dreadlocks
Well-known member
thats what she said.
Tesla Cybertruck: The Future?
- Thread starter erstwild
- Start date
thats what she said.
Todd780
OverCamper
Like a stealth Chris Craft.
luthj
Engineer In Residence
As I mentioned marine aluminum alloys typically can't be heat treated to higher strengths. So that that point they are just as heavy as steel, and more expensive to manufacture. Though aluminum is cheaper for boat hulls than stainless.
The other issue is toughness. Even if an aluminum panel has the same yield or ultimate strength, the energy it absorbs as it deforms and finally breaks is less than steel, so crash safety can be a bit more involved.
Boatbuilder79
Well-known member
It will be interesting to see what the range would be pulling a lightweight camper.
I’m guessing 200 miles.
I’m guessing 200 miles.
D
Deleted member 9101
Guest
That's being optimistic. I'm betting that a 30' 9k travel trailer would knock it to 100 or so miles if you were on the HW. There have been a couple of people post on YouTube their range while towing with a Tesla...its not very promising.
Not to mention that if they go ahead with the non-aero design (particular of the roof), it will be hard to get those 500 miles from the battery pack to begin with.
I said this when it came out. My Ram gets 18-20 on the hwy stock. 17-18 with the 37s. Put my 5000# boat behind it and that drops to 15. Put my 10k# 5th wheel behind it and it gets 10mpg at best on the interstate. My average is more like 9 with occasional jaunts down to 7 or 8 depending on wind. That's not a function of anything but efficiency and wind resistance. Cut your mileage in half when towing something 11 or 12 ft tall and you'll be about right.
I'm on my first long trip with the 5th wheel right now. Leaving South Louisiana and hitting Carlsbad Caverns, City of Rocks, Gila Cliff Dwellings, and more. By the time I made it out of Texas I was debating whether to go with the Titan replacement tank of something in the bed. One of them will be done within the next month. 250-270 mile range is extremely limiting. I find myself getting fuel before I get to half a tank if I'm leaving the main highways just because I don't know what fuel availability will be or if the next half tank will be one of the 7mpg ones.
This truck will be perfect to replace a 5ft bed half ton that gets used as a commuter in town and to pull the boat or camper on the weekends. Anything more and it's useless. Frankly, I have a lot of friends like that. But they aren't on this site and think I'm crazy for towing a camper across the country over 10 days for Thanksgiving.
givemethewillys
Jonathan Chouinard
This. Isnt this basically what we did to get to the moon? So many people said it couldn't be done, just as so many people said an electric car would never work. Despite the fact that just over 100 years ago, electric cars were much more popular than internal combustion powered cars. Standard oil company bought every single one of them, ending the "heyday" of the electric car and cementing a reliance on oil for the next 100 years.
dreadlocks
Well-known member
One gallon of gasoline contains about 33kWh of energy, so a typical EV only has the equivalent of 2 gallons of gas in potential energy. However, the internal combustion engine is so very very bad at converting that energy to movement and electric motors are so very good that generally that is all you need for your EV. If one were to double the storage density of EV batteries, it would make almost all ICE passenger vehicles completely obsolete overnight.
Since when is a 30ft 9-10klb camper a lightweight trailer? None of the F150's of the world could pull those.. If they wait on building an EV truck until the technology can meet the demands of 1% of the fleet market who wanna tow a big camper more than a couple hundred miles then they wont be building anything anytime soon.. all yeh need is a camper with its own EV battery that restores or increases towing range and this problem wont be that much of a problem.
There's also services like Outdoorsey, you can drive across country and pickup a trailer closer to your destination.. even with ICE vehicles this can be more cost effective than halving your fuel economy for a few thousand miles, not to mention you no longer have to service or store the trailer.. Last time I did the math, you could rent a brand new airstream a few times a year for several decades before you even started getting close to the cost of buying one outright.
Since when is a 30ft 9-10klb camper a lightweight trailer? None of the F150's of the world could pull those.. If they wait on building an EV truck until the technology can meet the demands of 1% of the fleet market who wanna tow a big camper more than a couple hundred miles then they wont be building anything anytime soon.. all yeh need is a camper with its own EV battery that restores or increases towing range and this problem wont be that much of a problem.
There's also services like Outdoorsey, you can drive across country and pickup a trailer closer to your destination.. even with ICE vehicles this can be more cost effective than halving your fuel economy for a few thousand miles, not to mention you no longer have to service or store the trailer.. Last time I did the math, you could rent a brand new airstream a few times a year for several decades before you even started getting close to the cost of buying one outright.
I just moved this thread to our new electric expedition vehicles section.
luthj
Engineer In Residence
Obviously not yet implemented, but solid interface lithium metal batteries have 2.5x the energy density as the ceramic/oxide ones used currently. Stable versions exist, but its a matter of getting the design cheap/easy enough to mass manufacture on existing battery equipment.
dreadlocks
Well-known member
yeah battery tech is progressing much quicker than ICE tech.. and we've been at the point for a while now where ICE tech is scraping at the edges for every bit of efficiency that can be had.. in comparison to a high output, low displacement ICE with ever increasing layers of complexity and points of failure the EV is stupid simple and ultra reliable.. its going to win in the long run, that much is clear.
Here's some solid interface lithium news using common polymers and potential use of pure lithium metal anode.. if this can make it to market, its all thats needed to wipe out most of the ICE vehicles in my neighborhood.. https://newatlas.com/science/deakin-solid-state-battery-polymer-electrolyte/
Here's some solid interface lithium news using common polymers and potential use of pure lithium metal anode.. if this can make it to market, its all thats needed to wipe out most of the ICE vehicles in my neighborhood.. https://newatlas.com/science/deakin-solid-state-battery-polymer-electrolyte/
luthj
Engineer In Residence
I agree, the pessimism about battery and solar tech doesn't make sense. Theoretical storage capacity has a fair bit left, and solar tech has lots of overhead before theoretical limits. EVs won't get a lot more efficient, maybe 10-20% more tops. Batteries though, will get a lot more energy dense, longer lasting, and cheaper. Its seems feasible to have a battery that can fully charge in 25 minutes. All that with an energy density of 550+ watt-hours per kg.
ICE powerplants have some efficiency gains, but we are running up against the limits of common materials, and have been for 20 years now. None of this will change their need for fuel. As of now there is nothing on the horizon that will allow turning renewables efficiently into liquid hydrocarbons. Even then you have the ~30% conversion efficiency of an ICE powerplant.
There is some interesting stuff in genetic engineering microbes to make diesel analogs from sunlight, no word on if it will be feasible though.
ICE powerplants have some efficiency gains, but we are running up against the limits of common materials, and have been for 20 years now. None of this will change their need for fuel. As of now there is nothing on the horizon that will allow turning renewables efficiently into liquid hydrocarbons. Even then you have the ~30% conversion efficiency of an ICE powerplant.
There is some interesting stuff in genetic engineering microbes to make diesel analogs from sunlight, no word on if it will be feasible though.
dreadlocks
Well-known member
when you got a truck with a 1k mile range, the cold belt impact wont be a problem if you still get 500m off a charge too..
if we get beyond 2x the energy density it'll start chipping away at the long haul stuff too.. if it could hit 5x what we got today and you could tow a battery that would let you do all the overlanding your heart desires, with all the electronics you want.. fully flushed out like ICE tech is in 80+ years and the EV of today is going to look like a model T relatively.
the gains in the last 10yrs is undeniable, the next 10yrs is gonna be a golden era for EV tech.. and I say this fully as a gearhead who's never owned an EV.. go ahead and stick your head in the sand if you want, it wont change a damn thing.
if we get beyond 2x the energy density it'll start chipping away at the long haul stuff too.. if it could hit 5x what we got today and you could tow a battery that would let you do all the overlanding your heart desires, with all the electronics you want.. fully flushed out like ICE tech is in 80+ years and the EV of today is going to look like a model T relatively.
the gains in the last 10yrs is undeniable, the next 10yrs is gonna be a golden era for EV tech.. and I say this fully as a gearhead who's never owned an EV.. go ahead and stick your head in the sand if you want, it wont change a damn thing.