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Electric / Double Bed Pickup Trucks

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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
Alright I know there are some truck fans on here, I am not a truck guy at all, but I think this is a cool idea and all things automotive interest me.

Im sure a bunch of you know about teslas plans for the electric pickup, so my one question is: how do you hardcore truck guys feel about an electric truck? is it less manly? are you instantly a pussy for driving an electric pickup? I believe electric motors can create crazy torque numbers, and I think that the electric motor technology has come far enough that power output figures shouldnt change much with an electric motor. just no more black diesel exhaust to impress your girlfriend's older brothers.

Also, the double bed pickup. mounting an inline 6 sideways sorta underneath the cab can still make 4wd possible and the electric version has battery cells along the underside of the truck, and electric motors mounted in the wheels. this opens up the engine bay in the front for a mini half-bed. more cargo space without having to increase the length of the vehicle is pretty nifty! im sorta surprised this hasnt been capitalized on yet.

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I think the radiator intakes on the side of the cab look badass. anyways, truck guys, discuss!
Dec 20 2013 2:39PM
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smooticus
Posts: 1798 - Karma: 27
No way an electric motor is going to be able to efficiently put out the same power as a diesel engine. The technology isn't that good. That would be sick though, the front bed is a cool idea, but I would miss that diesel sound.
Dec 20 2013 2:47PM
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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
actually electric motors will easily outperform a diesel in terms of pure torque, and electric motors can create maximum torque output at any rev rate, whereas diesels' output torque is reliant on the "ideal" RPM powerband. but the sheer size of the truck still makes me unsure, because i think there may be a point where the truck gets so heavy that diesel still remains the better option. however, in marine and smaller engine applications, electric motors will destroy a comparable small diesel.

all this stuff is still at the forefront of automotive engineering sorta, so its hard to make any solid assumptions. i agree though, putting your foot down on an electric motor would be nothing like a big turbodiesel. it just seems like a tame, refined gentleman doing the work of a big butch coal miner or something. i dunno
Dec 20 2013 3:05PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
why even have the front bed?



hence:

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cool idea tho...always fun to play armchair engineer
Dec 20 2013 3:06PM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2179 - Karma: 1,333
I think most people would be blown away by an electric motors capability and reliability in a vehicle. Very few moving parts, transmissions without a single gear. Combustion engines are not even in the same league.

If only there was a good way to make a significant amount of electricity portable.
Dec 20 2013 10:02PM
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cannaguts666
Posts: 504 - Karma: 256
HAH GGGAAAAYYYYY
Dec 20 2013 10:09PM
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alex=
Posts: 1738 - Karma: 2,835
Cavity in the engine-bay = fucked in collisions with larger automobiles
Dec 20 2013 10:20PM
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cornholio
Posts: 3952 - Karma: 3,057
seems like it would be a bitch to work on, i guess you'd have to flip up the bed or put a "hood" in the bed or something to get to the guts
Dec 20 2013 11:50PM
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whoa-dere
Posts: 10596 - Karma: 7,100
it can be just a hatch on the back of the cab
Dec 20 2013 11:52PM
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NinetyFour
Posts: 8650 - Karma: 13,409
I'm a giant advocate for electric motors vs reciprocating engines due to the ease of maintenance. Any electric motors I've ever worked on are relatively simple regardless of their size, not to mention I've only ever worked on a handful because they just don't fail all that often. Even our fuel pump and air compressor at work have been running for around 60 years and they've required only a few brush changes, and with the advent of brushless motors, that kind of service will go by the wayside anyways.

Recip engines on the other hand, well you could say they keep me employed.
Dec 21 2013 12:04AM
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SPskier543
Posts: 2413 - Karma: 324
Sounds great in theory to someone who has never used or worked on a truck, would be a major PITA to work on and doubt you could haul anything substantial for any trip over a few miles.
Dec 21 2013 12:04AM
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De-Clan
Posts: 1920 - Karma: 3,696
Cummins diesel or electric motor

Let's be honest......
Dec 21 2013 7:43AM
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CrotchKiller
Posts: 9037 - Karma: 6,940
Roll coal notches!!
Dec 21 2013 7:56AM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2179 - Karma: 1,333
As good as it feels when a diesel increases torque while pulling a heavy load l, electric motors put diesels to shame in every way.
Dec 21 2013 11:09AM
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CaelW
Posts: 400 - Karma: 108
The whole concept is pretty cool but I don't think that it's going to catch on. Especially in the states. Americans love their big diesel trucks
Dec 21 2013 11:34AM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2179 - Karma: 1,333
Sorry I left that part out. If an electric motor could have a portable source of abundant energy then there wouldn't even be this discussion. But comparing just the electric motor versus a diesel combustion engine the electric motor is far superior.
Dec 21 2013 11:51AM
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LiquorLanch
Posts: 1909 - Karma: 1,046
It will catch on once the technology is proven to be better than diesel, is actually better than diesel/gasoline/ and gets excellent mileage while being able to go 500+ miles on a charge. The charge also needs to take not that long.
Dec 21 2013 12:39PM
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Byron_tha_gr8
Posts: 4573 - Karma: 14,298
500+ is A LOT more than a stock diesel can go. But if you could only charge at you're own home, that would be understandable.

Heres the thing, we can make electric cars that are faster, can go a realistic range (300 miles) and have just as much torque, it would just have to sell at $300,000 to do it, while a brand new turbo diesel is only going to be 60k at the most. The real issue is lower production costs for better batteries that also don't cause more damagae to the environment than burning diesel. And clean electricity, there is no gain if the electricity is from coal.
Dec 21 2013 1:11PM
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corona
Posts: 12752 - Karma: 32,263
Click for larger image
Dec 21 2013 1:14PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 36683 - Karma: 110,606
I feel like you're fucked in head-on collisions
Dec 21 2013 1:26PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
interdating...what charges the batteries??
Dec 21 2013 1:29PM
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yuck
Posts: 8384 - Karma: 2,090
thats actually not entirely true. i dont know how they would design the front bed, but cars without an engine in the front bay can be designed with much more efficient crumple zones. case in point: the tesla model S. it has no engine up front and has the highest crash test rating ever awarded to a production car (I think). the model S legitimately was so structurally sound that it BROKE the testing equipment.
Dec 21 2013 1:35PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 36683 - Karma: 110,606
then if the technology is already here, I say why the hell not? electric motors are the future. i know everyone loves the sights, sounds and smells of a gas engine, but sooner or later, more and more efficient alternatives will be available, like electric.
Dec 21 2013 1:41PM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2179 - Karma: 1,333
Funny how most people don't know that locomotives are actually electric
Dec 21 2013 1:46PM
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corona
Posts: 12752 - Karma: 32,263
same principle as these:

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just gotta pull them back a bunch and wind up the electricity then let them go
Dec 21 2013 1:48PM
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Byron_tha_gr8
Posts: 4573 - Karma: 14,298
lol diesel engines. But the electric motor does the pulling since electric > diesel.
Dec 21 2013 1:58PM
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arnie_grape
Posts: 3430 - Karma: 11,397
hamsters in the engine
Dec 21 2013 2:41PM
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jeR.
Posts: 1325 - Karma: 58
that thing looks sick. do want. I wonder if paying for an electric truck will offset gas costs in the long run? or is it way more expensive in the first place?
Dec 21 2013 3:15PM
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smooticus
Posts: 1798 - Karma: 27
Keyword here is efficiency. Ya electric motors are capable of putting out a shit ton of energy, the limiting factor is the batteries.
Dec 22 2013 10:28PM
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Byron_tha_gr8
Posts: 4573 - Karma: 14,298
so use diesel generators like the trains do. Its still more efficient than just straight diesel.
Dec 23 2013 1:49AM
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doGelyst
Posts: 2491 - Karma: 508
the biggest thing about trains is (I forget the actual terminology for all this stuff, damn whiskey)

is that they more or less can use their momentum for braking which powers turbines/generators to create electricity for later use. Google will do a better job than me.
Dec 23 2013 2:26AM
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Flacko
Posts: 1495 - Karma: 788
It is a good idea, I know a lot of truck guys own electric rc cars as childish as it sounds. My friend whos dad owns 3 trucks, has a gas(nitro) generator electric rc car. Gas because it wont need 3 hours to recharge, and electric because of the limitless torque. Similar to teslas. Im sure it would be an amazing truck, just pricing would be the main factor, then again his dad owns a duramax that has about 40k work put into it. Hes not your average earning truck owner, but then again tesla is a niche, I don't know what to think really. As long as they dont make it look retarded I think it would be a good sell
Dec 23 2013 4:17AM
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Flacko
Posts: 1495 - Karma: 788
It is a good idea, I know a lot of truck guys own electric rc cars as childish as it sounds. My friend whos dad owns 3 trucks, has a gas(nitro) generator electric rc car. Gas because it wont need 3 hours to recharge, and electric because of the limitless torque. Similar to teslas. Im sure it would be an amazing truck, just pricing would be the main factor, then again his dad owns a duramax that has about 40k work put into it. Hes not your average earning truck owner, but then again tesla is a niche, I don't know what to think really. As long as they dont make it look retarded I think it would be a good sell
Dec 23 2013 4:17AM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2179 - Karma: 1,333
I'm pretty sure they use dynamic braking on the electric motors. The way it works is the motor acts as a generator as the train is slowing down and momentum is turning the motors. A large resistance is connected to the motors in this situation and the magnetic field slows the motor down. Not concerving electricity but there is significant braking that is disipated as heat and has no friction.

Other huge advantages for the train application is that there is no clutch required, could you imagine the clutch required for a train. Also I'm not sure about the exact way that they do it, but the transmission would have no moving parts as it would be a type of frequency converter electric.
Dec 23 2013 11:49AM
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Jeebus.
Posts: 4904 - Karma: 5,822
The front bed is retarded. Also the fact that they are electric takes all the manliness out of having a truck.
Dec 23 2013 11:59AM
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willifast
Posts: 248 - Karma: 299
it will just be a crumple zone in the same way the model S works. No engine in the front and it's the safest car. Ever.
Dec 23 2013 1:05PM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
In today's day, yes this is true. Once solar cells, batteries and all the tertiary technologies get better though, there's a fuckload of surface area on trailers that could help recoup losses and efficiency will increase. If solar cells could work well enough, in theory the trucker of the electric hauler would never have to stop for refueling as they're pulling their "sails" so to speak. The downsides of electric are all becoming less and less of concerns as technology improves.




Truck in the OP would be SICK if it had a 500mile range.
Dec 23 2013 1:22PM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
Why people think filling a huge crumple zone with an engine somehow makes you safer I have no idea... By having all that space, that is pretty much guaranteeing that anything you hit will be absorbed in that space, whereas an engine is a big detractor from that crumple zone's ability to eat up the forces in a crash.
Dec 23 2013 1:25PM
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.Hugo.
Posts: 17360 - Karma: 28,469
I'd consider it once they have a longer range, and charging time is reduced. I'm not trying to make a trip up north to go fishing a 2 day ordeal because I have to stop and charge it, same with driving out west to ski.
Dec 23 2013 1:30PM
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speedin
Posts: 731 - Karma: 131
Lipo batteries for Rc cars do not take 3 hours to recharge. Much less then that.

Dec 23 2013 3:34PM
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Parks.
Posts: 5612 - Karma: 1,093
intereting concept, its also good to have OP be knowlegable of what he is talking about
Dec 23 2013 3:45PM
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chicken
Posts: 6843 - Karma: 2,122
theres is no way in fuck I would switch from a combustion engine to an electric. Maybe if we were creating electricity in more responsible ways (nuclear)
Feb 25 2014 9:42PM
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*N_Wist*
Posts: 422 - Karma: 78
I know were talking about trucks and all, but this just secures the torque point, I think the hybrid system is pretty genius.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Kb8tGX-HPQE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Feb 25 2014 10:38PM
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Rusticles
Posts: 2179 - Karma: 1,333
try again.
Feb 26 2014 11:06AM
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