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This week, diesel truck engine company Cummins made an unusual announcement. In addition to several new high-efficiency diesel engines, it also showed off an all-electric truck called the Concept Class 7 Urban Hauler EV. The truck is just a concept at the moment, but it's coming in the nick of time—just as Tesla is about to announce its own semi EV.
The 18,000-pound tractor cab, built by Roush, comes with a 140kWh battery and is capable of hauling a 22-ton trailer. According to Forbes, Cummins hopes to be able to sell its battery to truck and bus manufacturers by 2019. Forbes says the truck can run for 100 miles and be recharged in an hour, although Cummins is allegedly working on improving the battery so that by 2020, that recharge time is reduced to 20 minutes.
In a press release, Cummins also said that its EV would come with a diesel-engine generator that could extend the range of the battery to 300 miles, which would offer 50-percent fuel savings compared to straight diesel trucks.
Cummins' news comes just after Reuters reported that Tesla's electric semis will likely have a range of 200 to 300 miles and come with autonomous functions. The trucking industry is a major polluter, and electrification is seen as an important component in reducing greenhouse gases from that sector, in addition to implementing fuel efficiency measures.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday September 02 2017, @12:47AM (4 children)
Now you can answer a layman's question: I've driven only a few diesel vehicles such as cargo vans and box trucks(F-450 or E-350 panel van). Does all diesel acceleration feel sluggish and spongy compared to gasoline engines in similar vehicle classes?
I know people who swear by diesels such as Ram 2500s and Power-Stroked F-series, but knowing those people I'm wondering if they do it just because muh midwest rather than any real benefit at that vehicle size.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 02 2017, @03:06AM (1 child)
Diesels suffer from poor low-end power because compression eats up a bigger portion of the inertia from the flywheel, which of course develops more the faster it turns.
Did you know the Luftwaffe actually used diesel engines on some aircraft? Notably, The Ju-86P1 high-altitude recon plane used supercharged Jumo 207 diesels at great altitudes.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday September 02 2017, @03:43AM
Messerschmidt 252 or GTFO.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 02 2017, @03:37AM
I dunno if "sluggish and spongy" refers to turbo lag? Or just big, slow-shifting automatic transmissions? If so, yeah, turbos have lag, and "big" trucks and vans (other than the real big trucks, with synchronous manual transmissions) do tend to have those transmissions regardless of engine; you won't find a lot of naturally-aspirated diesels on the road because they have lousy power-to-weight ratio, but at least passenger cars and whatnot tend to come with quicker transmissions (for diesel or gas engines) than the big ones.
Anyway, for direct experience, I've spent substantial time behind the wheels of an F-250 with the "5.0l" Windsor V8, and an F-350 with the 7.3l Power Stroke. Not really the same vehicle class (even further than the model numbers suggest, as the F-250 is a normal pickup, where the F-350 is a full-fat extended-cab dually beast), but the engines are pretty much proportional. If you're accelerating from a stop, where the transmission doesn't come into it, you can definitely note a bit of turbo lag on the diesel. But if you punch it while cruising (e.g. to overtake), you won't even notice the turbo lag, because they both have automatic transmissions that like to take a moment to look around and figure out what's going on before they'll downshift. But once you're finally in the right gear, and/or the turbo is spun up, acceleration really feels about the same.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 03 2017, @03:06AM
All turbocharged vehicles have that sluggish and spongy feel. It is a consequence of the design and the reason why low-rpm applications use superchargers instead. But trucks and high-rpm applications use turbochargers despite the "lag" because they are more efficient and reliable at the operating levels.