When GM announced they were closing their Lordstown, Ohio, plant in 2018 President Trump jumped into action to negotiate a deal between GM and a new company intent on building an electric pickup truck. GM sold the plant in 2019 to Lordstown Motors and took a partial equity stake in the new company… a win/win deal that saved the jobs for the auto workers and ancillary businesses in Ohio.
Today President Trump introduces the outcome of that new venture, the 2021 Endurance pickup truck; the world’s first true four wheel drive electric motor commercial vehicle. President Trump, Peter Navarro, Senator Rob Portman, Congressman Mike Turner, together with Steve Burns, CEO of Lordstown Motors, Rich Schmidt, Lordstown Motors Employee and Michael Fabian, Lordstown Motors introduce the new vehicle. WATCH:
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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is incredible. So this is a vehicle where the — essentially, the engines — the motor’s engines are in the wheels. They’re in the wheels — in all four wheels.
It’s Lordstown, Ohio. They make them in Lordstown, Ohio. You know Senator Portman. We are — we’ve been working on this very long and very hard because General Motors left the plant. This is a company that went in — and, I guess, General Motors is your partner. But they went in, and they have an incredible vehicle. And you’ll make how many a year when you get it going?
MR. BURNS: Well, we’ll make north of 100,000 once we get going.
THE PRESIDENT: And they’ve already started. But this is a really unique thing because the four wheels are — and you would call it a motor, right?
MR. BURNS: “Hub motor,” we call it.
THE PRESIDENT: It’s called a “hub motor.” “Hub motor.” And this is the only one that does this in the world, and it has a lot of advantages. Maybe you’ll explain the advantages.
MR. BURNS: Well, it’s just a true four-wheel drive. The first true four-wheel drive pickup truck ever made. So with a computer and a motor on each wheel, you can get the best traction possible. So if you look 50 years out, and cars have four wheels, they’re going to have simple hub motors on them because it’s — it’s the simplest —
THE PRESIDENT: Do you think that this is the wave of the future?
MR. BURNS: Yeah.
THE PRESIDENT: This is the first time ev- — it’s ever been done. It’s been thought of for a long time. In theory, it should work better.
MR. BURNS: Yeah.
THE PRESIDENT: I mean, it should work better.
MR. BURNS: Yeah. It does work better. It does work better.
THE PRESIDENT: It also gives you room inside here.
MR. BURNS: Yeah.
THE PRESIDENT: So is that additional room that you have?
MR. BURNS: Yeah. So it’s the first pickup truck with a trunk; it’s in the front. So you can call it a “frunk,” but you have to pronounce it carefully, right?
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
MR. BURNS: This is the first — you know, it — you can eliminate a toolbox back here because you can put your things up front.
THE PRESIDENT: Rob, would you like to say something?
SENATOR PORTMAN: Just, this — this is exciting. Lordstown, Ohio, got a gut punch when General Motors decided to stop making the Chevy Cruze and pulled out. Fifteen hundred workers lost their jobs right away. They actually reduced the workforce over time to that.
So this was the biggest employer in the Mahoning Valley, which is where Youngstown is and Lordstown. We are now calling it “Voltage Valley,” because we not only have this electric pickup truck being produced at the old General Motors plant, but right next to that plant, there’s a new LG Chem/General Motors joint venture making batteries. And they’re going to hire 1,100 people this year.
So the combination of this company and the battery plant will mean we’ve replaced about the same number of workers but with a really interesting future, which is to bring in even more electric vehicle — electric technology companies. And Youngstown State University is playing an active role in this, in providing training on electric vehicles and technology. So this is a rebirth, and it’s really exciting.
And, as you know, the President and this administration have been very helpful in this effort to try to bring back the jobs to the Mahoning Valley.
THE PRESIDENT: And it’s exciting because everyone has wanted to do — do this. This is a great technology. They’ve known it. But until this, nobody has actually done it, having the motors in each wheel — having motors in each wheel, and they’re very well coordinated, and you can work them individually or whatever is necessary by computer. It’s an incredible concept. I think it’s an incredible concept.
Congressman, would you like to say something?
REPRESENTATIVE TURNER: Well, I just appreciate the President’s support for Ohio and manufacturing. This, obviously, is an accomplishment as a result of Ohio’s rebirth under the Trump economy. And we appreciate his work.
As we look to Lordstown and Ohio, this is — this is a great, good step for the future.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
MR. NAVARRO: Thank you, sir. And this didn’t happen by accident. This was a great partnership. When GM shut down that Cruze plant, that was a devastating blow to the Mahoning Valley. The President sprung into action, Senator Portman sprung into action. We started working with GM, and GM took a — took an equity partnership in this to make it happen, as well as generously gave them some of the footprint inside Lordstown.
But the beauty of it too is that right outside the footprint of Lordstown plant is also this LG Chem battery. So we’re going to have more employees there than when they shut down the Cruze plant, very soon. And over time, it’s going to be great.
So this was — this was a great partnership with the President’s leadership and Senator Portman’s leadership, and everybody really pulled in. And congratulations to you, Mr. Burns.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, the area was devastated when General Motors moved out, and then we worked together, and we made the deal on the plant. But beyond the plant — I mean, it’s incredible what’s happened to the area. It’s booming now. It’s absolutely booming and really great. And you also have room for expansion in a plant.
MR. BURNS: Yep. Oh, yeah. We’ll come out with multiple models. This is just our first model.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s good. That’s great. So they’ll have over 100,000 a year, and I heard the sales are great. And — but the concept, I’ve heard about it for years. I never knew what anyone was doing it. It’s so exciting.
MR. BURNS: Yeah. It’s been a dream for a while, and we got it.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s fantastic. Congratulations. Congratulations.
MR. BURNS: Appreciate it.
THE PRESIDENT: Anybody else? Would you like to say something? You’ve worked at all the different — the big plants, I understand — every one of them.
MR. SCHMIDT: Yeah. I appreciate, you know, joining the team, appreciate you seeing our truck. It’s a world-class vehicle. We can’t wait to launch it this year coming.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, (inaudible).
MR. SCHMIDT: We’re going to be very excited.
THE PRESIDENT: We’ll be there with you.
MR. BURNS: American innovation.
THE PRESIDENT: Would you like to say something?
MR. FABIAN: Yeah. I worked for GM for 34 years. Left when GM left Lordstown, and I got the opportunity to come back and work for Steve.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s great.
MR. FABIAN: It was just — it was too good an opportunity. It’s just a great place to work. Steve takes care of his people, and we’re doing great things right now.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, congratulations to you both. Rob, congratulations. Congratulations. And, Peter, thank you. Congressman, great job. It’s a great job. We’ve all done a good job. What can I say?
But it’s hotter now than it was before, and that’s something really different. And it’s an incredible piece of science, technology. It’s an incredible thing. It’s going to happen now with more and more trucks and cars. And, ultimately, they say you’ll be able to do it for less money, and it’s better, which is a good combination.
Okay. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
Q Mr. President, are you looking forward to the debate?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I am. I do. I’m really —
Q Mr. President, you tweeted about releasing a financial statement. When will you release that?
THE PRESIDENT: — I am looking — I am looking very forward to the debate. Thank you, everybody.
Didn’t 44 say those jobs ain’t coming back, you don’t have a magic wand?
Incredible, imagine if the media would get behind the positive stuff going on. It’s up to us to focus on positive things and influence a what we can, live our best lives.
Zero just needed to learn how to use a magic wand:
Didn’t 44 say those jobs ain’t coming back
Yes, but Obama is so stupid he makes a rhododendron plant seem intelligent.
Obama’s plan was to make sure those jobs would not be coming back. Then God saved us…
Very true!
If all the village idiots of all the villages got together and made their own village of just village idiots, obama would be THEIR village idiot!
Compare and Contrast today with Biden’s empty promises:
In 2009 Biden spoke to a cheering crowd at the shuttered GM Boxwood plant in his home state of Delaware. He announced that electric car company Fisker Automotive was going to reopen in place of GM abandoning the car plant:
“Imagine with me, imagine the day when 2,000 workers are once again passing through those gates…”
The Plant never reopened. Biden was making empty promises after he lead the failed ‘summer of recovery’ in 2009. From a trillion dollar Stimulus, Biden and Obama built a Potemkin village of productivity–Cash for Clunkers, Shovel Ready Jobs that were never shovel ready, and green jobs that never materialized–while they sent US manufacturing packing, facilitating Chinese economic hegemony.
Imagine if the traitor now “governing” New York state had set aside his loyalty to the corruptocrats and actually worked with the Trumpster during the past 47 months. So many of the vampire state’s economic and infrastructure problems could have been creatively and constructively solved. Farook the cuomo crime family and all of their fellow travelers.
THIS. I lived in NYC for long enough to love NY for its good points. It’s sickening to see the mess current corruptocrats have made of it.
Watched a video about Russian Mafia where the narrator explained that something like 35 cents for every gallon of gas was going to mafiosi? NY taxes and taxes, but precious little of the taxation ever reaches the supposed targets. If their money wasn’t siphoned at every turn, they could have a beautiful clean rail system, great schools… but most of everything ends up in the pockets of criminals. Feh
I love NYC!
Trump, maybe Pres. Trump could have helped keep the Amazon deal in NYC despite AOC.
OTH, DeBlasio & Cuomo would have kept Amazon under lockdown to punish a big corporation for being a success.
Do you think DeBlasio realizes yet that by his handling of the riots & letting them loot & destroy businesses plus locking down restaurants & retail, he’s lost property tax revenues & sales tax revenue? A lot of businesses may not come back
Do you see any indication DB is trying to bring NYC back or does he just work out every day & do a press conference??
Anyone had too much winning?
Never win enough winning
Lordstown desperately needed this to happen. KAG!
When that pick up is more widely available we will buy or lease one. Great job PDJT!!
I might buy that!
I’m an investor in this company and the one it came out of – Workhorse, I’m also a loyal reader of Sundance’s. I don’t want this to be an advertisement for the stocks, just some more information.
It’s an excellent design for commercial/fleet vehicles, but the hub motors have drawbacks, such as heat dissipation. Limitations that are fine for companies, but you probably won’t see hub motors in retail cars anytime soon.
The best part of this design is that it makes the vehicle extremely easy to maintain. There is no transmission, drivetrain, or axles.
It has skateboard chassis design that allows other bodies to be easily put on top of it. One of the competitors (the only electric one) for the new USPS truck is from Workhorse and uses this same chassis. So, if Workhorse does get the contract, they will be made by Lordstown Motors.
What is your definition of commercial/fleet vehicles?
My dad’s company bought fleet pickups that were replaced every 18-24 months because they got beat up in the fields. Bare bones, no luxury additions.
That’s the essence of a fleet vehicle!
A heat dissipation issue would almost sound to me to be something made more for consumer rather than business, since it is businesses that tend to use them as workhorses.
What am I getting wrong?
If the engines are in the tires then mud on the tires could be an issue. It might be best as an on road vehicle.
That makes a lot of sense.
I am not that enamored with electric cars. I saw one start itself on fire and then blow up inside a parking garage. Add to that a long, long, list of cell phones and laptops that started fires with the same type of batteries.
“I saw one start itself on fire and then blow up inside a parking garage.”
So sad when I hear about suicidal cars. Probably had two terminals that were both negative.
I saw it on a program called Strange Evidence, currently on the Science Channel.
Meaning they aren’t meant to be ranch hands or mudders,
Which is exactly where you need a four wheel drive. You have diesel electric but you don’t see trains or heavy earth movers using batteries. I like the idea of retaining jobs but until we have a source of electricity for these electric motors I am not a fan.
I think the way this will go is motors first, nuclear second, in the form of liquid salt thorium reactors. These are breeder reactors which could use the stored nuclear waste as fuel and would yield far less waste with a short half life. This, I think, is what POTUS is referring to when he references 2nd generation nuclear power.
I’ve assumed for quite a while now that Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are the 2nd generation of nuclear. SMRs will generally produce about 100 megawatts (MW) each and can be grouped if needed. The newest of the traditional nukes (excepting the Southern Energy plant (Vogtle units 3&4, which will put the total plant output at over 5000 MW) in Georgia that has been under construction for over seven years at an estimated cost of $25B) are 25 years old (with usually an extended life of between 60-80 years). The footprint and operating costs will be much less than traditionals.
it would be a game changer.
This would be a game changer.
TwoLaine, I do know the “Hub Motor” technology is currently used extensively in Electric Bikes.
I ride a little fat-tire mountain bike with a hub motor—designed for mud and snow, so perhaps offroad pickups aren’t too far away?
Yes, our Pedego ‘Elevate’ bikes have hub motors…wonderful product and very responsive. (Don’t be fooled by ‘electric bike’ concept; you can get a very VERY good workout on one!)
Yep and some of us need daily workouts to keep dilapidation at bay
Daughter got me on an electric bike in San Francisco and amazingly, I was able to get everywhere she wanted to go, which included a lot of hilly terrain. 23 miles. I was amazed. If I could do this in San Francisco, you know I could do it in Tennessee (if it isn’t raining)
It took about two weeks for the sore tailbone to go away, though
I bought 3 e-bikes since last summer. Hub motor power assist.
RG Letourneau built huge earth moving machines 50 years ago with hub motors. No drive shafts and no gear boxes. He pioneered offshore jack up drilling rigs.
Railroad locomotives are electric power at the wheels with diesel powered generators.
This will work great. There will be some limitations.
That makes tons of sense.
It’s a weighty subject.
Yes and they are all plastic.
The heat comes from the speed. The Endurance limits top speed via software to 80MPH. I don’t think retail customers would want to buy a pickup to governs top speed like that. For fleets it’s not a problem.
That makes sense. Where I live 80 is not legal, it is well past, so personally I can’t see retail not being interested.
I’m sure the lowered center of gravity is a major plus.
Interesting Mash
The thing is, we’d all like to see electric vehicles on the roads instead of gas, but we all know the limitations, and people are hesitant
Although this is a huge first step in that it uses hub motors, it’s also huge because once there’s an actual viable vehicle being used, the powers that be invest the time and money into making it better, ie, more reliable and more viable for everyone
President Trump could possibly be the catalyst that brings every liberals wet dream to fruition, a viable electric vehicle that can absolutely compete with gas
No, I HATE ELECTRIC vehicles with the strength of 5 suns.
not everyone wants them…
What happens after an accident?
Well, since there’s “no gas” it doesn’t explode.
Whatever else depends on the extent and location of damage.
Is there a risk of vehicle occupants getting battery acid splashed all over them?
Only if the batteries were lead acid type. The Endurance uses lithium ion batteries like my old Prius does. No dangerous chemicals in the event of an accident.
More technical information here:
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/06/meet-the-lordstown-endurance-a-new-52500-electric-work-truck/
Okay, thanks for the info GB Bari ~ 🙂
Further information about the battery platform being used for this truck…
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/03/general-motors-announces-new-battery-platform-claims-100kwh-soon/
My question…if the wheel is impacted, does the car work? What about floods?
WSB I’d guess that it would depend on how much of an impact.
If a regular vehicle’s wheel is impacted in an accident enough to bend it far out of reasonable alignment, it cannot be driven.
If one hub motor stops working, I would hope the computer would allow the truck to still be driven in some sort of “emergency” mode.. At 150Hp per motor, I would hope it could be driven with only one motor working, provided steering and mechanical braking still worked.
Redundant backups…water?
Vulnerability to being partially or fully submerged in Water is also my question… haven’t seen any focus on thst other than this article that mentions the trucks ability to operate in mud, rain or snow.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/06/meet-the-lordstown-endurance-a-new-52500-electric-work-truck/
Thanks. Will read. All different than being submerged in WATER!
They have been using this design on the huge dump trucks for some time. The Diesel engine is only for a generator the hubs are huge electric motors. Very steady low end torque which is what you need with enormous weight like they carry.
Heat dissipation? That would mean energy is escaping. Since energy is neither created or destroyed, the technology needs to have a way to harness that heat to create even more energy.
Since there’s no engine under the front, there’s a Trunk up there! (“frunk”).
This is pretty interesting.
USA getting back to innovating!
Junk in the frunk. 🙂
600 HP, as much torque and a remote job site power source. Great move toward the future with EV vehicles.
I suppose that they are keeping some sort of a ‘lid’ on things, but I would really like to know exactly how this works… anybody?
Again, read up via electric bikes. RadRovewr E-Bikes, among many others. employ a Hub Motor in the hub of the back tire. Other E-Bikes will employ and electric motor in the front and rear hubs. Direct transfer of power to the accompanying wheel.
Correction “RadRover” is the E-Bike company, among others.
Hub motors often feed power back to the battery during braking where the motor becomes a generator. Same with downhill IIRC. Heat dissipation can be mitigated by using “dry water” which is used in data server centers as both a coolant as you can immerse electronics in it and as well as dousing fires rapidly. It would be a simple design where you just have a leak proof casing around the motor with only the axle protruding, pump the dry water through it by fins on the motor itself and have it channeled to a heat dissipator, then back to the motor hub casing. Throw a generator and a propane or gas can in the frunk and/or a set of solar panels and you could safari for days/weeks/months away from a gas station.
Raymond has been using hub motors for side loaders model 71’s (steel house distribution) since about 1951. Similar designs are on other material handling equipment.
Most operate from GE’s EV100 series panel (think GM’s failed EV1 electric vehicle).
Raymond has their own proprietary drive system.
I do not know if Raymond was using it(4-wheel hub drive) in the beginning but they have upgraded to brush-less A/C motors in Raymond products from DC brushed designs for less maintenance.
https://www.johnstonequipment.com/en/forklifts/raymond-lift-trucks/sideloaders/9400-sideloader
This truck is an interesting idea if they can pair it up with a fuel cell recharge system while you drive (30,000$ each for 1KW system, when it was in testing for forklifts a decade ago).
A/C motors my lessen the heat buildup from DC motors, heat will need to be dealt with, could be liquid cooled for heating passenger compartment and radiator for summer heat off-load but would need a coolant that plays well with electricity @36+ volts.
All Obama and O’Biden know about electric vehicles is they hum when you drive them.
What about the cars? Do they hum too?
;o)
All it is missing is a MADE IN THE USA paint job.
IF I were a graphic artist I would have been submitting my design ideas yesterday, or can I create my own?
Lordstown: From Vegas to voltage! GO TRUMP 2020 !!!
Making GM Great Again. 4 More Years
Regardless of the Hussein Obama lackey, Mary Ibarra.
Typo…Mary Barra.
The wheel and the wall……………..
WWW– The Wheel, The Wall, and—- The WIN.
I am on the market for a new pickup truck. This is interesting but the spec’s are too weak to be useful for me — 260 mile range and 7500 pounds towing just do not hack it even if the concept is neat. When they get the range higher, get chargers nationwide (particularly in rural middle of nowhere locations), can tow 16000 pounds, and have local dealers / support, it will be a viable option. Until then, only Ford (F250 / 350), Ram (2500 / 3500), GMC, and Chevy have trucks that can safely and reliably tow a compact track loader. These are only viable for local service fleets that drive under 250 miles per day and do not need to tow heavy equipment.
” These are only viable for local service fleets that drive under 250 miles per day and do not need to tow heavy equipment.”
THAT covers a pretty large market, imo.
A good friend has a painting company with approximately ten smaller trucks or vans.
My bet is if the price point was right, he would purchase a couple, and utilize them in the more upscale neighbourhoods.
Especially those with a Tesla in the garage, and don’t mind spending an extra few K on a paint job, just so as to “stay in” with the neighbours.
There are a fair number of those in and around Greater Vancouver B.C.
Wow! What fun! I could see me in this pick up.
Hey Obama….
Abra-Cadabra-Bitch !
it’s that magic wand . . . keeps on magicking.
ooh, someone cast a spell on my name! There, fixed it.
ooh, someone cast a spell on my name! There, fixed it.
For Obama
“Abra-Ca-Didn’t”
There will never be a more inspirational leader of the U.S and in turn the free world in my lifetime, maybe ever.
Politicians in the future must have a strong business background if they are truly to succeed.
Hopefully PDJT will inspire future aspirants to your nations highest office.
Unlikely but one must be optimistic.
God bless PDJT
“Trump’s foreign policy.”
https://thepointman.wordpress.com/2020/09/27/trumps-foreign-policy/
People say Trump is the best President since Reagan, best since Lincoln, best even since Washington.
Think about it: those men really didn’t have a clue how to be President.
For Washington, what the hell is the job anyway?
For Lincoln, he had very little management experience.
For Reagan, yeah Union Leader and Governor, but compared to Donald?
a lightweight.
I believe that few people grasp the breadth and depth of this President’s current “To Do” List. Nor the LONG Training, Experience and PLANNING he has put into it.
Best National Leader since Hammurabi.
This is what matters.
Amen!
Can’t see me puttering to Florida in one.
No, you would be humming to Florida.
Electric motors don’t “putter”. My ‘05 Prius was extremely quiet when running on battery. I called it “stealth mode.”
I owned that Prius for 13 years. Best and most reliable car I ever owned since my first car in 1968. I’ve owned almost every American brand (AMC, Chevrolet, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge Plymouth, Ford) and Honda, Nissan, Renault, and Toyota.
Besides getting 45 to 54 mpg it handled well, rode well, had amazing interior room, experienced few failures and was the lowest cost of ownership by a huge margin. I’ll take a hybrid any day and as batteries improve I’d try an all-electric vehicle too.
I had the privilege of working with Skunk works on systems like this in the 90’s. The humvee s we modified back then had amazing power with 4 wheel electric hubs. Glad to see it finally coming to a showroom near you!
I want one just for the frunk of it
?
Obamaumau/Binky, created “shovel ready jobs” and the money went to his cronies. And dont forget the stupid solar panel dud.
I am not a fan of electric cars but that’s just me. I don’t mind other folks spending their money however they want for whatever reason.
Especially when it creates more good-paying jobs and more revenue.
100% think it may get some progressives to buy it…hybrids make more sense so saves on gas…
But Trump launched it so it can’t possibly work (/S)
Doesn’t look tough…would’ve gone with an iron look instead…
Also why four motors…doesn’t that just mean more chances to fail?
I want to see a purely mechanical truck…little electric…back to basic steel construction easy to repair too…
happy made in USA
Hub motors aren’t complex and a transmission and differential are far more likely to fail.
very interesting concept. Does it have a battery pack in every motor or one central pack? It probably requires special tires.
Single battery source with current delivered through a computer/ controller. Each hub motor will have sensors feeding back to the controller.
My only concern is reliability when running through a foot or two of water, as trucks sometimes need to do in off-road or temporarily flooded sections of roadways.
Whenever the world says you’re done…
Whenever someone says it can’t be done…
Whenever they say it’s never been done before…
Whenever your critics say it’s impossible…
Real Americans say “hold my beer…”
Hiden Biden talks about what he’ll do for American jobs (where’s he been for the past 5 decades?), while PDJT actually does things for American jobs.
Mr. Burns has a sense of humor.
“MR. BURNS: Yeah. So it’s the first pickup truck with a trunk; it’s in the front. So you can call it a “frunk,” but you have to pronounce it carefully, right?”
There’s got to be an Abbott & Costello skit in there somewhere on that assembly line!
Good for the workers keeping their jobs, but no way I’m ever buying an electric pickup truck!!! ?
This is a specialty service vehicle. Ford sells millions of trucks with the driver, no passenger and driven to work 5 times a week for office job. I bought a new HD truck to pull a 10,000 pound sailboat to the lake and back home in November. Boat left in the water. Bought new cars over the years to drive to the office. Used a crane to launch boat and raise the mast.
Don’t back an e-truck into the water at the boat ramp and put the real wheels in the water.
Great concept and product. I wish they could design it to be the size of my 2003 Toyota Tacoma 4WD. I’d love a new pickup that was small enough to reach into without dropping the tailgate. This is an example of how technology grows by leaps and bounds.
Trumps runs the USA like a kick-ass CEO. He is simply amazing.
US Liberals don’t deserve such an incredible, humble, smart, funny, charismatic, handsome, and brilliant soul as their leader.
I should rephrase that – US liberals want Satan as their leader, and Trump does not meet the minimum requirements for the position. Liberals need to find another country to call hell.
Thank you President Trump! ❤️ Even though we’ll only drive a gas powered truck, we thank you for saving America!
Thank you President Trump! ❤️ Even though we’ll only drive a gas powered truck, we thank you for saving America!
Thank you President Trump! ❤️ Even though we’ll only drive a gas powered truck, we thank you for saving America!
Thank you President Trump! ❤️ Even though we’ll only drive a gas powered truck, we thank you for saving America!
Put a small, 3 cyl CDI diesel in the Frunk driving a generator at the engine’s optimal efficiency point.
Size the engine to produce enough power for steady, level 55 mph plus a slight excess for charging.
Now you’ve got a practical, high efficiency workhorse. Likely better than 50 mpg.
Want to kick it up a notch? Dump braking energy into a vacuum encased pancake flywheel. Computer uses flywheel energy first during acceleration.
Now watch the Global Warming alarmists come out and trash this truck.
Or, at the very least, ignore it completely.
Great article, thx Sundance.
Electric drive, with its huge torque low down, is perfect for trucks and all kinds of commercial vehicles
Electric drive, with its huge torque low down, is perfect for trucks and all kinds of commercial vehicles
Interesting.
For electric 4x4s to be useful they need an onboard fossil fuel engine to run the sparks.
Batteries alone, even in the long term, will be useless for endurance and refuelling time. Existing advances in battery technology are not cost effective so far.
My diesel 4×4 gives me 560 miles highway range and a 6 minute fill up and I can carry jerry cans to do the Canning, i can also have fuel flown in, try that with batteries. You can’t afford fossil fuel? That’s your problem. Am I ever swapping? Don’t be silly.
The Lordstown plant, along with the steel mills, was the lifeblood of the area including the community of Youngstown, Ohio. When the steel mills closed in the 70s, that community was never the same. For decades we waited for something to get this area back on track. Lordstown’s closing was like the nail in the coffin.
I encouraged my children to leave this area of Ohio because the opportunities were not here. I don’t like my kids and grandkids being far away, but they had to leave to have any quality of life. When President Trump was elected, it finally seemed like maybe, just maybe, there was still some life to have here. It is a great place for retired people. or workers in schools and education. Established family businesses do well. But not much to offer people just coming out of college. It looked like we might have a chance until the Corona virus panic.
I am glad to see the plant in use. It is quite a large piece of real estate and I hated to think of it sitting idle. It’s a small ray of hope, I guess.
The loser congressman, Tim Ryan, never did anything for his district, but it is very democrat and always reelects him. I hope his challenger, Christina Hagan, is able to unseat him.
There is another basic drawback to this design, with all of that heavy copper in the wheels (unless it’s just copper colored plastic trim for show) There is a large amount of unsprung mass (weight that has to be controlled by the spring and shock absorber).
This limits abilities at speed over less than perfect terrain, because the movement of the wheel over the surface needs to remain under control.
Ok for a slow working vehicle, but not a typical road-going consumer vehicle. (This could be somewhat offset by the elimination of the typical cast iron braking system through utilization of motor braking which is entirely possible if the motors have sufficient torque).
The mentioned heat issue is acute for consumer vehicles as well, as consumer vehicles tend to use tires with much lower inflation pressures which would be affected (perhaps explosively) by the temperature variations. Also, smaller consumer wheels/tires have less ability to act as heat sinks to dissipate the heat, although greater speeds would create an opportunity for better utilization of air cooling. (this fails in traffic jams, but alas, sitting still in an electric car generates far less motor heat than sitting still in a combustion vehicle. Of course, a heated electric motor reliant on air cooling will be problematic when forced to come to a halt in traffic).
More than all this, States such as CA are depending upon a heavy percentage of their grid generation coming from renewable sources (typically solar and wind). Neither of these sources are reliably productive during evening hours when charging of the public/private/govt. fleets would occur. While the State has pushed hard for electric vehicles, there is scant evidence that it is working to solve the need to be able to store vast quantities of power even for the brief period between sunset and the evening charging period.
Worse yet, CA has run out of energy during the heat of the day, and this would leave little to nothing “in the tank” for charging the fleets overnight.
There are some well known and fairly simple solutions, such as pumping water uphill during peak energy production, and releasing it downhill through generation turbines when more energy is needed but the state does not seem to take the 40,000 foot view which includes all necessary aspects including infrastructure to ensure the system is always dependable. In CA, the electric vehicle is the savior, end of discussion. OK, but when all vehicles are forced to go without a full charge overnight the economy dies for at least a day.
These well intended technologies pushed by government need to include the big picture.
At the moment, the big-ugly of this marvelous “improvement” in technology is that barring rational improvements in grid infrastructure and storage, the fleet will still be depending upon electricity generated by burning fossil fuel. For California, this means fuel burned in a neighboring state, so OK, that’s cool right?
I appreciate the efficiency afforded by using electricity to power vehicles, and the simplification of the power train is a plus for reduced maintenance, but on the flip-side, worn out batteries become a real issue, with cost and disposal both major concerns.
Sorry so much rambling, just an area of interest. 🙂
Points for innovation.
Negative points for: IT IS STILL A ELECTRIC VEHICLE
I hate them. PERIOD. Let me know when someone invents a motor that runs on garbage (yes think flying car in ‘Back to the future’ movie)…. THEN I will get excited.
I am not a ‘greenie’ but the MINING of precious minerals just for batteries? Naaaah, not keen on it. …. Sorry
Whatever happened to fuel cells powered by water as fuel, for cars? I saw that tecnology being promoted way back in the early 2000s. It sounded so promising and the bet was you not only could run your vehicles but each home could evetually have a fuel cell in the garage to power the whole place. I know that there were many companies looking at this and the tech was from NASA. It was quite an interesting way of creating energy with no emissions and very cheap to fuel up.
Discovering your truck on blocks with the wheels missing just got a whole lot more expensive!
The car alarm is actually an electric shock. It will make your ears smoke if you try to take them off when armed. It also sends out an EMF that will disable the getaway vehicle. It also takes a digital picture of the perp and sends it to local police in real time.
I believe the Robo-Cop franchise had this dilemma figured out.
Give Darwin A Chance.
Whats the price point? I know people who think they are so clever by buying a Prius. “I never have to buy gas” they proudly proclaim. Yet most people who get over 25 mpg and only drive 10,000 miles per year only pay about $1,000 a year for gas. They buy a new car after 5 years. Yet they pay $5,000 more for a Prius than a similar car that runs on gas. So they are actually not saving anything. They prepaid their gas bill for 5 years. Then will have to replace the battery for $5,000 more dollars. And their home electricity bill skyrockets.
And if they think they are saving the planet, they should consider how bad the batteries are for the environment, how much fossil fuel is needed to produce batteries, and how much fossil fuel is used to generate that electricity when they plug it in.
Fools, not clever.
https://lordstownmotors.com/pages/endurance
Scroll down in my link a short ways to some numbers on cost of ownership. Interesting!
It still needs a solar option to avoid having to plug it in except in certain circumstances. Like night driving.
I’d like to see some method of incentivization of battery recycling. Without reclaiming those rare earth metals mined and refined at great environmental cost and keeping these toxic millstones out of our landfills going electric is beyond a net negative. In fact, it’s Vampiric Virtue Signalling.
(this is a good project for Ivanka?)
Glorified golf carts are OK as inner city delivery vans, so USPS FedEx Amazon etc might be able to make good use of them.
But since crude oil isn’t running out anytime soon and will be cheap for decades to come, you can’t beat a good old combustion engine.
What about the batteries? How do you dispose of them safely? Are we creating another landfill problem? I’m still furious about the planes of solar panels burning up plants and animals for naught while creating another massive recycling problem. Is this another light bulb dilemma?
When costing out new technology, shouldn’t the price of mining the components in the batteries and safely disposing of old/damaged parts be considered?
You’d think. Their accounting leaves out the price of the consequences as well as who will ultimately pay them.
With a standard automobile battery, all the retailers I know of will charge you more if you don’t give them the old battery.
As they should. Responsible behavior within the industry. However, my former neighbor in the scrap business has endless stories on the dangerous discards he sees every day.
This is the kind of innovation that we need. Sure, it is an early version and I’ve read the critiques but just consider how far e-vehicles have come. First it fills a niche market then grows as the engineers improve the product line.
Indeed, with batteries in general, consider the service life of a Tesla battery.
Consider the replacement cost of new battery into a depreciated vehicle.
Consider the steep declining graph of sale price of your Tesla as it approaches its average time expired battery life.
You want a battery toy, go ahead.
I run 4×4 diesels to 300-350,000. Engine overhaul and some bits for $7000. I get another 300k good as new. 700,000 miles is probably 5 Teslas.
Batteries outside city limits are a joke.