World biggest dump truck goes electric

[ahhming]

The dump truck carry enormous loads at a lower cost per ton than previous models and reach speeds of up to 64 km/h when not carrying any load.

 

Four motors, each with an output of 1,200 kilowatts. All of that rolls on eight tires that can, together, handle up to 810 metric tons.

 

The controls included features such as dynamic power distribution between the truck’s two axels and the ability to keep driving even if one of the motors fails. The AC electric drive is powered by two 16-cylindar-diesel engines that each have an output of about 1,700 kW. The truck is more than 20 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide.

 

Reducing the reliance on diesel by improving efficiency is important for mining trucks because of environmental regulations and cost competition, according to Siemens.

 

Source:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/environment/worlds-biggest-dump-truck-goes-electric

[Octavialicious]

That's fortunate, I bet this thing pollutes like crazy

[Aniallation]

Still less power consumption then 290X CF

[thekeemo]

its a hybrid not electric

[connorpiper]

its a hybrid not electric

 

Well. Technically it's electric. It does not have a hybrid mode.

The movement is solely electric. 

[Syntaxvgm]

The dump truck carry enormous loads at a lower cost per ton than previous models and reach speeds of up to 64 km/h when not carrying any load.

 

Four motors, each with an output of 1,200 kilowatts. All of that rolls on eight tires that can, together, handle up to 810 metric tons.

 

The controls included features such as dynamic power distribution between the truck’s two axels and the ability to keep driving even if one of the motors fails. The AC electric drive is powered by two 16-cylindar-diesel engines that each have an output of about 1,700 kW. The truck is more than 20 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide.

 

Reducing the reliance on diesel by improving efficiency is important for mining trucks because of environmental regulations and cost competition, according to Siemens.

 

Source:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/environment/worlds-biggest-dump-truck-goes-electric

wut 

Diesel? 

[thekeemo]

Well. Technically it's electric. It does not have a hybrid mode.

The movement is solely electric. 

its has an engine that uses fuel therefore it is a hybrid

[connorpiper]

its has an engine that uses fuel therefore it is a hybrid

 

No. A hybrid has to have two sources of momentum. The engine does not power the wheels directly.

[thekeemo]

No. A hybrid has to have two sources of momentum. The engine does not power the wheels directly.

well lets just not call it electric

[Kyuubixchidori]

so it uses diesel engines to make electricty, vs diesel to drive the wheels? I always wondered how efficent this was, because with normal transmissions you lose about 30% of power just though the drive train. plus, yeah diesels have a lot of torque, but electric engines are the king of torque. that and these things probably had a million billion gear gearbox, because diesel engines have such a small power band, while electric engines have a flat power curve. 

 

I always wondered about this for normal car applications, like how sweet would it be if you can have a telsa, and after the battery got to 50%, you can turn on small engine that can run at its peak efficient to generate electricity, instead of constantly getting revved out or sitting to low. engines like a precise RPM, and if you can tailor a engine to run at that one RPM, and just that, they can get really efficient. My guess is the best use would be low speed/high torque situations. 

 

how cool would it be if you car had its own generator though. would be useful for power outages and such. 
 

 

OH OOH. another benfit, I heard that using the heat in electric cars can cut their range in half. makes sense, electric heaters are so inefficient. so you could also use that engine in the winter to generate said heat. 

[connorpiper]

well lets just not call it electric

 

An electric car still has to be powered a power plant. Usually coal. 

[connorpiper]

so it uses diesel engines to make electricty, vs diesel to drive the wheels? I always wondered how efficent this was, because with normal transmissions you lose about 30% of power just though the drive train. plus, yeah diesels have a lot of torque, but electric engines are the king of torque. that and these things probably had a million billion gear gearbox, because diesel engines have such a small power band, while electric engines have a flat power curve. 

 

I always wondered about this for normal car applications, like how sweet would it be if you can have a telsa, and after the battery got to 50%, you can turn on small engine that can run at its peak efficient to generate electricity, instead of constantly getting revved out or sitting to low. engines like a precise RPM, and if you can tailor a engine to run at that one RPM, and just that, they can get really efficient. My guess is the best use would be low speed/high torque situations. 

 

how cool would it be if you car had its own generator though. would be useful for power outages and such. 

 

 

OH OOH. another benfit, I heard that using the heat in electric cars can cut their range in half. makes sense, electric heaters are so inefficient. so you could also use that engine in the winter to generate said heat. 

 

And the engine does not have to rev more to go faster. They can just run at a constant speed. And then batteries and inverters control the flow. 

[Tonylu1595]

And now using nuclear reactors.

[Darkman]

And now using nuclear reactors.

*Rock touches wheel*

BA-BOOOOMMMMM!

[thekeemo]

An electric car still has to be powered a power plant. Usually coal. 

but its not part of the car

[connorpiper]

but its not part of the car

 

But the definition of an electric car is a car that is powered by electric and electric only. And this is. 

There are other "Electric" cars like this such as the Fisker Karma.

[Kyuubixchidori]

And the engine does not have to rev more to go faster. They can just run at a constant speed. And then batteries and inverters control the flow. 

exactly. when your driving the car, the engine is very rarely in the best possible power band. that and the less situations a engine is, the better tuned it can be. like if a engine only ever ran at 2k rpm, Im sure it would be a whole lot more efficent then a same engine designed to run anywhere from 1k-7k rpm. plus cooling/oil, everything could be purpose built or tuned. 

 

 

in my head, i imagine a tesla with a small engine in the back. I mean, a 7000 watt generator runs off of a 13 hp engine. just did a quick google, a tesla uses about 350 killowatts to go a mile. can anyone calculate how big of a generator you would need to run to power that? unless im way off, it seems widly more efficent to use gas-electric-wheels. yeah its a extra step, but you save 30% of the loss of energy simply by removing the transmission. let alone the benfits of plugging your car in to charge, or regenerative braking 

[wolfgang]

exactly. when your driving the car, the engine is very rarely in the best possible power band. that and the less situations a engine is, the better tuned it can be. like if a engine only ever ran at 2k rpm, Im sure it would be a whole lot more efficent then a same engine designed to run anywhere from 1k-7k rpm. plus cooling/oil, everything could be purpose built or tuned. 

 

 

in my head, i imagine a tesla with a small engine in the back. I mean, a 7000 watt generator runs off of a 13 hp engine. just did a quick google, a tesla uses about 350 killowatts to go a mile. can anyone calculate how big of a generator you would need to run to power that? unless im way off, it seems widly more efficent to use gas-electric-wheels. yeah its a extra step, but you save 30% of the loss of energy simply by removing the transmission. let alone the benfits of plugging your car in to charge, or regenerative braking 

chevrolet volt already does this. it is an electric car with a small gas motor to charge the batteries. the gas motor is not directly connected to the wheels though.

also most modern trains run on the same system as the dump truck. they have large diesel engines that turn electric generators which then power the wheels.

next improvement would be to switch to hydrogen and be able to remove the diesel and traditional generator. (they already have a prototype hydrogen train.)

[Kyuubixchidori]

chevrolet volt already does this. it is an electric car with a small gas motor to charge the batteries. the gas motor is not directly connected to the wheels though.

also most modern trains run on the same system as the dump truck. they have large diesel engines that turn electric generators which then power the wheels.

next improvement would be to switch to hydrogen and be able to remove the diesel and traditional generator. (they already have a prototype hydrogen train.)

ah. i knew something else did this. trains. this would be a great improvement. maybe semis should start using this tech. 

 

I personally wouldn't go for it. my car has only 140 hp, but its a stick, so i can use all 140 pretty much all the time if i wanted. I feel like im in control, in a little go kart. with a electric car, you dont relize how fast your going until you look at the speedo. I dont like that.

 

 

my car, it feels like your going way faster then you really are. I love it because then you dont have to speed to have fun. 

[mr moose]

Guy's, the correct term is "diesel-electric".  This is how trains have been powered almost since the inception of the diesel loco. 

[Sors]

These trucks have worked with electric motors turning the wheels and a diesel generator providing the power since years ago.   Not really news.

[Hexram]

Dump trucks have worked like this for a long time is Australia

[EcoBoost]

its has an engine that uses fuel therefore it is a hybrid

The engine does not drive the wheels, it only produces electricity for the motor, such as in cars like the Chevrolet Volt and Fisker Karma, both of which are classified as electric vehicles.

[Thony]

One charge for this beat causes a blackout for a small city

[Trik'Stari]

Yeah....that's not electrically powered, it's electrically driven. Same concept as a freight locomotive, you still have a diesel motor generating the electricity. The biggest difference is that electrical drives are more precise, more controlled, and possibly more efficient depending on battery setups etc.