Will the Iran war push more people towards EVs?

[Black estate]

I'm sure you're right. But there are a lot of short-haul van routes that could be electrified relatively easily using overnight charging, but aren't.

All comes down to money
Big companies like DPD Amazon Tescos etc have gone electric but the one man band Evri courier can’t afford the out lay on their rates

Does it have CCS charging?

Tobias the German Elektrotrucker sometimes unhitches his trailer and plugs in at car CCS chargers. Perhaps less space for that sort of thing at UK charging sites.

Yess it’s ccs so in theory I could charge at work as there is car chargers there , but not at week days as a charge would take too long

 

[EvTek23]

EV's could definitely become an advantage if the campaign carries on for months and affects the long term supply of oil, and fuel rationing is introduced (presumably not with a ration book like it was in the 70's) but by limiting the quantity that can be bought each time.
The other horror we had in the 70's was the 3 day working week, coupled with electricity supplies being turned off every 3 hours in the evenings.....but maybe we have that covered too with V2L capability of the MG4 at least.

 

[Corindikev]

Electrifying trucks and commercial vehicles has made inroads down under.

Fortescue are spending $4 billion with Liebherr on 360 fully autonomous electric dump trucks. Quite a few already in service, & a lot of diesel tractor units are being retrofitted with battery electric motors. BHP & Rio Tinto are trialling Caterpillar electric haul trucks in the Pilbara.

Janus Electric started the first trials from Sydney to Melbourne 2 or 3 years ago. The conversion from diesel to electric is cheaper than a diesel overhaul. They have done 25 so far. There are over 200,000 electric long haul trucks in China. This year electric trucks have out sold diesel for the first time.

Fortescue Rio Tinto & BHP are all installing solar farms and batteries. 50 megawatts of solar panels requires only about 80-90 hectares. The desert has plenty of empty space & Batteries can be swapped out in a few minutes, less time than it takes to refuel with diesel.

In the Janus initial trials in 2022 a fully loaded B-Double easily got to Coffs Harbour from Sydney on a single charge & the battery was swapped out in 15 minutes. The driver though had a compulsory minimum 2 hour layover before he could continue to Brisbane or go back to Sydney.

I watched a Youtube video of a battery swap in Auckland NZ that took less than 5 minutes. The battery swap business is separate to truck ownership so there is no capital cost for the trucking business.

Truck battery Swap

 

[Rolfe]

All comes down to money
Big companies like DPD Amazon Tescos etc have gone electric but the one man band Evri courier can’t afford the out lay on their rates

Maybe what's going on will shift the balance on that.

EV's could definitely become an advantage if the campaign carries on for months and affects the long term supply of oil, and fuel rationing is introduced (presumably not with a ration book like it was in the 70's) but by limiting the quantity that can be bought each time.
The other horror we had in the 70's was the 3 day working week, coupled with electricity supplies being turned off every 3 hours in the evenings.....but maybe we have that covered too with V2L capability of the MG4 at least.

I don't remember any ration books in the 1970s.

 

[T1 Terry]

Problem is pay load and range ,
The Merc I'm driving is combined with a Skeli container trailer is 16.5t with no box so leaves only 25.5t as it rated at 42T , but higher the weight higher the battery drain and couple that with a lead footed driver and lack of paying chargers
Southampton to Avon mouth running at 32t there and 20t back left me with 25% charge or 112mile range
If the charging network was better like cars ,
Also it's £47k to install a HGV charger in our yard as it needs 3 phase installed
Apart from Southampton docks the only other 2 pay as you go chargers are Exeter Moto M5 and Baldock Extra A1

Battery swapping I think is the real answer. Reduces the strain on the grid, much better utilisation of solar and even vertical turbine generation and can double as a good source of back up power for the grid if required.

T1 Terry

 

[EvTek23]

I don't remember any ration books in the 1970s.

I've found by way of example a ration book for a K reg car (1971/2). In those days my father was driving a Ford Corsair 1500 deluxe, and my mother had an Austin A35, we had them for both. I don't know on what basis they were issued. My father drove to work around 50 miles a day, so maybe they were issued for higher milage users.

 

[T1 Terry]

It might create a whole new industry, the electrification of the old truck rather than just replacing it. Even a separate mob developing the battery swap lease system.
The problem with the "lead footed driver" can be sorted over the air by the transport logistics section, those using excessively aggressive throttle patterns get their performance map steps tapered back and it comes up on the instrument display, so they know they cause the poor performance, not a problem with the truck, but the nut behind the wheel .....

Over here with the computer managed trucks, the head office can dial up the power when it sees the rig is approaching a big climb, like the jump ups on the run the Perth, as well as increase the regen for those on long downhill runs with a big load on the back ...... an owner driver can do the same thing in an electric truck, not so easy in a computer controlled diesel though ...
The EV advantages:
An A triple rolling weight of 120 tonne that can go down the hill right on the speed limit set for heavy vehicles without touching the brakes or over revving the engine ..... later roll on upgrades like remote drive trailers master controlled from the cab, with their own battery pack so every wheel drives and can operate in regen as well, so no risk of spinning off the mark or snaking/jack knifing on a wet down hill run or slippery surface ...... the prime mover only needs enough performance and battery capacity to stay in front of the trailers .... no more crawling up long hills or needing big stopping distances ......

T1 Terry

 

[Black estate]

4x2 axle trucks will be easier to covert than 6x2 axle ones as there’s more space between cab and rear axle for batteries
The motor , gear box and diff stay in the centre and 24v batteries will probably stay where they are
Other extras needed are a electric air compressor and cooling fan

 

[Ian Key]

I don't remember any ration books in the 1970s.

I don't either. Thanks @EvTek23 for filling a gap in my memory.

I do remember the maximum speed limit was lowered to 50 mph and travelling through the newly opened Spaghetti junction on our way to my auntie's.

 

[Roldorf]

My father drove to work around 50 miles a day, so maybe they were issued for higher milage users.

No they were issued to all car owners. I had one for a 1966 (D reg) 1200 cc Ford Cortina in Purbeck Grey. Petrol was 33p a gallon. We Could drive from Guisborough to Heysham on a pounds worth of petrol and did quite often.

 

[T1 Terry]

4x2 axle trucks will be easier to covert than 6x2 axle ones as there’s more space between cab and rear axle for batteries
The motor , gear box and diff stay in the centre and 24v batteries will probably stay where they are
Other extras needed are a electric air compressor and cooling fan

In the Janus conversions, the motor and gearbox fit in the spot where the engine was, leaving the space behind for the batteries to fit around the tailshaft.
The other design is a 2 sp diff and the electric motor is in each diff in the prime mover and each wheel has an inboard electric motor, around 50kw.
The prime mover has 2 x 100kw axles:
each 3 axle trailer has 6 x 50kw motors, so a bogie drive tri axle trailer has 500kw on the ground
add a dolly and another tri axle trailer adds 600kw for a total 1100kw on the ground for an A double
1700kw for an A triple, no hill would slow you down with that sort of power and torque on any of those combinations, every tyre is a drive tyre but only seeing 25kw per tyre, so trailer tyre all round and steer tyres up front, every drive wheel also is a regen braking wheel, no possibility of tyre lock up as there is no regen if the wheel isn't turning, so incredible slowing, when required, supplying free fuel .....

T1 Terry

 

[EvTek23]

No they were issued to all car owners. I had one for a 1966 (D reg) 1200 cc Ford Cortina in Purbeck Grey. Petrol was 33p a gallon. We Could drive from Guisborough to Heysham on a pounds worth of petrol and did quite often.

Does anyone know why? I was 10 at the time, so I don't suppose I was told or really needed to know. Would it have been a council decision?
BTW, @Roldorf, our Corsair was Goodwood Green from 1964, it was only ever registered with 3 digits and 3 letters, in the format of yours it would have been a B reg.

 

[Rolfe]

I am gobsmacked. I learned to drive in late 1971 (my 18th birthday was in November) and passed my test in the early spring of 1972. Almost exactly 55 years ago, good grief. I learned with a husband-and-wife driving school, and went out in my father's car (a red Ford Escort) with both my father (who never took a driving test in his life) and the church beadle, who had an advanced driving qualification. After I passed I borrowed Dad's car quite regularly. I don't remember any ration books at all.

I do remember the maximum speed limit being lowered. What I think I remember is the original introduction of the 70 mph national limit, which was always about saving fuel not about safety, but I'm not arguing about it being lowered to 50. I suppose this is where somebody googles it and an AI answers and we have no idea how accurate that answer is.

 

[Ian Key]

"On 11 June 1964 a team from AC Cars met at 4am at the Blue Boar Services (Watford Gap) on the M1. They were there to speed-test a Cobra Coupe GT in preparation for Le Mans.

They didn’t have a long enough stretch of straight test track to check the top speed of the car, so they opted to use a section of the motorway instead. The driver, Jack Sears, registered speeds of 185 mph during the run, which is the highest speed ever recorded on a British motorway. The absence of any speed limit meant their test run was perfectly legal.

Two policemen approached the team at the services afterwards, but only to get a closer look at the car!

A number of car crashes during the foggy autumn of 1965 led the government to hold consultations with the police and the National Road Safety Advisory Council. They concluded that the crashes were caused by vehicles travelling too fast for the conditions."

 

[Roldorf]

In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War (Wikipedia)

That´s when the ration books came out. Ted Heath, the three day week, the miners strike. I worked at ICI and went fishing on the two days I wasn´t working.

 

[Everest]

But there are a lot of short-haul van routes that could be electrified relatively easily using overnight charging, but aren't.

Good idea. Just think - if the fuel crisis continues - the dairies could start delivering us fresh milk daily using EV's to save us driving to the shops. And - even better - busses going on fixed routes around towns could have two poles attached to the top of them, to draw electric power direct from overhead cables.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Really ..... are you off your trolley . .

 

[Black estate]

Good idea. Just think - if the fuel crisis continues - the dairies could start delivering us fresh milk daily using EV's to save us driving to the shops. And - even better - busses going on fixed routes around towns could have two poles attached to the top of them, to draw electric power direct from overhead cables.

Why not just use 1hp organic traction if you need more power just add more 1hp units
They could even deliver beer

 

[Caramaddy]

Does anyone know why? I was 10 at the time, so I don't suppose I was told or really needed to know. Would it have been a council decision?
BTW, @Roldorf, our Corsair was Goodwood Green from 1964, it was only ever registered with 3 digits and 3 letters, in the format of yours it would have been a B reg.

My father had a Goodwood Green Corsair 1500 - not the V4! EKE623C!

I believe the ration coupons were issued but never actually used in anger.

 

[Caramaddy]

Will this war push more EV uptake?

Yes, provided the person is thinking of changing their vehicle. It might mean that used EV's will increase in value (just a thought).

Whatever your budget for changing your vehicle, if a suitable EV can be found at that price then it makes economic sense alone. As has already been mentioned, none of us will be immune from the price hikes associated with the higher cost to manufacturing industries - including the cost of electricity. If electric doubled, it would STILL be cheaper to run an EV.