The significantly higher battery requirements for trucks means that the environmental impact of mineral extraction HAS to be taken into account when putting together these numbers.
> Fuel ends up being about $4.99.
Using all-time-high anomalous pricing as reference cost is not particularly useful.
> in the EU, electric semi trucks are allowed to be 2 tonnes (4,400 lbs) heavier than diesel equivalents, while in the US the allowance is 0.9 tonnes (2,000 lbs). (hard to find exact numbers)
Note that 2x the weight = ~~4x~~ (correction: 16x!) the road wear. This might lead to significantly higher road-maintenance costs.
Besides, this is an apples to oranges comparison. A cheap hybrid setup gives you all the pros of regenerative braking / brake wear. Hydrogen seems to be a much better match for the fast refueling, low road wear and low-pollution constraints of future trucking.
Lastly, when your car is on the road 24x7, battery wear is accelerated by a staggering amount and all-season guarantees for battery range become important. Neither of these concerns seem to be taken into account in this analysis.
------- one possible solution-----------------
> There are trials of overhead lines (similar to trains) for trucks on highways. That would greatly decrease the need for energy storage and high speed charging.
Further down the thread, @nicoburns brought this up. A street-car-esque solution would address a lot of the above concerns. (weight, battery capacity, recharge times).
> Fuel ends up being about $4.99.
Using all-time-high anomalous pricing as reference cost is not particularly useful.
> in the EU, electric semi trucks are allowed to be 2 tonnes (4,400 lbs) heavier than diesel equivalents, while in the US the allowance is 0.9 tonnes (2,000 lbs). (hard to find exact numbers)
Note that 2x the weight = ~~4x~~ (correction: 16x!) the road wear. This might lead to significantly higher road-maintenance costs.
Besides, this is an apples to oranges comparison. A cheap hybrid setup gives you all the pros of regenerative braking / brake wear. Hydrogen seems to be a much better match for the fast refueling, low road wear and low-pollution constraints of future trucking. Lastly, when your car is on the road 24x7, battery wear is accelerated by a staggering amount and all-season guarantees for battery range become important. Neither of these concerns seem to be taken into account in this analysis.
------- one possible solution-----------------
> There are trials of overhead lines (similar to trains) for trucks on highways. That would greatly decrease the need for energy storage and high speed charging.
Further down the thread, @nicoburns brought this up. A street-car-esque solution would address a lot of the above concerns. (weight, battery capacity, recharge times).