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[CagivaRider]

Our neighborhood may be a better locale for the EV. The distribution center is centrally located less than five miles from the farthest mailbox. The fastest they will go is 30 MPH for a mile. The rest of the time they will probably never get over 20 MPH. They will be servicing thousands of houses. They will need air conditioning a week or two a year at the most. The only time they would get out of their truck is to deliver a large package. We are probably an outlier for most of the country.

[Curt]

The standard USPS jeep is the thing that needs to be electrified. Those travel an average of 25-35 miles per day at most, so a smaller battery with something like 25kWh (100 miles) would be ideal to run for 2 to 3 days. A 50A circuit could charge 5 vehicles/night. (If they also had 400W solar panels on the roof, that would cover maybe 5 to 10 miles/day.)

[Specter]

Curt, I agree with most of what you said.

The panels, ehh not so much.  The time the things would need to be charging, daytime, the trucks are NOT there charging, they are out in the field.  You'd need batteries and all that other stuff, a lot of extra buxx.  Like the idea and thinking though.

Range, if the truck is only travelling 25 mph or so, that range might potentially be an extra 50 percent or more.  These things really don't sip a lot of juice at lower speeds, and if you put a strong regen on it, with all that stop and go,  it'd be a lot more efficient.

Aaron

[Richard230]

Speaking of delivery trucks, I heard this morning on the CBS radio national news that a semi-truck carrying lithium batteries has overturned near the LA shipping port and has caught on fire, spreading toxic fumes across the access road to the port, shutting it down. Not a good look for truckers shipping lithium batteries. This is the third time that I have heard of a truck carrying lithium batteries tipping over and catching on fire on a freeway. What would cause a truck to tip over on a major highway? There is something weird going on.    If this keeps up, trucking companies are going to not accept jobs hauling lithium batteries and if they do it will not be covered by their liability insurance.

[princec]

Well, if they can't manage lithium, would you trust them with a truck full of petrol?

Cas

[Richard230]

Well, if they can't manage lithium, would you trust them with a truck full of petrol?

Cas

Not if is rolls over on to its side and then catches on fire.  That has happened many times before and if it is a gasoline tanker truck can really do some damage to a roadway and especially a freeway overpass.

[T.S. Zarathustra]

What would cause a truck to tip over on a major highway?

Loose freight can easily cause a truck to tip over on a major highway.

[Richard230]

What would cause a truck to tip over on a major highway?

Loose freight can easily cause a truck to tip over on a major highway.

Well, if you are just tossing lithium batteries in the truck without securing them well, you deserve what you get. 

[Curt]

Well, if you are just tossing lithium batteries in the truck without securing them well, you deserve what you get. 

Even if you secure them well, they're like a 1000 pounds each, so if you stack them high enough the truck might get real top heavy. It does seem like might benefit from some kind of steel/titanium "crash cage" around the corners and edges though, also in case of car crashes.

[Specter]

Lith batteries are NOT just rattling around in the back of the truck!  THe way the HAVE to package these things just to ship them!.  Boxes inside boxes, cushioning all around them.  Solid cages for the bigger batteries, they pack them like they pack turbine parts for generators and stuff.  VERY carefuly.   A roll over, so the box tips over, this should NOT compromise the load.  Even if it was not tied down and rolled across the deck of the truck the box would take the brunt not the contents.   

No, something else is going wrong here.  Just like the gas pipeline explosions all over the country that nobody hears about.  Just like the oil refinery fires all over the country that make the news cycle for about an hour.  Just like the power plant sabotage events that are happening ALL the time, that nobody hears about.  Just like the food  manucacturing plants and chicken farms, burning down one right after the other that nobody hears about, etc etc.

But hey, America's got it's weed and wifi man, everythings cool.

[Curt]

I'm imagining a stack of large battery packs like the ones in my Bolt EV. They weigh 1000 lb each and are protected by pathetic thin sheet metal. They can be damaged by hitting a speed bump too fast. If a truck with a stack of those rolls over, all bets are off.

Just today I got an explosion when I dropped a 12-pack of Pepsi.