New Ford electric locomotive.

[bicknell]

Ford just demoed a new electric locomotive. It's a small switcher, but can move 10 loaded cars!

https://jalopnik.com/watch-an-electr...ion-1836632603

[Allen H.]

Built Ford Tough!

Of course, once it's rolling it's easy, getting it rolling is a little tougher, but still....

[MetroRedLn]

Ford just demoed a new electric locomotive. It's a small switcher, but can move 10 loaded cars!

https://jalopnik.com/watch-an-electr...ion-1836632603

If this is the only way the model RR industry can release modern vehicles in N scale, then dagummit, bring it on.

[Doug Gosha]

Found On Rail Dead.



Doug

- - - Updated - - -

Fix Or Rerail Daily.



Doug

[el Gato Gordo]

The ability to pull a million pounds is irrelevant. Can it pull a travel trailer 700 miles in a day, day after day? Can it pull the horse trailer up Ute Pass (9,000') with 2,300 pounds of horses and gear? And our requirements as truck owners are relatively modest.

[Tim R]

I hope they put an air compressor in the back so they can charge the brakes on those cars, enabling them to stop them.

[el Gato Gordo]

I hope they put an air compressor in the back so they can charge the brakes on those cars, enabling them to stop them.

Yes, I had the image of miscalculating the grade, and the consequences of there being a slight downslope.

[zosimas]

Forget pulling..... can it plow through 4’ of snow up hill?

[bicknell]

The ability to pull a million pounds is irrelevant. Can it pull a travel trailer 700 miles in a day, day after day? Can it pull the horse trailer up Ute Pass (9,000') with 2,300 pounds of horses and gear? And our requirements as truck owners are relatively modest.

Electric motors have insane torque, much more than gas engines. So pulling the weight up the hill, that should be easy.

700 miles a day, that's a big challenge with current battery capacity.

[el Gato Gordo]

Right! It is not the electric motor that concerns me in either of my examples. It is the sustainability of the battery charge.

[Tim R]

Yes, I had the image of miscalculating the grade, and the consequences of there being a slight downslope.

Even if it's on the level, that truck won't have any problem getting the cars moving fast enough to that they will smash the truck flat against the hypothetical "immovable object" in front of it.

Getting stuff going is the easy part.

[dwwojcik]

It isn't so much that electric motors have more torque than IC engines, the advantage is that electric motors have peak torque around 0 rpm, which is when you need it most. IC engines have to rev up before they reach peak torque.

Can it pull a travel trailer 700 miles in a day, day after day? Can it pull the horse trailer up Ute Pass (9,000') with 2,300 pounds of horses and gear? And our requirements as truck owners are relatively modest.

Modest among people who actually use the truck to tow maybe. For someone like you, I think Ford has something more like the diesel F-150 in mind. And the dealer will probably try and upsell you to a SuperDuty. Towing all that the battery on the electric would probably last 50 miles.

But think of all the truck owners who live in the suburbs and cities who have never even bought a trailer hitch much less towed anything with their truck. People buy F-150s to commute to and from their desk job because they might buy a few bags of mulch or a 2x4 a couple times a year. The concrete QC guy at my construction job last summer had a company-issued F-150 platinum to use as a mobile air conditioner/Wi-Fi Hotspot and to haul cylinders and a wheelbarrow around. Ford just has to convince these people (who could get by with a Prius) that the electric truck isn't a Prius.

When I first heard Ford was planning an electric F-150 I thought it would be smart if they appealed to the typical (or stereotypical anyway) truck buyer by dowplaying the efficiency/green aspect and making the comparison to the technology that locomotives use. It's a bit more macho that way.

[bicknell]

Towing will be the last application for battery trucks, but I want to jump on what was just said.

There are a LOT of construction guys who use their truck for dozens of miles per day, but then hours of sitting in the air conditioner. There are lots more who drive it to the work site and park it, only to turn around and fire up a very polluting gas generator to make their power tools go. A battery truck could run the AC much more efficiently. It could have power outlets to drive electric tools. The range may be 300 miles, but they drive 30 in a day and use the other 270 of "range" to do these other activities. I suspect for a lot of these guys the truck will save thousands in gas and maintenance bills, not to mention down time of the truck being in the shop for oil changes, transmission services and the like. This is the market where the trucks will shine first, and once corporate fleets get wiff of the savings they will be lining up to buy them.

I have an F-150. I'm a bit more than a few bags of mulch per year, but I do only tow about 4-5 times a year, and when I do it's a 5x8 cargo trailer (full of trains!) and typically < 150 miles one way. Many of our shows are in the 30-80 mile range. Even if my 300 mile range truck only got 100 miles towing, it would meet a lot of my needs (if the hotels had chargers, as more and more do!). I don't see the need to spend $$$ on a new truck, but I suspect by the time I do they will have a battery one that meets my needs.

I can even see a day where the choice is battery or diesel (for long range high capacity towing), with no gas option.

[el Gato Gordo]

You make good points, Leo. This is obviously designed for the suburban truck owner who uses it to make runs to Lowes or a garden shop on weekends. Once you get out of the cities and suburbs, however, you will find trucks used for more heavy duty stuff - towing boats, bringing a load of feed (truck and trailer loaded) 30 miles from the Co-op, hauling stock. Even the suburban dwellers may want to haul the travel trailer or 5th wheel on vacation or a hunting trip a few times a year. I just brought 3/4 ton of hay from the feed store 35 miles away this morning - and yes, it's a half ton truck. People with a real use for a truck won't be buying them. I'll stick with my 2011 Silverado with the 6.3L engine (and the Prius for lighter work). I'm hoping this truck will last until I no longer need one.

[bicknell]

I suspect it works for more than you think. Sure the 5th wheel 500 miles in a day won't work. But 30 miles to co-op? The boat to the lake 50 miles away? No problem.

The best data to date is the Model X, with a 5,000 lbs towing capacity. Here's an article: https://www.greencarreports.com/news...-superchargers

So towing decreases range 45-60%. Let's go with the high end, 60%. A Model X 100D has a range of 295 miles not towing, so perhaps 118 towing your load of feed. Feed store is 35 miles away, 70 miles round trip, or about 60% of the available range. Basically, no problem!

This article, https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/f...50-production/, suggests they are targeting a > 400 mile range with the larger battery pack. Doing the same calculation for towing provides a 160 mile range towing. Again, it won't get your 5th wheel 500 miles across the country in a day easily, but it would take a lot of boats to the lake, feed to the store, mini-ex's to the construction sites and all that no problem.

[el Gato Gordo]

More information is always good. Thanks. Leo! I'm still a skeptic, but I can see such a vehicle could be useful to someone who doesn't go far with any kind of load.

On the lighter side, next there will be charging stations like Miniatur Wunderland. Anode and cathode contacts on the side mirrors, and a chip that senses battery charge and automatically drives the car/truck into the nearest charging station when needed. Of course credit cards are accepted. Extra cost for super fast charge.

Despite all my doubts about the heavy duty use of electric vehicles, I am an advocate for environmental preservation and believe that we must change our energy gluttony in view of climate change. But all that, however, is a topic for an entirely different forum.

Cheers, everyone! I'm exiting this thread.

[Tim R]

When my venerable Honda Odyssey died (after 17 years (12 of which I owned it) and 400K+ miles) I bought a pick-up (2008 GMC Canyon) because I was in layout building mode and didn't want to keep pestering my friends about fetching plywood for me. Considering the current rate of progress by the time I finish major construction on my layout I'll be able to buy a used practical electric self-driving sedan.

I'm sure that by then someone will have a railfan hack for the control system.