Re:GM sells out first year of electric Hummer production
by radium3d on Thursday October 22, 2020 @01:59PM
(#24861046)
The Tesla Cybertruck with 500+ miles range, plus the solar tonneau vault door that generates 40+ miles a day might be pretty good though. Super excited to see the production model with all the improvements Elon has been mentioning from his recent visit to the design center in the past week. I can't believe it's already been in manufacturing design for a year next month!
Re:GM sells out first year of electric Hummer production
by fredophile on Thursday October 22, 2020 @02:18PM
(#24861329)
For energy density it's pretty hard to beat things like gas or diesel. Do you see any practical reason you couldn't carry liquid fuel and a generator for offroading? It would take longer to recharge than just dumping fuel into the tank but I'm not convinced that would be a dealbreaker.
Re:GM sells out first year of electric Hummer production
by adrianN on Thursday October 22, 2020 @02:48PM
(#24861792)
What's the efficiency of such generators? Surely you lose 70% of the energy?
Re:GM sells out first year of electric Hummer production
by fredophile on Thursday October 22, 2020 @03:25PM
(#24862306)
Even if the generator is less efficient than a truck with an ICE engine I think it would be a net win. You would only be using the generator on long off road trips where you're isolated and don't have an alternative way to charge the vehicle. If having the generator means the EV is a viable choice then you would still get the environmental benefits of someone using an EV instead of ICE for 95% of their driving.
Re:GM sells out first year of electric Hummer production
by freeone3000 on Thursday October 22, 2020 @03:13PM
(#24862123)
Generator->electric->drive gives a longer range per gallon of gas than ICE->drive, since the generator is always in its optimal power band.
I'm super excited for electric off road vehicles, but when you're way out there you really still need a gasoline engine. It's just too convenient to store 100+ miles of fuel in ~60lbs strapped to the back of your truck, your friends truck, and every other person's truck who you meet on the trail. On a longer trip it's easy to be a day or more from fuel (because the roads are bad, and average speed is very low)
Torque from 0 and independent control of each motor is going to be a game changer. Add in new suspension possibilities when you don't have differentials and axles (hub motors?) and next-gen trucks could be extremely capable. If we can figure out the range/refueling problem (...and I don't think we can for 10+ more years for this use-case)
I think folks are getting confused about 'off road' in the comments here. Image search '4x4 rock climbing' - that's the stuff many trails have short (or long) sections of. Add in the isolation, constant use of aircon or heat (or both), high power demands to go very short distances, and electric just won't do it right now. We need better batteries or some way of producing electricity from liquid fuels.