Comment on First highway segment in U.S. wirelessly charges electric heavy-duty truck while driving
CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 2 days ago
Conceptually neat, but the reality is that wireless charging for even small devices like phones is a pretty significant waste of energy, at scale. The amounts of energy involved with wirelessly charging a heavy truck - or even car - would be unconscionably large.
It’s a bit like uber with their not-a-bus bus service. Humans already invented a solution that works really well. It’s called a pantograph.
Horsecook@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Schmuppes@lemmy.today 1 day ago
Wtf is wrong with that picture?
Horsecook@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Schmuppes@lemmy.today 1 day ago
Oh wow. Didn’t know they would transport them semi-upright.
ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 2 days ago
The pantograph system in Germany failed though… Too ahead of its time?
And I’m saying this while being very much pro-pantograph.
arty@feddit.org 9 hours ago
Came here to say this. We tested this in Germany and this experiment failed. Too bad that they didn’t post the details then. I wish this had worked…
arty@feddit.org 9 hours ago
I dived deeper and found the full results of the eWayBW test and a summary. So far I don’t see there why the test was considered a failure. It’s all in German of course.
ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 7 hours ago
I didn’t read all of it but the technical side was mostly OK (as expected, it’s an adaptation of proven train technology), it’s just that there was little commercial interest.
arty@feddit.org 6 hours ago
That would mean that a more progressive country could use it successfully
rhythmisaprancer@piefed.social 2 days ago
I didn’t realize until I read your linked article that wireless charging is essentially induction. Contactless. I have never had one of these devices. Now I want modern earbuds even less. Thanks for sharing that article!
GreenCrunch@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
Yeah, this sounds stupid, and I’m worried about the amount of power wasted by induction charging. Anyone who’s wirelessly charged a phone knows it can get quite hot; that’s wasted energy. And Indiana’s generation is still mostly natural gas and coal, so at some point, with enough losses in transmission and charging, you’ll end up with a higher-carbon vehicle than a diesel truck…
I am not sure what that point is, but the efficiency of charging is an important consideration in my mind.
GreenCrunch@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
Also, supplying electricity to fast moving ground vehicles isn’t new, just look at… every high speed rail system ever…
reddig33@lemmy.world 1 day ago
If you could somehow safely combine induction charging with electrical transmission lines, it would be worth it. No more lines on poles.