I want one!
Hi All, 500 mile range loaded to 80,000 pounds. 30 minutes to recharge to 400 mile range. It may be self driving, too. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1113863_tesla-semi-500-mile-range-lowe...
Forum Discussion
Mex, you are absolutely right about the current state of affairs (no pun intended) -- the absence of good storage options means that we have to burn fossil fuels to pick up the slack when wind and solar fail (especially at night), leading to huge fixed costs (and sunk costs) due to the need for fossil energy generation and a distribution grid.
But if Musk and the Chinese are right about the future of lithium batteries (rather a large "if"), the grid itself will be largely obsolete -- folks will have a big incentive to generate their own power and store it and then use it to power their homes and recharge their vehicles.
That still does not solve the problem of long stretches of cloudy windless days, so the grid and fossil fuels are not going away anytime soon. But as the cost of storing electricity goes down, renewables become more and more practical.
To parrot the ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times!" This is an interesting time.
But if Musk and the Chinese are right about the future of lithium batteries (rather a large "if"), the grid itself will be largely obsolete -- folks will have a big incentive to generate their own power and store it and then use it to power their homes and recharge their vehicles.
That still does not solve the problem of long stretches of cloudy windless days, so the grid and fossil fuels are not going away anytime soon. But as the cost of storing electricity goes down, renewables become more and more practical.
To parrot the ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times!" This is an interesting time.
