Sometimes a good idea isn’t as good as it sounds at first.
That’s why it’s important to really think through big decisions like switching from a gas powered vehicle to an electric powered vehicle.
In today’s story, one company thinks it’s a good idea to buy an electric truck, but they had no idea how much the new truck would actually slow down their operations.
Let’s see how the story unfolds…
This ain’t my story, but a friend’s, who’s a truck driver.
Recently the contractor company said friend’s boss works with got an electric truck.
This is a big company, they already got a few of them, but at a different location, where charging is far easier due to many stations around.
Cause it “seems” to go well (yeah “seems”, cause next year the electric trucks won’t be exempt from paying tolls and mind you an electric truck costs twice as much as a full option Scania), they thought it’d be a great idea and good promo to get another E-Truck at the location my friend works at.
Only before ordering nobody checked on charging stations or even the distances and roads this guy drives, only that his hometown is practical for their endeavor.
The closest acceptable charging station was an hour away.
Now comes the good part; turns out we ain’t got many stations that can charge a truck.
I am no electrician by any means, but I’d still consider myself technically apt, so I (yes, I went through the hassle to talk to this company) tried explaining that charging a battery is like filling a barrel.
Only that you attach the hose to the bottom, so you NEED a certain amount X of base pressure to get that stuff flowing and because most charging stations only pack 75-150kW that’s a no-go (for a TRUCK).
The only 300kW station in the area is located in the next city, not too far, but traffic SUCKS.
Imagine driving an hour to make a 10m distance.
That wasn’t the only problem.
But management had other problems ENTIRELY; turns out their problem was that the 300kW station charges, dunno the exact value, methinks like 80ct/kW, the 150kW station, however, costs only 65ct/kW, so they DEMANDED he charge the truck where it’s cheaper.
And here it gets even better; this here is the reason, why I tried reasoning with them, to no avail of course.
Not every charging station is built to accommodate a truck not even the ones that pack 300kW.
Charging the truck would involve some luck.
Which means my man here has to first find an empty space to leave his trailer.
Once your done with that, you still gotta find an empty lot to park and charge.
And once you’re there, there’s still the possibility of someone parking next to you and grabbing the 2nd charging cable of the station, which then halves the performance to 75kW.
Just for reference; even charging at a 300kW station takes 2h!
Management did not understand what was taking so long.
So after our arguments hit a brick wall, he gave in.
“You want me to waste valuable time on a piss poor charger, just cause it’s a little bit cheaper?! Fine.”
Next day he proceeds to charging, after 2 or 3 hours the office gets the jitters, cause work keeps piling up and they can’t always manage to bring the freight in time, so they call him “Aren’t you done charging, yet?!”
– “Nope, not even close, buddy.”
Management had to admit defeat.
– “When tf are you planning on returning?! We need you at work. Y’know a truck only brings in money, when it’s rolling, not parking.”
– “I ain’t the one that came up with the idea to charge a TRUCK at a150kW station, you sent me here! I tried explaining it you, but you wouldn’t listen. And unless you want me to come over just to look for the next charging station, you’ll have to wait.”
– “How long?”
– “Welp, I just hit the 17% mark so imma be here for awhile.”
He was camped out there the whole day, didn’t get anything done and at the end the battery still wasn’t fully charged.
They never bothered him again.
That company needs to install their own charging station.
They certainly didn’t think through the electric truck idea well enough!
Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story…
I completely agree with this suggestion.
Here’s another good point…
This math isn’t mathing.
This is the efficient way to charge an electric truck…
Here’s a comment that pretty much summarizes all of the other comments.
This decision wasn’t thought through very well.
Oh well. I’m sure management will figure something out.
If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.
