Posted on 11/10/2023 9:53:17 AM PST by old-ager
Sez Uncle Tony: "When we heard that the new for 2025 Ram Ramcharger EV was going to be equipped with a gasoline powered generator to be used as a "range extender", it seemed like a practical and novel answer to the issue of range anxiety. " The reality is they've created an over stuffed, over complicated, oversized Frankenstein that has no accurate classification within the current world of vehicles. It's not an EV, It's not a Hybrid and it's not anything that could ever be considered sustainable."
I have always liked the concept of using ICE to drive electric in the same way Diesel Locomotives or various ships do. The torque advantage is pretty clear, I am told.
But I admit to only looking at it from the mechanical/performance perspective, because I wholly reject the idiotic climate change perspective.
Electricity comes from somewhere, not from fairy dust and unicorn farts, and definitely not from those outlets on the walls. It is produced inside the vehicle via ICE, or it is produced externally via coal, petroleum, hydropower, or nuclear. I don’t even take into account wind or solar, as it is still a small percentage.
> Why do they need a generator that large?
Same reason you need glass packs and a black smoke generator on a pickup.
Nice generator. We’ll see if it has a 500 amp electrical take-off.
From the Washington Examiner...
New York will rely on diesel-powered snow plows as opposed to electric ones this Winter, halting its goal to put electric ones on the street after a failed testing period.
Three years ago, the New York Department of Sanitation ordered seven electric rear loader garbage trucks made by Mack LR Electric. The department has not been able to find electric trucks that are powerful enough to plow snow like the original diesel ones.
> I have always liked the concept of using ICE to drive electric in the same way Diesel Locomotives or various ships do
Couple of points. You don’t need massive dangerous Chinese lithium batteries to do that. You get rid of the transmission, I guess. You can run the engine at best efficiency or highest power output. You commit to losing a lot of energy in the bidirectional transformation (mechanical - electric - mechanical). If you go like a diesel electric train engine, you don’t have the batteries and can’t recover anything from braking.
I was in no way defending the Ram truck.
I wish someone made a real hybrid diesel-electric pickup truck. Makes a lot of sense for a short-range hard working application like around the farm.
The Navy gets even more complicated with CODLAG propulsion in our next gen Constellation class Frigate, combining both Diesel and Gas Turbine generators to drive electric propulsion. It's a proven system by Fincantieri, so hopefully we don't find a way to screw it up.
oh, I understood you.
Just like the diesel trains. A new gimmick for the crooks to try to sell to their gullible customers.
Want a recent example? A friend just bought a new $80k Ram Laramie Hemi. This guy was showing me that it didn’t have an alternator. “This is a new kind of Alternator”.
I saw on the side it said Etorque. This guy had bought a Mild Hybrid and didn’t even know it. The Stealership never told him.
> Stealership
That’s a keeper!
And they work well. The reason for that configuration is as ICE engines scale up, it becomes more difficult to scale up suitable transmissions.
Steam trains, like electric motors, are good at supplying low-end torque. Their gear systems are fixed in the rod lengths and wheel diameters. Ships also have massive fixed reduction gears. Propellers can start moving in water from zero rpm.
For the narrow powerband rpm of diesel engines, you need multiple gears. Diesel-electrics solve that problem for large vehicles. The diesels run at their optimum rpm as generators, and electric motors lay down the instant torque to the road or track.
None of this is required for passenger vehicles, as suitable transmissions are readily available.
As do virtually all cruise ships. Electric, except for what provides the electricity.
> passenger vehicles
Which the pickup trucks are.
As for optimizing efficiency or power, yes, that’s there I guess. But while I guess it will be possible to retrofit this truck with straight pipes and black smoke, drivers are not going to tolerate not being able to very loudly and blackly wind up their engines.
It’s stupid. “Real” freepers understand that.
Correct - Hybrid Prius uses regenerative braking to charge the battery while using electric and combustion engines in different roles.
I been driving Ram 1500s for 15 years. Ill keep with the Hemi until I cant. Whatever this thing is... Im good with.
How is this any kind of advantage over a ICE powered truck, except for the torque?”
It sounds like a Rube Goldberg solution to range anxiety. “It charges itself!”
> As for optimizing efficiency or power
Well, no. Mechanical - electric - chemical - electric - mechanical. Not lossy!
Sorry yo-yo. I didn’t read your comment very well. You’re right, I need remedial reading.
You just happened to hit a pet peeve with that term. It was just never needed and it’s sad to see it leak out of the nutty programming world. And funny that I was just dreading that. Actually I’ve seen it around FR for a while.
“Usage” or “application” or “scenario” were just fine. To my knowledge, use case was not a term until Ivar Jacobsen (a smart guy) introduced it.
Thanks for chatting. My apology.
This is even stupider than pure EVs. All of the weight and complexities of a big Li battery as well as the weight and associated shit of an ICE. I guess we should expect this kind of crap from an Italian/French outfit. By the way the REAL Ramcharger was the 1961 Super Stock Dodge with the cross-ram 413.
Am I wrong that the Pious does have a mechanical connection from the engine to the wheels?
Worked on the design of a diesel electric research vessel. Much of the work involved getting to a location fast then holding station for hrs to days. Once the Cat diesels did the heavy work an aux. generator did the stay put phase. One problem we had was that unlike a locomotive, it didn’t have the ‘toaster grid’ for braking. The solution was a 30 second dead band programmed into the control system to avoid regeneration. (didn’t have batteries) On the maiden voyage from the yard to our dock the skipper called for reverse and hit the deadband. The damage wasn’t severe but the capt. was very embarassed.
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