There was a one or two mile test of a catenary system near the ports in Los Angeles several years ago, using Siemens technology.
The pilot project had an interesting twist - the pantograph would be connected for a portion of the trip, and then the truck would operate normally under whatever normally powered it - diesel or natural gas. There are videos of the system in operation, but the problem was that there were constant problems in even constructing the overhead wire system. If anyone is interested, there must be a final report or summary out there someplace. The Siemens guys were nice, the project - less so. - Mark Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone > On Aug 3, 2021, at 12:02 PM, Peri Hartman via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > > What if Highways Were Electric? Germany Is Testing the Idea. > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/business/electric-trucks-catenary-wire.html#commentsContainer > > There’s a debate over how to make the trucking industry free of emissions, > and whether batteries or hydrogen fuel cells are the best way to fire up > electric motors in big vehicles. Mr. Schmieder was part of a test of a third > alternative: a system that feeds electricity to trucks as they drive, using > wires strung above the roadway and a pantograph mounted on the cab. > ... > And the system is relatively simple. Siemens, the German electronics giant > that provided the hardware for this test route, adapted equipment that has > been used for decades to drive trains and urban street cars. > ... > So far the sections of highway equipped with overhead cable in Germany are > short — about three miles long in both directions near Frankfurt. Their > purpose is to test how the system performs in everyday use by real trucking > companies hauling real goods. By the end of the year more than 20 trucks will > be using the systems in Germany. > ... > Longer term, according to Siemens figures, 4,000 kilometers of wired highway, > or nearly 2,500 miles, would accommodate 60 percent of German truck traffic. > ... > But the onus would be on the German government to build the overhead cables, > which cost an estimated 2.5 million euros per kilometer, or about $5 million > per mile. > ... > But, responding to questions from The New York Times, the ministry noted that > batteries are getting cheaper and better all the time, and charging times are > dropping. “In the final analysis the total cost of infrastructure, vehicles > and energy will decide what technology or combination of technologies > prevails,” the ministry said. > ... > The cables also recharged the Scania’s battery, which stores enough power to > drive short distances emission-free in urban traffic. That is another > advantage of the catenary system: The eHighway could eliminate the need for > charging stops, important in the trucking industry where time is money. > > --------- > > The fact that Tesla nearly has a semi tractor capable of many long haul > routes leads me to believe the battery solution will win. Nonetheless, it's > great to see this experiment happening. > > Peri > > << Annoyed by leaf blowers ? https://quietcleanseattle.org/ >> > > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to [email protected] > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ > LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
