Chevrolet exits all ICE production by 2035

Groover wrote:
I have never seen a Prevost struggling to get up even the steepest hills. That would lead me to believe that they have a lot of throttle left on level ground.

But, let's just say that you are right and it does take 400hp to move a Prevost. That would take around 20 gallons per hour meaning that they only get about 3mpg. I found this statement online: "As a result, the average fleet-wide fuel economy of the trucks in the study was 7.28 mpg in 2017, up from 7.14 in 2016."

That indicates that semis use a lot less power than your Prevost does and I would guess that they are much heavier too. Add in regenerative braking and better streamlining then allow for other drags on the fuel economy of semis like idling and engines not well maintained and I believe that you would see mpg go up quite bit more.

Another factor is that I have not seen a Tesla shown with a bull guard or any trailer other than a streamlined box trailer. Open trailers like car haulers probably do suck up more power than box trailers do.

Maybe you just have a bad engine. I have heard others complain about the Detroit diesel being fuel guzzling weeklings. You would think that a 7 figure motorhome would come with an engine that could both climb hills and pass a few gas stations.

Keep in mind this wasn't a luxury motorhome, it's a line-haul tour coach @ 430 hp. 1999 pre-EGR. At 1500 rpm, it's probably around 350 hp. I'm not WOT of course on flat ground, but I'd say anything above 2% grade I was definitely WOT @ 60+ mph.

On 6% grades, flat out I was 45 - 50 mph, near hp peak. Factor in a 20% loss from the Allison, that's reasonable (340 hp rwhp). Lifetime average mpg was 6.3 US mpg. A tour coach operates at higher speeds than fleet trucks, and we know hp goes up 8x when speed doubles. Cruising on flat was always 75 mph.

My main point: this is the least ideal application of EV. Due to high speeds, you get very little re-generation from braking. To make that worse, going uphill peukert factor is against us. No one knows for sure, but I don't believe 1000 kWh will be enough in real life commercial applications (I know it works hauling batteries for the Gigafactory). Like I said, in real life our loads aren't perfect aero trailers like the Tesla Semi test rigs.

I do believe in 10 years when battery tech progresses another 2 generations, and 2000 kWh packs are cheap, long haul EV Semis could be viable. Remember, many rigs have team drivers, we're talking near 24 hr days in Canada, with maybe 1 - 2 hours total charging time each day. In the meantime, city buses, delivery trucks, etc., makes much more sense.