The electric age is afoot. Bmw and Schrem put the first 40 ton truck into action.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Ahuch

Assuming that 100km is the "warm" range, it'd probably be less in winter. Would never work here with such a range because you might have a traffic jam on the way back to the bus depot and run out of juice.

Why would they run out of juice in a traffic jam?

[para transit fellow]

Bump

I put the following in the public transit thread because I couldn't originally remember where we had been talking about electric commercial vehicles

St albert plans to buy electric buses
http://www.stalbertgazette.com/artic...308269975/1039

the vehicle is more expensive but the energy cost is something like a fifth of energy cost of diesel. They are expecting $99,000 savings over life of bus with today's battery technology

maybe commercial electric vehicles are in the near future

[polak]

How much is a replacement battery? Commercial vehicles are going to go through them much quicker than a Tesla or a Hybrid.

[para transit fellow]

newspaper article doesn't say specific but does capture this summary of the cost vs benefits

"While it costs about $378,000 more to buy an electric bus than a diesel one in terms of capital costs, Transit found that it would cost about $477,000 less over its lifespan to fuel and maintain it"

i'm going to presume the battery maintenance is in there.

[Ozy_Flame]

Question - do electric buses make less noise? Obviously they have no internal combustion engine so I'm going to guess yes, just like an electric car.

Also, Calgary has natural gas buses (at least some) but no electric, right?

[polak]

Originally Posted by para transit fellow

newspaper article doesn't say specific but does capture this summary of the cost vs benefits

"While it costs about $378,000 more to buy an electric bus than a diesel one in terms of capital costs, Transit found that it would cost about $477,000 less over its lifespan to fuel and maintain it"

i'm going to presume the battery maintenance is in there.

Yup probably. That's good.

It's crazy the impact that new battery technology could have on the world.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Question - do electric buses make less noise? Obviously they have no internal combustion engine so I'm going to guess yes, just like an electric car.

Also, Calgary has natural gas buses (at least some) but no electric, right?

Yes, the do make alot less noise. They do make a slight noise tho as all electric motors . The sound is called coil noise.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by para transit fellow

newspaper article doesn't say specific but does capture this summary of the cost vs benefits

"While it costs about $378,000 more to buy an electric bus than a diesel one in terms of capital costs, Transit found that it would cost about $477,000 less over its lifespan to fuel and maintain it"

i'm going to presume the battery maintenance is in there.

And that's likely without the expectation of a serious drop in battery process that seems likely once Tesla's Giga factory gets up and running

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by polak

Yup probably. That's good.

It's crazy the impact that new battery technology could have on the world.

Nano technology that can charge your smartphone battery in 30 seconds?

http://store-dot.com/

[Bunk]

And so if battery technology advances to the point it starts to replace the internal combustion engine over the next couple decades, what becomes of our economy? Private transportation accounts for 40% of the sand for oil. If there's a glut of supply now driving down prices, what happens if/when demand actually drops? It seems we need to get into electricity production, transmission and storage to avoid economic annihilation, no?

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Bunk

It seems we need to get into electricity production, transmission and storage to avoid economic annihilation, no?

I would imagine among other things. But when one bit of tech is replaced by another there are the alarm bells going off that people will be out of a job. The computer and robotic age was going to put millions out of work, what matters is who adapts and changes effectively. Do I think Canada is doing this? No.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Bunk

And so if battery technology advances to the point it starts to replace the internal combustion engine over the next couple decades, what becomes of our economy? Private transportation accounts for 40% of the sand for oil. If there's a glut of supply now driving down prices, what happens if/when demand actually drops? It seems we need to get into electricity production, transmission and storage to avoid economic annihilation, no?

-Mechanic
-Taxi driver
-auto insurance sales
-etc

It'll be more than just oil and gas that gets disrupted. However, oil will always be essential for many things. A "glut" is a short term problem regardless of whatever the demands are as there's a finite amount of oil and growing uses. It can contract for a while, but not indefinitely

[blankall]

Quite frankly I think it's just too early to invest big in electric. The technology is improving by leaps and bounds. In five to ten years we'd have to replace entire infrastructure of we dove in too big early.

[saskflames69]

http://www.teslamotors.com/en_CA/supercharger

I just found out that the entire province lacks any supercharger stations, yet I've seen a dozen or so Model S' driving around Saskatoon this summer.

Stupid question but you are able to charge these through a standard outlet at home, right?

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by saskflames69

http://www.teslamotors.com/en_CA/supercharger

I just found out that the entire province lacks any supercharger stations, yet I've seen a dozen or so Model S' driving around Saskatoon this summer.

Stupid question but you are able to charge these through a standard outlet at home, right?

Yes. There's also many other EV charging stations around. Nothing is as fast as a supercharger

[Krovikan]

Originally Posted by saskflames69

http://www.teslamotors.com/en_CA/supercharger

I just found out that the entire province lacks any supercharger stations, yet I've seen a dozen or so Model S' driving around Saskatoon this summer.

Stupid question but you are able to charge these through a standard outlet at home, right?

Canmore and Red Deer have supercharger stations, and based on the map Id say Calgary would be soon, dince from here to Vancouver all major stops have one.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by polak

Until an EV can drive a route similar to Calgary to Vancouver in a normal 10-12 hour time frame, it's nothing more than a gimmick.

Lol so if it can't drive 12 hours then it's a gimmick? How many cars can drive that far without refuelling? Is pretty much every gas car on the road a gimmick? Or did the board not discuss how there might be EV recharging stations on highways?

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by saskflames69

http://www.teslamotors.com/en_CA/supercharger

I just found out that the entire province lacks any supercharger stations, yet I've seen a dozen or so Model S' driving around Saskatoon this summer.

Stupid question but you are able to charge these through a standard outlet at home, right?

Yes, you can charge for any 110 or 220 outlet.. In fact its the best way to charge for battery life( recommended by Tesla and EV folks) . LiNiMO2 ( Lithuim Nickel Magnesium oxide) 18650 cells are not to be charged at a fast rate all the time. Super charger stations are a means of charging quickly for road trips. The heat alone will disrupt battery life. Half the battle with battery texh is education of care. Allot of people think e tech is just plug and play. The current tech avaliable today will last 7 plus years if you take care of it. Don't leave your batterys in a 100% state when not in use( Lithuim electrolyte actually degrades faster in a top end charged state). If you only drop your lv ( low voltage)to around 15 or 20 % then only charge to 80-90% state for shorter trips you will effectively double the life of the cells. You get the picture.....

I use the same 18650 cells (Panasonic A's) that Tesla uses in my 2 ebikes and emotos just as personal reference

Additonal references
Www.endless-sphere.com
http://my.teslamotors.com/roadster/charging

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

-Mechanic
-Taxi driver
-auto insurance sales
-etc

It'll be more than just oil and gas that gets disrupted. However, oil will always be essential for many things. A "glut" is a short term problem regardless of whatever the demands are as there's a finite amount of oil and growing uses. It can contract for a while, but not indefinitely

I might be misunderstanding this post but why would those professionals be disrupted?

Electric cars will still need insurance, we will still need taxis to drive us around and mechanics to maintain these vehicles.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by combustiblefuel

I might be misunderstanding this post but why would those professionals be disrupted?

Electric cars will still need insurance, we will still need taxis to drive us around and mechanics to maintain these vehicles.

Along with electric is self drive. It's not far off