit to anything but a very narrow use case.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday December 04 2016, @10:45PM
You're thinking myopically with your "use case" jargon.
Think of the big picture -- the quicker we as a nation can wean ourselves from the oil, the quicker we can destroy Saudi Arabia. I'm getting a hard-on now just imagining the destruction of Saudi Arabia. By the time those goat-fuckers start fleeing, Europe will have its doors closed to Islamic savages, and Islamic refugees will be shot through the border fences.
O' Jesus Christ, please make it so!
(Score: 1) by chucky on Sunday December 04 2016, @11:02PM
You as a nation - I assume you're American. I happen to live in a state with a border fence. However, my comment was about the diesel-electric option. It's great for trains for sure, but I doubt it would be so good for garbage trucks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 05 2016, @06:34AM
We have the largest already tapped natural gas fields on the planet.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday December 05 2016, @04:47PM
You'd think that, but the reality is sadly lacking. My numbers are doubtless badly misremembered, but the gist is that for natural gas use to reduce the rate of global warming, you have to keep leakage below 5-10%. (methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, and generally ends it's time in the atmosphere by breaking down into... CO2)
Unfortunately, real world estimates put the leakage from current infrastructure at closer to 20%. So sadly, despite lower direct carbon emissions per watt, with current infrastructure natural gas is worse than coal with respect to global warming.
LNG could offer less leakage, but only if you assume that it's "bottled" at the well head, rather than being shipped through existing pipelines and bottled nearer where it's to be used.