Well I'm a bit late to this party, but I'll toss in my thoughts. When it all began no one paid any attention to things like the fact EV's are half as heavy again as a comparable gas powered car, nor was the issue of the long mining and production chains mentioned. It was like they came magically out of these Tesla factories at no cost to the environment and would last forever. Well we know a bit more now, a lot more, and big players like Ford and Hertz are making choices that seem at odds with the EV dream. In investment there is a clear trend that is followed by different groups. The first to get out with profits are termed the "smart money" they are followed by the institutional investors and corporations, and lastly, the public. In nearly all cases the public are the ones left holding the bag, losing their money.
Has anyone looked at EV share prices lately? Noticed the collapse of all the startup EV builders? Read about the collapse of the charging station companies all across America? Perhaps not... But Ford and Hertz are clear examples of big players backing out of the Dream, and these actions speak more than anything as pointers to the future. Toyota, arguably the best and most productive car manufacturer on the planet never even went there. They regarded the EV as a dead-end though they started the whole thing with the Prius (Pre-Arse) But a hybrid is gas powered car so they don't even come into this discussion.
But let's leave all that aside for now and consider a barrel of oil. What's in it? Heavy fractions for shipping (bunker oil) heavier still fractions for road building (asphalt) And lots of diesel and gasoline as well as Kero etc. No one believes that earth-moving will transition to electric, it's just not feasible. Though one poster on another forum refuted that by posting about an big electric dump truck. He hadn't looked beyond the Caterpillar marketing though, it has electric motors and a huge generator, powered by a massive diesel engine. (see bottom of post) Long haul trucking isn't feasible either, though they have their pet experiments, and short trip units. So in the future we will need diesel to keep the world turning and plow the fields. That is if we want the utopian future
So what do you do with the billions of gallons of Gasoline that still comes out of the oil when it's refined? It's price will crash if it's not burned in cars, and if it's price crashes then everyone will want to burn it in their cars. That's the dilemma no one is talking about. And even if you did away with diesel you'd still need the other products, unless people expect to have inner city streets paved with gravel? And forget concrete, it's hugely expensive as is the steel used in it. Oil products can be cracked into lighter fractions easily but not into heavier ones so you can't make heavy fuels out of it. That's half the problem with the shale oils, they are light. Very little diesel. The biggest headfuk for the proponents of the EV is "Why would they go to all this trouble, why would all the politicians and car makers be onboard if it was a dead-end?" Well that's just capitalism for you, it takes no regard of practical necessity, it's only aim is profits and a lot of people have made HUGE profits out of this one. Sales of EV are still rising, but the rate of sales increase has been falling for nearly a year. When the rate turns negative, so will sales.
About 3 years ago I seriously considered a Nissan leaf but after 3 months of research I dismissed the idea. I thought I could charge it at home on my solar and use it travel to the nearby city, but once I learned about the battery degradation curve I realized I would have to buy a new one every 5 or 6 years. I like to keep vehicles a lot longer than that. Expensive city toys IMO.
Caterpillar's All Electric 793
Behold the new Caterpillar 793 prototype, which could well be literally the biggest electric vehicle launch of the year. Yes, it’s a massive battery-powered mining truck.
The behemoth has been unveiled by the American construction vehicle firm at its Arizona proving ground, which Caterpillar is also transforming into a test bed for a sustainable ‘mine of the future’ that is powered by renewable energy. Now, clearly you can have some debate about how whether the merits of sustainable mining, but at least an electric mining truck would replace one powered by a ludicrously big Diesel engine.
The battery electric 793 prototype was demonstrated ...
The new machine is effectively an electric version of the existing Caterpillar 793F, which is available in various forms and in standard version is
powered by a quad turbocharged diesel engine that produces 1976kW (2650bhp). Which is enough to, quite literally, make a lot of earth move.
www.moveelectric.com
A true all electric mining truck, though a baby one, and more of a gimmick
SafeAI and Obayashi have paired up to retrofit a Caterpillar haul truck with electric power and automation.
www.heavyequipmentguide.ca
