Can Electric Trucks Challenge Diesel? The Future of Heavy Transport

Can electric trucks challenge diesel? The Future of Heavy Transport. Even though transitioning passenger cars to battery electric is well underway at this point, we're right at the beginning of transitioning trucks and semis. But there's a major wrinkle. While EVs are far more energy efficient than gasoline vehicles, towing a lot of weight takes a major hit on efficiency. Let's explore the future of electric trucks and just how well batteries stand up to diesel.

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[umka]

You miss one thing. Load capacity. How much truck weighs and how much load can it carry.

[markisb]

Here in the US. A diesel truck can drive 1, 000 miles before you have to fuel it. Also in 11 hrs you can drive up 700 miles or more depending on traffic etc. If you put a heavy load on electric trucks the 300 to 500 mile range will be decreased. The 70 to 90 minutes charging time for electric trucks takes time from driving. You can fuel a diesel truck with 300 gallons in 15 minutes

[davidbrookes]

Ports should be using electric trucks. A lot of these trucks don't travel far but drive all day and night.

[TheOFF-GRIDiot]

Curious, unless I missed it, you did not touch on the carrying capacity of the Tesla Semi. Elon did the same thing at the unveiling a couple (several) years back. If the energy density in 1kg of fuel equates to 19kg of Tesla's newest battery cell structure (and it does) then you are going to need like 15-18 tons of battery just to get 500 miles with a load of pillows or uncompressed cotton. Not even sure you can put all that weight in batteries just on the tractor because of axle weight restrictions. So not only will a Tesla semi be limited to less than a third of a diesel's cargo load capacity, I think you'd also need a custom trailer to hold the rest of the batteries to keep all the axle weights legal. There is no way Tesla doesn't already know this. My guess is this thing will end up being a 24 foot cube van for inner-city deliveries only.

[scottjensen]

Matt I love your channel, and this is yet another great video but I am a truck guy and I have some quibbles with your analyses: EV and ICE trucks may both require the same amount of tires, however diesel trucks require many more fluids and filtration then EVs do, and when it comes to 18 wheelers. those are pretty significant costs. In addition to that all diesel engines that are built after 2010 consume DEF which is an additional cost, There are also brakes and the maintenance of the DPF filter to be considered. In addition to that I don't think the disruption will necessarily come in the the long haul at least not initially . Regional trucking in major metropolitan areas is where EV trucks will dominate. Many trucks spend there average days droning around in stop and go traffic at least for parts of their duty cycle. One must consider that every single second that a diesel truck is standing still in traffic it is idling and thus consuming energy vs an EV which is pretty much consuming nothing when it isn't moving, this may seem trivial but it really can and does add up. The simplest way to put it is, the major initial disruption will not come from trucks that run 100k annually, rather from applications where trucks that run all day but go relatively short distances during that time where the savings will really manifest. Sorry for the long rant it's a subject I'm passionate about. Thank you again Matt for what you do. Cheers!!!!

[sepez]

I think electric lorries (trucks in the UK) would work well in the UK. They don't have huge distances to go and if charging takes about 90 mins then they can charge while on lunch or when at the depot/delivery point.

[dsrtstrmvet]

a cost that you missed is fuel taxes. We already have government running around trying to figure out how to get their pound of flesh from current EV owners, the EV Trucks will also incur this cost and probably more.

[ringogringo]

The test will be going over the Great Divide in the middle of winter when it's 15 below.

[TheEvilsprite]

Its interesting to see a well thought out perspective from someone outside trucking. I've driven trucks in Europe for about 20 years, so I have a fair understanding of the industry.
A couple of areas I feel you did not take in to account is the vast majority of trucks driving local routes don't just have one driver. Most of the work I've done involved handing the truck to the next driver. The truck isn't sitting still for the 90 mins it takes to achieve the 80% charge. So add the cost of 2 or 3 extra trucks to the fleet to maintain maximum work load, then the cost of maintenance, insurance, repairs etc. It all adds up and diminishes the advantage of battery powered electric trucks. The saying in trucking is "if its moving, its making you money. If its sitting still, its costing you money".

You highlight in the video the average millage per year and life span of the truck. Most of the larger companies I've worked for replace the trucks at 750, 000 - 1, 000, 000km (Its Europe so its metric) but I have driven trucks that have driven 1.5 - 2 million km. Normally at the end of its life with the company that bought it new the truck is sold in the used market. Have you ever tried to use a 10 year old battery, like in a laptop or a phone. The battery loses its ability to hold a charge with each charge. A diesel truck does not suffer this in anywhere near the same way. So add the devaluation of the resale value trucks to the equation and batteries are a larger cost in the long term compared to diesel.

For me hydrogen wins hands down in trucking. Compared to diesel, its cheaper, more efficient, refuel time is the same, one stop at the pumps to tank up does a days or nights work and compared to batteries it has greater range. But most importantly weighs less. As trucks have total weight limited that includes the cargo (in Europe this is 44ton), hydrogen trucks will be able to carry more cargo.
My personal belief is that cars will continue with batteries but heavy haulage will go down the hydrogen path. This will in turn lead to the hydrogen infrastructure being built. Once that's in place, car drivers regularly driving beyond the range of the battery and having to do a 90 min stop to fuel up will want a return to 5 mins stops on the forecourt. At the end we will have a mix on EV solutions.

[FIAWOLpi]

I don't believe there ever will be a "flood" of EV trucks. I can see them being adopted in small numbers by large specialized carriers like WalMart but I cannot imagine a large volume of EVs until there is an enormous overhaul of the type of support that surrounds the trucking industry

[alanjrobertson]

Thanks for including the UK comparison prices, really useful when the cost of fuel can vary so widely in different countries!

[IamCoalfoot]

Y'know, with how much energy is lost by brakes in big, heavy trucks, hybrids seem like a good place to start. Currently, most of the braking is done by 'Engine Braking', letting the engine resist the transmission with no fuel. Letting generators capture high-torque electricity to be re-used for acceleration (the hardest part for a big truck) just seems like a good idea.

[iamtheoffenderofall]

Electric trucks are so good out in the American Southwest, you never see them. Thats cause they dont last out here. The heat will eat that battery up in no time.

[mikiethebikie]

Down here in New Zealand a supermarket company has been running electric delivery trucks for about a year, working in cities not between them.

[briannem.]

An important consideration in electric vehicles is the extreme weight. To fulfil such a high range, even with the new type of batteries being made with 2x range, the truck has a weight limit. To drive on a road, the truck and trailer must not exceed a certain weight. This means that the truck's hauling capacity will be reduced significantly to only a few tonnes- might as well buy an electric box-van to do the work.

What might work well is having reduced battery range and having a trolleybus-like system which the trucks use on motorways, accompanied by a battery pack used when off the motorways. This means less weight.

[JohnDoe-hglq]

Operating cost goes out the window when you realize you need 3 electric semis to carry the same load of 1 diesel semi (when accounting for weight of battery).
You need to be multiplying the operating cost by roughly 3 for the math to make sense.

[BrokenMonorail]

But...does the "cost" of electricity include the underlying cost of charging stations? The grid build out to support them? Also, what happens to the mountains of toxic batteries when they reach end of life?

[WayDeath]

It's crazy to know that in the US drivers are allowed to do 11h a day.
In Germany for safety reasons we have a maximum driving time of 9h (exceptions for 10h are possible from time to time)
And after 4.5 h you have to do a 45min break.
Electric trucks are a perfect fit for German regulations. Makes you wonder why they don't release them here first. 😕

[GeorgeOu]

You also need to factor in the payload loss because of the extra weight of the batteries. For long range trucking, we're probably looking at close to 1000 KWH weighing over 10, 000 lbs. Even then, it will still have a shorter range than Diesel.

[dragonrider]

if you want to make electric semis the future of transportation, you must first make electric railroads. if the rail road can be operated with out a battery it can transport the bulk of the produce to distribution centers in major municipalities. Transportation to suburbs or rural areas would be done with the battery powered semi. lower energy consumption in the battery powered semi would be less worrisome and cost effective to not preform. The persisting problem would be the rate of charge, but as time goes on that will easily be improved and would burden the consumer less in the end.