Comment by Bender

Comment by Bender 8 days ago

will it sell gas?

Yes and especially diesel which will not go away for a few generations. There are no EV replacements for heavy trucks and they do not appear to be viable yet. 3500 through 7500 series. Battery tech will have to make science fiction level improvements. When those trucks are gone society comes to a stand-still. Comparison to earth moving equipment in mines do not apply.

what convenience items will it sell?

The popular versions of what they sell today and is known to bring in revenue.

who, if anyone, will staff it?

Mostly high-school kids, some people that do not have the confidence to move on and some with criminal backgrounds.

what payment methods will it accept?

Credit, Debit, Cash. Maybe bitcoin.

will it offer new services?

If they have the parking lot space then there may be battery swap stations to quickly swap out EV packs, offer paid upgrades to newer batteries and battery tech every few years.

defrost 8 days ago

> There are no EV replacements for heavy trucks and they do not appear to be viable yet.

Janus Electric has been converting prime movers to electric since 2019, listed on the ASX this year, and have demonstrated viability.

* https://primemovermag.com.au/body-electric/

* https://www.januselectric.com.au/news/janus-unveils-first-el...

* https://www.januselectric.com.au/

So far they've barely made a dent in global big truck numbers but they're planning to expand over the next few years .. and there are others in the same business.

> Comparison to earth moving equipment in mines do not apply.

Why not? These fleets have been quasi electric since the 1970s, have serious ongoing research into fully renewable replacement paths, and are responsible for a massive chunk of transport fuel usage given the sheer number of mines in the world and numbers such as iron ore mining in one Australia state alone accounting for > than a billion tonnes moved by trucks alone (including overburden, etc).

These aren't trucks that refuel at gas stations, but they are a considerable sink for fossil fuels.

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Bender 7 days ago

Why not? These fleets have been quasi electric since the 1970s
They move slowly on dedicated predictable paths all controlled by the same system that choreographs their movements, controls who goes in for system charges. Some of them are EV in the sense they use electricity but they have no batteries. More of them now have batteries but they can in no way be compared to the usage patterns of human use cases. This is why batteries have been viable for them since the 70's. Massive inefficient monsters on slow moving controlled paths. Some of them charge whilst moving using massive cables laid out in the roads in the mine. In a mine slow and steady wins the race. In the rest of the world it would be chaos or more specifically not viable.
Big-rigs also make sense as the fleet owned and controlled trucks can charge at dedicated yards and will all move in coordinated efforts.
There are still no viable 3500 through 7500 series trucks operated by small to medium business owners and those run the short haul of many industries in the USA. As such the diesel versions of them will be around for a very long time. I keep an eye on battery tech for my own selfish reasons and have yet to see anything that would power those trucks without pushing them over their weight limits to the point of making them legally unusable. As is business owners skirt the line when they are on the scales. Heavy batteries would require them to cut their loads and effectively also eat their profits and waste a lot of their time making multiple trips. If they become viable I will see it right away as I am surrounded by them and business owners will do what makes financial sense. I will be the first to change opinions on this when it is a profitable option.
The closest I have yet to see in Science Fiction levels of battery improvement is 3D printed solid state batteries and they have a long way to go just to make it into tools, cell phones, etc... That needed to happen a decade ago if we want to see them in big trucks within 15 years. I would love to be proven wrong ... for my own selfish reasons unrelated to electric vehicles.

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