On Thu, 20 May 2021 20:49:49 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 5/20/2021 8:21 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 20 May 2021 14:57:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 5/20/2021 11:45 AM, Dean Hoffman wrote:
https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/19/22442777/ford-f-150-lightning-electric-truck-specs-price


This is more sensible than many cars. The article mentions that
charging is a problem. For cars, I use mine for some long distance trip
so yes, it is a problem when you want to do 1200 miles in a day and a
half.

Many trucks though, are used for work in a smaller range and are back at
the shop or home at night so you can just plug it in.

Funny to see the hood open and a bunch of stuff stored in there.

You still have to be near a big charger. That 80 amp charger takes all
night to charge the truck. The 80 amp charger may prompt a service
upgrade at your house.
The 150KW charger is some serious power. It would be over 180 amps at
480v 3p delta. (minimum circuit ampacity is 225a assuming the 150kw is
input power and a PF of 1, not delivered power).

It does make me wonder what happens to the grid if these things really
take off. Night time will certainly not be "off peak" with 200,000,000
EVs plugged in sucking down 10-20 KVA each.



None of those things are insurmountable. Home chargers are $1000 to
$2000. Not all that much to add to the loan for a $50k truck. It does
not take all night to charge a truck if you do it on a regular basis.
How many miles will the average person drive a day? A couple of hours
and you are topped up.

If those trucks are used like trucks, that 300 mile range is a
fantasy. Hook that 10,000 pound trailer, they brag about, on it and
drive it around all day in the winter with a 5000 watt heater going.
See how you do then. That also assumes they are not using the power
ports as a job site generator.
Maybe I am used to work trucks.
They may think everyone is just going to buy big tires, shine their
truck up, cruise around and try to impress the cow girls.


The only reason the automobile was successful was the fact that there
were already 50,000 gas stations right? It took 100 years to get to
that point and the infrastructure has to change. Airports did not exist
in 1903 but they invented the airplane anyway.

The big difference is gasoline was a waste product from the production
of kerosene, a glut on the dry cleaning market and there was already
an infrastructure for distributing kerosene. Rockefeller was pretty
fast to expand that into a national network of gas stations. Cars were
also a totally new thing so the gasoline infrastructure had plenty of
time to evolve.

These EVs are coming fast and I am not sure if the grid is up to the
task. That is particularly true in places like California and the
Northeast where the grid is already straining.