Battery based electric vehicles of today and tomorrow.

[Gale Hawkins]

It's not uncommon to see buses here outside of rush hour to be almost empty, with just a few people (sometime just one) in it. They are also big buses, even the articulated one.

Outside of rush hour the EV robo taxi could be more convenient and less expensive option.

 

[SylvainG]

Okay; so what would be the scenario with very much reduced roadway system‘s and a proper public transportation system that people would use to get about??

The problem here is buses routes are design to bring people downtown and it's not always where they want to go, specifically off rush hours.

 

[California]

The problem here is buses routes are design to bring people downtown and it's not always where they want to go, specifically off rush hours.

Yeah but ... its more efficient to have most employment and services in a central location. Los Angeles is the worst example of the opposite. Endless grid with no particular focal point. Even when traffic is moving you can drive an hour or more, and everything you pass all looks the same.

Employment, shopping, car maintenance, dentist etc are all at different, distant, grid nodes with just as much cross traffic to wait for at intersections, as traffic going your direction. I think LA has the longest commute times in the nation. It's not unusual to spend an hour every work day in gridlocked freeway traffic, which can be even slower than city boulevards.

California just passed a measure that ends one family per parcel city zoning. Allowing increased density should make housing near city centers more affordable, finally.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Electric buses are widely used in San Francisco. I expect the regenerative braking downhill pushes power into the grid.

Now they are upgrading the whole transit fleet with electric hybrid buses that can also run from an onboard battery. These will still run when the overhead power fails or the pantograph loses connection, issues which cause traffic disruption when a bus loses power in an intersection or corner. Spend some time in SF and you will eventually see the driver of an old-school electric bus out with his pole reconnecting to the catenary.

Is it a bus or is it a trolley? New SF Muni fleet can go off-wire

Muni replaced its 40-foot trolley buses with a new generation that can run off-wire for...

www.sfchronicle.com

That reminds me of Europe, where the rail system is electrified. I bet they use regenerative braking when they go downhill. I spent months on European trains, and never had one come disconnected. Even the commuter trains ran 80 mph, and the rails were glass smooth. You could have a full cup of coffee by your elbow and not spill a drop.

 

[Frankenkubota]

We used to have great electric public transport in many cities like NYC.
It was called a trolly, and they were put out of business by the car lobbies, and sometimes outright purchase and retire.

i think either one of the oil companies or car companies did just that.

Was it L.A. that had some sort of early mass transit and they bought it and shut it down.

 

[Egon]

The problem here is buses routes are design to bring people downtown and it's not always where they want to go, specifically off rush hours.

Proper public transportation system.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Monday I noticed the local Case HI inventory of equipment and tractors was down by 80+%. Tesla is air lifting parts vs shipping by containers.

The first part is has good material but the last 2/3 gets with the nitty gritty container ship issues if you're interested in complex issues.

 

[Jchonline]

Electric buses are widely used in San Francisco. I expect the regenerative braking downhill pushes power into the grid.

Now they are upgrading the whole transit fleet with electric hybrid buses that can also run from an onboard battery. These will still run when the overhead power fails or the pantograph loses connection, issues which cause traffic disruption when a bus loses power in an intersection or corner. Spend some time in SF and you will eventually see the driver of an old-school electric bus out with his pole reconnecting to the catenary.

Is it a bus or is it a trolley? New SF Muni fleet can go off-wire

Muni replaced its 40-foot trolley buses with a new generation that can run off-wire for...

www.sfchronicle.com

SF created their own problem and now they are spending tens of millions to solve it? Would it not have ben better to just stick with Diesel or NG and never have the problem to begin with? If there is one vehicle on the road that makes sense to leave ICE its one carrying around a bunch of people and replacing 30 cars on the road. Maybe after all cars are EV busses can follow suit? Why not invest in charging stations/power grid?

Curious also how there are no specifics mentioned on how much longer the new batteries last. With the power issues of today and tomorrow in CA they will be put to the test.

How foolish of a city to invest in more electrically charged and powered machines when the state cant even provide reliable and adequate power.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Embark Trucks tallies 14,200 prelaunch reservations for driverless software

Current events are shining a bright light on this subject.

 

[3930dave]

i think either one of the oil companies or car companies did just that.

Was it L.A. that had some sort of early mass transit and they bought it and shut it down.

Even w/o corruption, mass-transit isn't easy to get right...

The real story behind the demise of America's once-mighty streetcars

Rgds, D.