China's BEV Trucks and the End of Diesel's Dominance

(cleantechnica.com)

54 points | by xbmcuser 2 hours ago

4 comments

  • jmward01 59 minutes ago
    Oh, look, it's another article about china dominating in electrification and reaping the rewards of intelligent investment.
    • jmward01 54 minutes ago
      Seems like there is a lot of dislike of this comment but not a lot of discussion about. Is it not true that china is dominating here? Or that this is becoming the norm? Isn't the instant negative reaction to this comment the exact problem? Maybe if we decided to get better instead of get mad we would see articles about the west dominating more often.
      • cwillu 25 minutes ago
        Comments often follow a u-curve, where immediate downvotes are countered after a few minutes. I suspect the cause is at least in part people directly downvoting from the https://news.ycombinator.com/newcomments page
    • themafia 34 minutes ago
      > intelligent investment

      I would not call highly disposable and cheap heavy duty vehicles an "intelligent investment." It's headline chasing and there's always very little tying their touted efforts to any actual improvements in the environment our economic outcomes.

    • Mistletoe 45 minutes ago
      It’s apparent that the USA is falling deeply behind on all of these things. I look at the rest of my life now as the final days in Babylon and try to still enjoy going down in the sinking ship. I vote to stop it, but my votes haven’t mattered in a long time. It’s important to still do them anyway.
      • chii 7 minutes ago
        > my votes haven’t mattered in a long time

        you vote mattered. It's just that there are more people who didn't vote the way you wanted them. But that's OK, because this is how it is supposed to work.

        At least, in theory.

    • monero-xmr 2 minutes ago
      The USSR was considered by many prominent intellectuals a valid counterpoint to the Western capitalist structure, up until the moment it collapsed, and then it wasn't true socialism. Some humbleness should be in order when considering imperfect knowledge
    • chneu 55 minutes ago
      [flagged]
      • themafia 32 minutes ago
        This totally won't work. The infrastructure isn't built. Truck stops are built to store fuel. They're not built to deliver electricity. Cheap electric trucks solve the wrong problem currently.
        • seanmcdirmid 12 minutes ago
          Are you just talking about the USA or are you also including the rest of the 7.8 billion people that don’t live in the USA? If the former why should the rest of the world care about whatever hangouts the USA thinks it has?
        • strken 10 minutes ago
          If they're cheap enough that you can swap the tractor unit or its batteries out at a truck stop, does that not solve most of the problem?
        • chneu 16 minutes ago
          Totes bro. Nice backwards hat with a flag on it, brodda. We patriots gotta stick together. There's a war against the American way. These commie Chinese EV semis have no place in the great red white and blue. Here in the land of stars n stripes we only have Erl at our truck stops. It'll never work with electricity!

          /s clearly?

      • idiotsecant 42 minutes ago
        You're apparently the only one saying this. Maybe it's time to opt out of the outrage pornography cycle and contribute to the discussion in a more thoughtful way.
        • chneu 23 minutes ago
          I'm contributing with comedy by making fun of Americans for not realizing the rest of the world caught up and is passing them.

          A lot of Muricans are blinded by patriotism so it's helpful to make jokes.

          • CalRobert 14 minutes ago
            One thing I realised after emigrating from the US is that ignorance and the desire to view your own way of doing things as superior is universal.
  • thenthenthen 1 hour ago
    It is absolutely magnificent to see a electric truck full of sand driving through the street, here is a (sorry, verry bad quality) video of a BYD one I caught: https://youtube.com/shorts/B0akomAQgkM?si=B1JEkKrTk6w7q5Bq
    • ehnto 41 minutes ago
      There are some electric trucks driving around Australian cities already as well.

      Though I love the sound of a straight cut gear, I suspect they'll want to work on quieting that drivetrain a bit. Thankfully there is a lot of prior art.

    • ludamn 41 minutes ago
      Thanks for sharing, is that engine sound coming from the truck?
      • analog31 12 minutes ago
        Sounds like the person taking the video is on an electric bike.
        • pabs3 8 minutes ago
          I think its the truck, near the end the bike peels off to the left and you can hear the sound fading off to the right.
  • hn_throwaway_99 6 minutes ago
    The text in teeny font under the headline picture is "ChatGPT generated. Chinese electric truck production lines expanding rapidly in 2024 and 2025."

    So, in other words, the leading image is a lie. When people say false things that purport to be true in text we call it lying or fraud. I don't understand why when they do it with an image it's not the same thing. Putting teeny, easily missed font that says "ChatGPT generated" doesn't make it OK. I might feel less strongly if the author put a disclaimer, in larger font, that said (more accurately IMO), "The above image is fake."

  • SoftTalker 50 minutes ago
    Well sure when you can skip all the safety standards they are cheap. These trucks would not be considered roadworthy in the USA or Europe.
    • SapporoChris 30 minutes ago
      From the article, "China’s low price electric trucks do not arrive as finished products for Europe or North America. They need work." and the article goes on to describe what the author considered and an estimate of the cost.
    • cwillu 23 minutes ago
      “The gap between a domestic Chinese tractor and a European or North American long haul tractor is roughly €80,000 to €120,000 once all mechanical, safety and comfort systems are brought to the required levels per my estimate.”
    • blovescoffee 48 minutes ago
      What makes you think/say they’ve skipped safety standards?