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Jholler View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Eco-diesel
    Posted: 27 Oct 2018 at 9:00pm
Should have said "The new RAM's mild hybrid", sorry. The tech isn't new, but the 2019 is the first RAM it's been in.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2018 at 11:27am
Jholler, "mild" hybrids are not new tech, they have been on the road for a long time. GM even had one on the Silverado  for awhile in the early '00's, why they pulled it is a bit of a mystery.  The technology is for sure pretty crude compared to a "real" hybrid, but it does at least shut off the engine when idling, so that is the major savings in city driving. 

I don't know where the idea comes from that replacing the batteries in a hybrid is expensive, its not. I can replace the battery in my Prius for less than what your dealer is telling you the cost in the Ram is. Assuming I ever have to replace the whole thing. Most people get well over 200k miles out of theirs, and then usually its only a couple of cells that go bad. Its only a 1.5kwh battery after all. 

The drivetrain itself is bulletproof, the electric motors (there are 2) are integrated into the planetary drive to create a continuously variable transmission that never changes gears and babies the gas engine, so it also lasts for a really long time. Depending on how each of the motors' field coils are supplied they can act in forward, reverse, as motors, as generators, or both.   Truly an awesome piece of tech, take a look on youtube for an explanation of how it works sometime. There's a reason that most of the taxis you see today are Prii, those guys regularly get 400k miles out of them without overhauls or battery replacements. 

Full ev batteries would cost a lot more to replace because they're much larger, but they're Li Ion and last forever, as long as they are actively cooled and heated, like in the Volt, Bolt, and Tesla. The Nissan leaf gave evs a bad rep originally because in their rush to be first to market they didn't put in effective temp management and had some failures in AZ and other hot places. Even if you have to replace your ev batteries you can buy used ones from a salvage place, the cars are wrecking out a lot faster than they're failing mechanically so there are plenty available. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2018 at 10:04am
One of my buds has a Nissan Leaf. His commute to work is only 5 or 6 miles, so the round trip to/from work is a no-brainer for it. He plugs it overnight, so he never goes to a gas station. He got it on a promotional lease, and it costs $80/month. Less than a basic mobile phone plan. When the commute backs up into a parking lot, it sits there silently burning no fuel at all.

I have to believe that his situation is not all that unusual.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2018 at 9:56am
The new RAM "mild hybrid" is interesting tech. It eliminates the alternator altogether, using regenerative braking to charge a battery pack that is used for electrical needs. According to my dealer, if the battery dies, the whole thing can be replaced for about $1800, which is a HUGE difference from EV and hybrid battery replacement. I'm excited about it, I just as a rule don't like to be the guinea pig with first year new tech.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2018 at 7:11am
No need to wait at all for your car or SUV to be electric powered. There are excellent (and yes even affordable) ev alternatives right now. And if range fear hampers you there are even more hybrid vehicle choices, which also put the torque of electric motors to the drive wheels. I would have bought a Highlander Hybrid rather a convention V6 Highlander but the tow rating is reduced to 3500 on the hybrid version.

For pickups its not there yet. There is an aftermarket company that modifies F150's and 250's to be hybrids/plug in hybrids for fleet use. And apparently the 2019 Ram 1500 comes standard with "mild hybrid" technology. Mostly a fast start/stop feature but there is also a little regen braking.  It's a start. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Oct 2018 at 1:07am
   Walmart has ordered 45 Tesla electric trucks and plans on converting their entire fleet to electric that's a lot of trucks. Electric trucks for a passenger vehicle that will tow a small camper may be available not to far away in time.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2018 at 5:23pm
offgrid, never said I would circumvent pollution controls on late model diesel trucks by doing a "delete" with eliminating the ERG, DEF, ect. I can't control what other people do to improve reliability and fuel economy on their trucks. Its just that whether we like what they do or not its just the way it is now. Hopefully someday in the very near future engineers will design diesel engines that make doing modifications like that a thing of the past.

Glueguy, your vision of the future with electric powered vehicles might be absolutely right as motor and battery technology continue to improve. There very well maybe a day when you see locomotives and semi trucks, along with your family truck and car, all powered by electric motors. Although I think were still at least a generation away from this technology but who knows what around the corner? The torque from an electric motor is awesome which is why the newest locomotive engines use AC traction motors and the older models DC motors.

Now back to the original question I asked which if you had to choose one of the big three automakers who makes the best diesel powered truck? Is it the Powerstroke by Ford, Duramax of Chevy, or Dodges Cumming or new Eco-diesel? I know not allot of our T.V. ares diesel powered but I'm sure there are allot of my fellow forum users here that have a world more of experience then I have with diesel trucks. So I'm interested in hearing what is your opinion and why? Smile 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2018 at 12:24pm
DavMar, I'm good with diesels. We might all be driving them in 20 years if we're not already driving ev's. Now there is some serious torque for you, and zero pollution controls to ever worry about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii98Vb5KdIA

And I'm 100% good with everything you're saying except the "deletes" part. That is just polluting the air everyone has to breathe. Like I said, I've seen what it looks like if everyone does that. It ain't pretty. 

Just because its not being checked doesn't make it OK to do. In fact....its mostly if not entirely illegal. 
If you have to do that kind of stuff to make functional use of your vehicle, then well...get another vehicle. IMHO that's where personal choice ought to end, and civic responsibility start. 

And if the manufacturer knowingly sold vehicles that couldn't function right without doing that then they should pay for the mess. VW's bill is about $35 billion so far. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2018 at 12:11pm
Originally posted by StephenH

From what I understand, the Ford Ecoboost engines have some of the same features (such as more and sturdier bearings) of Diesel engines, and should be very durable. Unfortunately, when we had our accident and had to replace our Escape with a Frontier, I lost the Ecoboost engine, so can't verify the longevity of it. The downside of the Ecoboost is the need to run premium gasoline which, in many of the places we were traveling, was more expensive than Diesel fuel. That would swing the equation in favor of Diesel for me. However, the price of a new one is way beyond my capability at this time.
If you compare the horsepower/torque of the 2.7L EcoBoost to the slightly larger 3L diesel that just came out, the gasser wins in horsepower, and is only slightly less in the torque department. If you compare the torque curves, I'm willing to bet the EcoBoost wins the torque equation for most of the usable RPM range (pretty sure the EcoBoost has better torque at the low end).

Long, long term I still think electric, in some form or fashion will kill both the diesels and the gassers. The latest drive units from Tesla are designed to last a million miles, and they produce maximum torque from zero RPM. That's hard to beat. Today's Lithium batteries are head and shoulders above any previous battery technology, and I'm hopeful we will solve their problems in the next decade or so; with who knows what chemistry.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Oct 2018 at 10:48am
From what I understand, the Ford Ecoboost engines have some of the same features (such as more and sturdier bearings) of Diesel engines, and should be very durable. Unfortunately, when we had our accident and had to replace our Escape with a Frontier, I lost the Ecoboost engine, so can't verify the longevity of it. The downside of the Ecoboost is the need to run premium gasoline which, in many of the places we were traveling, was more expensive than Diesel fuel. That would swing the equation in favor of Diesel for me. However, the price of a new one is way beyond my capability at this time.
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