Re:Caltrain's electric fleet more efficient than expected
by skrap on Friday January 24, 2025 @09:25PM
(#42818883)
I mean, this is good news, but why was the efficiency of the system so misunderstood at the design phase? I hope someone's interested enough to find out!
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Re:Caltrain's electric fleet more efficient than expected
by crocal on Saturday January 25, 2025 @04:50AM
(#42820638)
Ahoi! Participated to the development of a simulation tool for that purpose. Many factors need to be taken into account:
- The gradients of the track
- How agressively you want to drive at different time of the day
- How many trains
- The timing of the trains. When one train brakes, it can power another one that accelerates at the same moment
- The efficiency of the power chain
- The resistance model of the train
With so many parameters the results can be quite volatile. However, rule of the thumb in the business is that 30% saving can be achieved with good energy management. Hope this clarifies a little.
Update: bullet points
Re:Caltrain's electric fleet more efficient than expected
by skrap on Saturday January 25, 2025 @09:56AM
(#42821970)
Interesting! Thanks for the great info. Do you know if anyone will have the opportunity to integrate observations into the model so it can continue to improve?