Comment on First highway segment in U.S. wirelessly charges electric heavy-duty truck while driving
CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 16 hours 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 12 hours ago
Schmuppes@lemmy.today 12 hours ago
Wtf is wrong with that picture?
Horsecook@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
Schmuppes@lemmy.today 6 hours ago
Oh wow. Didn’t know they would transport them semi-upright.
rhythmisaprancer@piefed.social 16 hours 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!
ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 15 hours ago
The pantograph system in Germany failed though… Too ahead of its time?
And I’m saying this while being very much pro-pantograph.
GreenCrunch@piefed.blahaj.zone 16 hours 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 16 hours ago
Also, supplying electricity to fast moving ground vehicles isn’t new, just look at… every high speed rail system ever…