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Tesla CyberFlop

A.Justice said:
No, they're still in the prototyping phase. They look promising though, and they're definitely taking production seriously.
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Nice! I thought I had seen something about this a couple years back on tiktok but I thought it was just a guy converting his personal truck. Didn’t even realize it was a business venture
 
A.Justice said:
You guys should check out Edison motors. They're a startup based in Canada run by a truck driver, they're building hybrid-electric logging vehicles, that actually seem to be pretty well done. Maybe at some point they'll start working on a smaller truck too.

I also like their philosophy, they use non-proprietary parts as much as possible, and designed the truck to be fixed on the go. They even went with flat glass windows so you could buy glass panels and make new windows / windshields for yourself.
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The giy has a youtube channel that is hilarious.
I see his posts all the time.
Looks smart to me.
 
Supervstech said:
The giy has a youtube channel that is hilarious.
I see his posts all the time.
Looks smart to me.
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That's actually how I found out about them, he really does seem like a stand-up dude too, with good intentions.
 
G00SE said:
Nice! I thought I had seen something about this a couple years back on tiktok but I thought it was just a guy converting his personal truck. Didn’t even realize it was a business venture
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I'm pretty sure that's more or less what it started with. I'm pretty sure he's still works as a log truck driver in Canada. Its now to the point where they are bringing their prototypes to auto shows, so a production model can't be TOO far away.

They sell / we, merchandise that says something along the lines of "Edison motors: we steal Tesla's ideas". I think he's referring to the actual Edison and Tesla though, he seems to have a good deal of respect for Elon. Still funny.

I like their thinking, they run a relatively small diesel engine that charges the batteries, and the diesel engine is able to run at its most optimum state all the time, rather than the ups and downs of acceleration. I'm pretty sure it can also be wall charged, and has a fully electric range, which would obviously be dependent on the batteries chosen. I can't remember the numbers offhand, but running the diesel engine that way saves quite a bit of gas, as well as emissions. You get the best of both worlds.
 
A.Justice said:
I like their thinking, they run a relatively small diesel engine that charges the batteries, and the diesel engine is able to run at its most optimum state all the time, rather than the ups and downs of acceleration. I'm pretty sure it can also be wall charged, and has a fully electric range, which would obviously be dependent on the batteries chosen. I can't remember the numbers offhand, but running the diesel engine that way saves quite a bit of gas, as well as emissions. You get the best of both worlds.
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It's a non-emissions motor so they will never make these trucks anywhere ever. They can sell the engine/motor kit to retrofit for older trucks.

As far as fuel savings, they are claiming 5-10% which is a very wide margin. Lets say you spend 100K a year on fuel.

You'll save $5000.00. How much does this powertrain cost?

Per their website:

"Fuel savings largely depends on the application the truck is used for. Over the road trucking shows the least amount of fuel savings 5-10%"

My personal is guess is that saves nothing on fuel once the battery is depleted and gets worse mileage on the open road because it cannot directly couple the engine to the wheels. You will get better overall mileage because you can plug it in at the end of the day and run it on electric only for a spell when you start out your day.

The asking price for the truck is also $700,000.00
 
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A.Justice said:
I like their thinking, they run a relatively small diesel engine that charges the batteries, and the diesel engine is able to run at its most optimum state all the time, rather than the ups and downs of acceleration.
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"Auxiliary Power: CAT C9- 350kw"

350Kw = 442 horsepower without losses so the engine is over 500 horsepower which is right in line with today's OTR trucks.
 
Checkthisout said:
It's neat but there is so much stuff involved in getting emissions certified, road-worthy etc.

I assume they are just used off-road?
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The beauty of what they are doing is it allows recycling of older vehicles and therefore it only had to meet emissions for that vehicle when it was originally manufactured. Have a 1960 pickup? The conversion only has to meet the emission requirements for a 1960 pickup.
 
Zwy said:
The beauty of what they are doing is it allows recycling of older vehicles and therefore it only had to meet emissions for that vehicle when it was originally manufactured. Have a 1960 pickup? The conversion only has to meet the emission requirements for a 1960 pickup.
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There are rules, and then what is inspected.

California, cars 1975 and earlier don't get biannual smog check (I don't know about when transferred.)
Diesel, only OBD-II gets tested. My 1995 pickup predates that.

Engine swaps for vehicles have to be same or newer, and same class (can't put car engine in trucks, although in pickup is probably fine.)

Probably 1960 pickup, you could get away with anything.

Heavy trucks, older ones banned from the road. Only newer engines would bring them back.
(EV and a plugged in range extender might slip by until it became popular.)

The truck in question was in Canada? What rules there?
 
Hedges said:
There are rules, and then what is inspected.

California, cars 1975 and earlier don't get biannual smog check (I don't know about when transferred.)
Diesel, only OBD-II gets tested. My 1995 pickup predates that.

Engine swaps for vehicles have to be same or newer, and same class (can't put car engine in trucks, although in pickup is probably fine.)

Probably 1960 pickup, you could get away with anything.

Heavy trucks, older ones banned from the road. Only newer engines would bring them back.
(EV and a plugged in range extender might slip by until it became popular.)

The truck in question was in Canada? What rules there?
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I won't live in such environments.

I believe in freedom, one of the reasons for installing solar. :)
 
Hedges said:
California, cars 1975 and earlier don't get biannual smog check (I don't know about when transferred.)
Diesel, only OBD-II gets tested. My 1995 pickup predates that.
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Gas engines 1975 and earlier are smog exempt no matter the circumstance. Transferred or not.

Diesel engines 1998 and earlier are the same. Hence why there were very few 98' model diesels produced from the big '3'. Ford didn't even make a 98' model.
 
Zwy said:
The beauty of what they are doing is it allows recycling of older vehicles and therefore it only had to meet emissions for that vehicle when it was originally manufactured. Have a 1960 pickup? The conversion only has to meet the emission requirements for a 1960 pickup.
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Don't disagree but do you want to put a $250,000.00 engine/motor/batteries in your old Pete 379 to possibly save 5% a year on fuel?
 
Zwy said:
The beauty of what they are doing is it allows recycling of older vehicles and therefore it only had to meet emissions for that vehicle when it was originally manufactured. Have a 1960 pickup? The conversion only has to meet the emission requirements for a 1960 pickup.
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Their last prototype (proof of concept) was full frame up construction, no rolling chassis, so new construction. It was also built in a tent (much like Fremont Teslas!).

Scaling up to “full production” will be about on par with the cyberflop for quite some time.
 
I wonder if we can reserve just the drop in axels, inverters, controllers, but build our own batteries. And, what would this cost for 1-ton (solid front and rear axels)
They list kits for pickups will begin in 2025 - not very long to wait, what does @timselectric think?
 
There's also something to be said about their business philosophy, and not using proprietary parts. Even if you only save 10% in gas, you probably save a bit on maintenance not having to deal with manufacturers, especially if you're a DIY kind of guy. I'm an optimist, and I can only hope that the design and efficiency will get better over time.

In one of his videos he was breaking down the cost of a truck windshield, he said it was something like 1/10 the cost to cut your own glass, and any glass manufacturer could make a new window or windshield including yourself if you're decent with a cutter. I imagine windows break pretty often on logging trucks.

They were also able to fix the air brakes with an "over the counter" air compressor plugged into its stock 120 volt outlet. No need for a dealer or manufacturer to send a new part.

As far as emissions standards go, I think right now they're all conversions, and they're also in Canada doing off-road logging, so I'm not sure if that would change the emissions requirements.
 
A.Justice said:
As far as emissions standards go, I think right now they're all conversions, and they're also in Canada doing off-road logging, so I'm not sure if that would change the emissions requirements.
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Each Province sets their own rules for emissions, but BC (British Columbia) where these guys live is notoriously strict (we like to think of BC as California-North) that all said, I have no idea if the off-road logging gives them any break from regular commercial rules on emissions, heck the rules could be more strict for off road! lol. Commercial vechicals generally have to pass annual emissions testing as a condition of license renewals, I doubt they allow any reduction based on year of manufacture either in Canada.
 
Overtaxed said:
The "right" answer given technology available today is a diesel (or gas, but diesel would be much more efficient) electric hybrid. Especially for heavy trucks (F250+/2500+), batteries aren't even in the zip code yet, we'd need 500-1000KWH in an electric truck to even have a chance of it working for our application (towing an RV). That's not going to happen for a long, long time.
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Edison trucks on YouTube have the most common sense way at the moment. I think that will be a great hybrid when it gets released to the public. They are working on a option for f250/350 I think.
 
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