So who will be first with an electric pickup. And when.

Lessmore wrote:

John & Angela wrote:

troubledwaters wrote:
Wouldn't this be more appropriate for one of those electric vehicle sites instead of a RV site?

Good morning. Well, not really. This is the tow vehicle forum and thats what the thread is a about. Just an EV version. EV's make pretty good tow vehicles. I can see a nice ford silver half ton pulling an airstream. Sweet.

But John invariably many of your posts seem to be about promoting electric as opposed to gas/oil powered vehicles.

I have to admit, I sometimes wonder if you're involved with anti oil/gas advocacy groups ?

Heh Heh. No. Just an enthusiast who loves driving these things. I post stuff I find interesting. I think within the next decade EV tow vehicles will be a reality. There are already people pulling RV's with EV's so why not put it out there for discussion. I have no green axe to grind but enjoy the aspects of EV travel and transportation. To each his own. What works for one doesn't work for the next. Our RV is still a diesel pusher and will be probably for the next 5 to 7 years. And then maybe an EV based Class B van. :)...or a 1/2 ton SUV type EV pulling a bigfoot trailer. :) We'll be downsizing when we hit 60.

John & Angela wrote:

troubledwaters wrote:
Wouldn't this be more appropriate for one of those electric vehicle sites instead of a RV site?

Good morning. Well, not really. This is the tow vehicle forum and thats what the thread is a about. Just an EV version. EV's make pretty good tow vehicles. I can see a nice ford silver half ton pulling an airstream. Sweet.

But John invariably many of your posts seem to be about promoting electric as opposed to gas/oil powered vehicles.

I have to admit, I sometimes wonder if you're involved with anti oil/gas advocacy groups ?

“I use an F350 to pull 12,200 pounds. My range is more than 600 miles. I wonder how many batteries it will take to deliver the same function.”

I use two draft horses to pull my 1,500 pound farm wagon three miles into town. I wonder how many new fangled gas powered horseless carriages it would take...

PopBeavers wrote:
As a former wanna be engineer what I think it ultimately boils down to is energy density.

How much energy is stored in one cubic foot of gasoline?

How much energy is stored in one cubic foot of battery, any type battery of your choice?

This just begs the question: What material(s) have the highest energy density?

it's hard to beat hydrocarbon fuels for useable energy density on either a volume or weight basis. That's even after one realizes that the thermal efficiency of internal or external combustion cycle engines is pretty low. IC gas engines are around 25 percent. Atkins or Miller cycle gas engines are in the high 30's but very poor low rpm torque so they work best in hybrids. Diesel is better than gasoline, but even the most efficent diesel in the world, the big 60 rpm 2 stroke ship engines are under 50 percent close to the theoretical thermal efficiency of a CC engine.

The 2019 Ram 1500 can be optioned with a Hybrid assist that will improve fuel economy 10% and add 130 lb./ft torque to the upgraded 390HP/410tq 5.7L V-8. Available for order 1-17-2018 from any Ram dealer.

The towing capacity max is 12750 pounds and max payload is 2300. From a half-ton!

I'll be first in line.

BenK wrote:
Find your choice of fuel source in this Wikipedia chart...

Notice Lithium is around 4.32 (experimental) vs regular lithium 0.9 to 2.63 vs gasoline 34.2 vs diesel 35.8...

Then the losses in how it is designed, packaged, etc, etc...to what/how/etc the electrodes are designed/made of/etc, etc

since IC thermal efficiency is around 25 percent, cut the gas/diesel energy density by 4. so figure 9 for gas, maybe 10 for diesel. so batteries are about a factor of 4 from being equal to gas/diesel on a volume basis. so the diffence is significant but not as significant as it first appears.

by comparison electric motor efficiency is in the high 90 percent range.

then there is the "replenish" time. again gas/diesel wins hands down.

Find your choice of fuel source in this Wikipedia chart...

Notice Lithium is around 4.32 (experimental) vs regular lithium 0.9 to 2.63 vs gasoline 34.2 vs diesel 35.8...

Then the losses in how it is designed, packaged, etc, etc...to what/how/etc the electrodes are designed/made of/etc, etc

PopBeaver summed it up. Battery electric for any vehicle carry a heavy load are going to be very expensive ! Tesla never siad his big Class 8 trucks were going to be cheap.


At the end of the 2018 NAIAS Press Preview, the left this teaser Mach 1

As a former wanna be engineer what I think it ultimately boils down to is energy density.

How much energy is stored in one cubic foot of gasoline?

How much energy is stored in one cubic foot of battery, any type battery of your choice?

This just begs the question: What material(s) have the highest energy density?

PopBeavers wrote:
I use an F350 to pull 12,200 pounds. My range is more than 600 miles.

I wonder how many batteries it will take to deliver the same function. Of course I want the same bed capacity that I have now.

Yah it’s a challenge. They might start a little smaller though and still find a market. Maybe along the lines of a half ton able to pull smaller trailers of 6000 pounds. Maybe 300 to 400 miles. That would probably work for many. A model X has a range of a couple hundred miles with 5000 pounds tow rating and that’s an SUV.