Sweden is way ahead of us.... WAY ahead!

[Blue_Tires]

So the Swedes can do this with rigs, but their road cars still suck?

[Ghost Dog]

1. This would be a way ahead:

[denbot]

2. Every thing I've seen through the website is CGI.

The release is marked for Dec 1, 2016. There should be video of the vehicle performing under load, images of the cockpit controls, production lines, things that would bring in investors, not just end users.

This doesn't pass the smell test..

[Ghost Dog]

3. A sparse pitch, yes. Prototype for Dec 2016 they say...

Natural gas fuel cell --> electrical power train?

And, what's the Tesla concept, batteries?

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/teslas-plan-to-build-a-semi-truck-is-the-smartest-idea-1784065871

Something along these lines needs, quickly, to be developed.

[CanSocDem]

4. Can you imagine the difference...

...if trucks had their own road from coast to coast. No more trying to placate the motoring public with inefficient trucks and inadequate infrastructure.

The power units could be faster, the trailers longer or more numerous. The highway could be electronically controlled and loads would be tracked the entire distance. Create the room for 3 drivers or just assume that without car traffic, dishonest state authorities and looking for a place to park, 2 drivers will be well rested.

Creating centralised shipping and receiving complexes that allows for drive through operation is possible, if the objective is to minimize cost and not create profit. I don't know if N. America will ever get there....

.

[jmowreader]

5. It sounds like you're talking about rail

You'd have to lay a LOT of rail to make this work - quite a bit of America's rail infrastructure is single lines with sidings, and trains have to pull over to let oncoming trains pass. If you could gather the will in Congress to (1) lay a second line everywhere there's only one, (2) get rid of at-grade crossings by building overpasses and underpasses, and (3) QUIT TEARING OUT RAIL TO BUILD BICYCLE TRAILS, DAMMIT! you could conceivably run trains 80 mph all the way across the country.

[CanSocDem]

6. No.

But if you're a "railroad guy" and still pining for an efficient use of the rail system, I can understand why you're out there (in your overalls), waving your oilcan and yelling at the joggers and cyclists......just kidding!!

Anyway, building "bicycle trails" is our whole objective here. I don't think either you or I, as upstanding members of the public, have a need for a rail line. The 1%-ers do, to ship their crap around the country. They get rich shipping in bulk. And they exert total control over the infrastructure to the point where recent history shows they neglect public safety.

The highways are, already, a public utility. Converting them to public service would be easier than dealing with the 'railroad barons'.



.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. "The 1%-ers do, to ship their crap around the country."

"Their crap"?!?

Excuse me while I....



And this;

"They get rich shipping in bulk"

As opposed to what? Delivering wheat and corn by the wheelbarrow load?

Yeah. Sure. The millions of tons of goods the railroads move annually, from automobiles to gravel is all the 1%'s "crap"

I've read some pretty ridiculous things on DU over the years, but those statements rank right the fuck up there.

[jmowreader]

8. Uhh...yeah

Please: Don't comment any more. You make yourself look foolish when you do.

[CanSocDem]

9. You're right. I'm cancelling my membership. (eom)