ponytug
Super Member
At one point Tesla had a battery pack swap going on for their semis 20 minutes start to finish. I think that the idea lost out to DC high speed charging that can go 20-80% in about 20 minutes.
FritoLay has been using electric trucks since 2010, slowly moving from e-transit vans to semis. The nearest distribution center uses the electric semis. I saw another article that said that the 3-4 hour range worked well with their depot based drivers and trucks.
Not everybody can use or wants a 700HP Case Quad-track, and not everybody wants a CubCadet. Different tools for different jobs in my book. I have corded tools, battery powered tools, and ICE tools, each does what I need. I thought that the early cordless screwdrivers were useless, but with other folks using them, the tools evolved, and I love my cordless drills now. While I would not presume to tell someone else to that they had to use, say, a K&R brand drill press, I might mention how great it was for my use, but that's different.
I saw John Deere working on precision at Stanford in 1993 or 1992. (They were endlessly harrowing the same two or three acres. It was pretty funny. The lab that invented GPS was a couple hundred feet away.) GPS took awhile to move into the mainstream, but I now know a bunch of row crop farmers that use it to track everything from planting rates through final yield and they say it helps them manage costs and profits. My point being that I think electric tractors are in their early early days, and while they make some sense for some applications (e.g. mowing around schools), it is going to be awhile before they move out to more mainstream use.
"If the shoe fits, wear it..." (and if it doesn't don't sweat it!)
All the best,
Peter
FritoLay has been using electric trucks since 2010, slowly moving from e-transit vans to semis. The nearest distribution center uses the electric semis. I saw another article that said that the 3-4 hour range worked well with their depot based drivers and trucks.
Not everybody can use or wants a 700HP Case Quad-track, and not everybody wants a CubCadet. Different tools for different jobs in my book. I have corded tools, battery powered tools, and ICE tools, each does what I need. I thought that the early cordless screwdrivers were useless, but with other folks using them, the tools evolved, and I love my cordless drills now. While I would not presume to tell someone else to that they had to use, say, a K&R brand drill press, I might mention how great it was for my use, but that's different.
I saw John Deere working on precision at Stanford in 1993 or 1992. (They were endlessly harrowing the same two or three acres. It was pretty funny. The lab that invented GPS was a couple hundred feet away.) GPS took awhile to move into the mainstream, but I now know a bunch of row crop farmers that use it to track everything from planting rates through final yield and they say it helps them manage costs and profits. My point being that I think electric tractors are in their early early days, and while they make some sense for some applications (e.g. mowing around schools), it is going to be awhile before they move out to more mainstream use.
"If the shoe fits, wear it..." (and if it doesn't don't sweat it!)
All the best,
Peter
