Electric Vehicles

652 readers

182 users here now

Electric Vehicles are a key part of our tomorrow and how we get there. If we can get all the fossil fuel vehicles off our roads, out of our seas and out of our skies, we'll have a much better environment. This community is where we discuss the various different vehicles and news stories regarding electric transportation.

Related communities:

founded 8 months ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Ford Says Large Electric Trucks And SUVs Have 'Unresolvable' Problems (insideevs.com)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

22 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[+] reddig33 -6 points 3 days ago (3 children)

You sure about that? The Cybertruck, ugly as it is, is a king size vehicle with plenty of range. There’s also the Rivian truck. Plenty of size and range. Hummer — huge, currently gets 315 miles on a full charge. Dodge RAM full size EV, will go 619 miles. Will be interesting to see what Scout ships.

[–] Lag 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, they added more weight with more batteries but they didn't solve the problem.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

But were these problems ever solved for non EVs? I mean the bigger and less aerodynamic the car, the more energy it takes to move it. That's simple physics no matter what technology you're using. That's why IMHO SUVs and trucks are a pretty bad choice for an everyday vehicle.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yes, they're easily solved with a larger fuel tank that can take you further before refilling. The physics of it is that gasoline and diesel have more energy density than lithium (or other current compounds) batteries.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

But how is that an unresolveable problem?

Energy density of batteries is getting higher while prices are shrinking year by year. You can of course question if makes sense to keep throwing more and more batteries at a car with the size of a yacht instead of building a more efficient vehicle. But it's not unresolveable.

The unresolveable part from my perspective is the underlying physics: more weight, big tires (at slow speeds) and poor aerodynamics (at higher speeds) increase consumption. And that problem was there all the time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

It's 'unreasolvable' in the sense that nothing currently exists to make an EV truck match the range of an ICE truck while they're presumably dumping lots of cash at the problem currently. Whether or not batteries are cheaper and more energy dense years from now, it doesn't help them sell more 2025 model year trucks. This isn't 'unresolvable' in the sense that it can never be solved just not something that can be solved now.

[–] jqubed 7 points 3 days ago

From the article:

If you want a decent electric pickup truck from the likes of Tesla or General Motors, be prepared to drain your bank account. The non-work-truck version of the 2025 Chevy Silverado EV starts at around $70,000 before destinations and fees. The Tesla Cybertruck starts at $79,990. The GMC Sierra EV starts at $92,000. They also have massive battery packs, as big as 212 kWh on the GMC Hummer EV, for example, and deliver terrible real-world efficiency.

Consequently, the sales of electric pickups didn’t look great in 2024. Sure, the Cybertruck was the best-seller among these EVs. However, the truck was once rumored to have a million-plus reservations, and Tesla was preparing a production capacity of over 250,000 units a year. Its sales fell far short at 38,965 units, according to Cox Automotive. Plus, the hype is already cooling off. Sales of Ford's F-150 Lightning grew year-over-year but paled in comparison to gas-powered pickups. The company has had to cut production multiple times to keep it in line with demand.

“Retail customers have shown that they will not pay any premium for these large EVs, making them a really tough business case,” Farley said.

It’s not that they can’t be built, but not at prices most people can afford. And even then people can’t easily use those trucks for things like towing a fifth-wheel camper; they won’t be getting 400 miles range while hauling a 4 ton trailer behind the truck.

Of course, saying these problems can’t be solved is a cop out. Maybe they can’t be solved now with current technologies, but we’re still very early in exploring what electric powertrains can do. Look how far we’ve come in the last ten years, and imagine what could happen in the next ten!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Escalade IQ also looks amazing, is a gigantic suv and has a 460 mile range.