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Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by yholio on Saturday December 26, 2020 @12:42PM (#25544952)
I think the point made here is that those very requirements are tailored around a ICE world. If, say, your city bus network is designed so that each driver can make a 5 minute stop at terminus and fill up when required, of course pushing an electric bus into that will create 1-2h gaps in service and be "not fit to operational requirements". But it's a simple exercise to shift things around so that all recharging is done in low demand periods and all your fleet is online during rush hour.

The bottom line: electrics are quickly overcoming the 1000Km/charge barrier, in the next 10 years it will probably become the norm. That's a charge level that can last you a full day in almost any conceivable usage mode, so it can cover 99% of real world tasks.

Sure, there will still be very specialized tasks where 2 hours of downtime per day is unacceptable, or some fresh produce delivery route that requires 36 hours non stop driving by a shift of truckers. But that would be negligible in the grand scheme of things.

Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by elihu on Saturday December 26, 2020 @03:32PM (#25546241)
The other possible option to work around range issues with electric vehicles is to electrify our major highways so that battery capacity is no longer a concern. That would require expensive infrastructure upgrades and new standards for how to charge a moving vehicle, but it would mean vehicles could be substantially lighter and less expensive.
Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by bumby on Saturday December 26, 2020 @01:11PM (#25545179)
>36 hours non stop driving by a shift of truckers. But that would be negligible in the grand scheme of things.

Can you elaborate on why you’d consider trucking to be a negligible edge case? What I could find online shows it’s over 40% of commercial miles and over 60% of transport for delivered goods.

Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by adwn on Saturday December 26, 2020 @01:48PM (#25545433)
You left out this important qualifier in your quote: "[...] some fresh produce delivery route that requires 36 hours [...]". yholio was talking about a particular niche case, not about trucking in general.
Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by bumby on Saturday December 26, 2020 @03:00PM (#25545993)
Ahh, ok, I read it as two separate cases (produce delivery and long haul trucking). Thank you for clarifying
Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by ogre_codes on Saturday December 26, 2020 @02:42PM (#25545867)
Trucking is 40% of commercial miles. Most trucks are parked for hours/ day so the driver can sleep. It'll be interesting seeing how this changes as autonomous driving becomes more common.
Re:Photocatalyst splits water into H and O2 at quantum effic... by bumby on Saturday December 26, 2020 @03:02PM (#25546013)
Some trucking companies are using a “local” model where a driver will drive 4 hours one way, drop off the trailer to another driver for the next leg, and pick up a trailer to drive back home to be more efficient