Good news... dreaming of BEV Class A

DrewE wrote:


Of the major transportation systems to be fully automated, trains would seem to me to be the most straightforward. The steering is already automated, so it's only speed control--and, with that, collision avoidance--that is required of the crew; and the speed cannot be changed any too quickly due to physics. There are plenty of fully automated small-scale and medium-scale train systems in operation carrying passengers already, such as for instance the Dubai metro.

At any rate, there's no real requirement for a driverless truck to be an electric truck; it's not really a more complicated problem for a computer to control an engine and transmission and braking system with a gas or diesel engine than it is for an electric motor. Indeed current engines are almost universally computer controlled already, as are modern automatic transmissions, and braking systems partly computer controlled with ABS and stability control systems. The much trickier problem to sort out is how to reliably navigate and interact with other vehicles and drivers on the road system, which is not really designed for automated/driverless vehicles.

Agree, seems logical and for safety reasons, to have someone immediately available to intervene should an emergency situation occurs.

In fact, recent accidents on auto-pilot happened when the computer signals conflicting reading alerting driver to take control and did not.

Drriver can be napping or doing posting on forum on the wheel but should take the wheels when computer is seeing a mis-reading of road conditions.

JRscooby wrote:


Not sure, but I think the crew requirements might be less for planes hauling freight? Driver-less cars have been approved for passenger use in some areas. All my life the trucking companies have talked about how hard it is to get and keep good drivers. Of course, if the shippers and receivers treat drivers like something that needs scraped off their shoe...
I do know the crew required on trains has been reduced to the point accidents have happened...


Sorry if I offended, but when I read You'll get a ton of traffic tickets in the West Coast for this where speed limit is 55 mph. I got the impression you did not think the a vehicle should be designed for higher speeds, because the higher speeds are not allowed in one area. I think most would think that idea is crazy.

My turn to apologize. I have not provided a laughing emoticon or an LOL on my joke. I get you. My point really is a warning and a caution that West Coast has a very expensive penalties for speeding violation. I know, got not a few of them.

Trucking would likely evolve with this new technologies. In fact, we've also been kidding around with the wife that if go full time RVing we can have a converted EV semi with hauling hitch intact, then we can pull a loaded trailer in between camping destinations and make money on the sides.

Well, except veteran truckers from our church would say that the industry is brutal that they treat lesses and drivers like serfs and will blacklist anyone who decline a load and/or hardship destinations. No wonder, they are not attacking drivers despite signing bonus, free driving-school/training, etc. etc.

JRscooby wrote:

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

Well, this is true now. But drivers like all workers, are a expense, to the owners of the US government. And the last few years shows that rules that should protect all can be changed if the money thinks it has a better chance to breed without the rule...

The pattern, though now exactly analogous, must be the modern airplanes.

It can land and take off on it's own and glide via auto-pilot but still got an engineer, navigator and multi-redundant pilots on board.

Not sure, but I think the crew requirements might be less for planes hauling freight? Driver-less cars have been approved for passenger use in some areas. All my life the trucking companies have talked about how hard it is to get and keep good drivers. Of course, if the shippers and receivers treat drivers like something that needs scraped off their shoe...
I do know the crew required on trains has been reduced to the point accidents have happened...

Many/most modern airliners only need a pilot and co-pilot; a separate navigator, flight engineer, radio operator, etc. are obsolete, or at least becoming so. On longer flights additional flight crew are required due to work time and rest break regulations (and plain common sense).

Of the major transportation systems to be fully automated, trains would seem to me to be the most straightforward. The steering is already automated, so it's only speed control--and, with that, collision avoidance--that is required of the crew; and the speed cannot be changed any too quickly due to physics. There are plenty of fully automated small-scale and medium-scale train systems in operation carrying passengers already, such as for instance the Dubai metro.

At any rate, there's no real requirement for a driverless truck to be an electric truck; it's not really a more complicated problem for a computer to control an engine and transmission and braking system with a gas or diesel engine than it is for an electric motor. Indeed current engines are almost universally computer controlled already, as are modern automatic transmissions, and braking systems partly computer controlled with ABS and stability control systems. The much trickier problem to sort out is how to reliably navigate and interact with other vehicles and drivers on the road system, which is not really designed for automated/driverless vehicles.

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

Well, this is true now. But drivers like all workers, are a expense, to the owners of the US government. And the last few years shows that rules that should protect all can be changed if the money thinks it has a better chance to breed without the rule...

The pattern, though now exactly analogous, must be the modern airplanes.

It can land and take off on it's own and glide via auto-pilot but still got an engineer, navigator and multi-redundant pilots on board.

Not sure, but I think the crew requirements might be less for planes hauling freight? Driver-less cars have been approved for passenger use in some areas. All my life the trucking companies have talked about how hard it is to get and keep good drivers. Of course, if the shippers and receivers treat drivers like something that needs scraped off their shoe...
I do know the crew required on trains has been reduced to the point accidents have happened...

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

For an RV cruising at 70mph, it may have drastically less range.

You'll get a ton of traffic tickets in the West Coast for this where speed limit is 55 mph. And high fees for these violations.

Excuse me, but a large percentage of the world is not the west coast...

Huh, who said that the whole world is driving like the west coast, anybody, anybody? Bueller, is that you?:D

Sorry if I offended, but when I read You'll get a ton of traffic tickets in the West Coast for this where speed limit is 55 mph. I got the impression you did not think the a vehicle should be designed for higher speeds, because the higher speeds are not allowed in one area. I think most would think that idea is crazy.

JRscooby wrote:

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

For an RV cruising at 70mph, it may have drastically less range.

You'll get a ton of traffic tickets in the West Coast for this where speed limit is 55 mph. And high fees for these violations.

Excuse me, but a large percentage of the world is not the west coast...

Huh, who said that the whole world is driving like the west coast, anybody, anybody? Bueller, is that you?:D

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

For an RV cruising at 70mph, it may have drastically less range.

You'll get a ton of traffic tickets in the West Coast for this where speed limit is 55 mph. And high fees for these violations.

No one, including Semi's and RVs, drive 55 on the West coast.:R

Even with the Tesla cars, many are still like beating up on Tesla even though -

1. They produce the highest safety rated vehicle - CHECK
2. They produce the fastest production vehicle - CHECK
3. They produce the least expensive car to operate - CHECK
4. They produce the highest quality vehicle, so much so they
broke the Consumer Reports quality standard (past not present). - CHECK
5. They produce the cleanest operating vehicle - CHECK

But yet, many still bash the company. I guess you can't win no matter what.

JRscooby wrote:

Well, this is true now. But drivers like all workers, are a expense, to the owners of the US government. And the last few years shows that rules that should protect all can be changed if the money thinks it has a better chance to breed without the rule...

The pattern, though now exactly analogous, must be the modern airplanes.

It can land and take off on it's own and glide via auto-pilot but still got an engineer, navigator and multi-redundant pilots on board.

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

For an RV cruising at 70mph, it may have drastically less range.

You'll get a ton of traffic tickets in the West Coast for this where speed limit is 55 mph. And high fees for these violations.

Excuse me, but a large percentage of the world is not the west coast...

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
Of course, will the E trucks need drivers?

Looks like the emerging regulation is to have the wheels "manned" even if only remotely so that there can be a manual override in case of glitches or emergency.

Controlled environment like small-city like factories or ports may allow totally driverless operations.

Well, this is true now. But drivers like all workers, are a expense, to the owners of the US government. And the last few years shows that rules that should protect all can be changed if the money thinks it has a better chance to breed without the rule...

Future of EV

This is UK, Scotland... with tougher targets on petrol and diesel vehicles -- total ban by 2040.

Sponsored article but a glimpse into the future: lamp post chargers, wireless charging... etc.