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23 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

But I would have to assume the weight of the hydrogen tank

The hydrogen tanks are, as I understand it, usually made of composites (IIRC, there are/were some fuel cell vehicles which use(d) exchangeable cells to speed up refueling), so I wouldn’t expect them to be particularly heavy. Lithium-based batteries sized for vehicles are usually quite heavy, so I’d expect a fuel cell vehicle to have a significant weight advantage. 

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2 hours ago, SoonerLS said:

The hydrogen tanks are, as I understand it, usually made of composites (IIRC, there are/were some fuel cell vehicles which use(d) exchangeable cells to speed up refueling), so I wouldn’t expect them to be particularly heavy. Lithium-based batteries sized for vehicles are usually quite heavy, so I’d expect a fuel cell vehicle to have a significant weight advantage. 


For reference only, below they compare new FCEV CR-V to PHEV and HEV.  It may help a little in judging fuel cell powertrain total vehicle weights.

 

“Honda explained that in conceiving the e:FCEV it borrowed as much as it can from the European-spec CR-V Plug-In Hybrid, including its thermally managed lithium-ion battery pack, its inverter, and its electric motor. In all, the plug-in fuel-cell version weighs essentially the same as the plug-in hybrid and about 500 pounds more than the CR-V Hybrid—likely around 4,300 pounds.“

 

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1142702_2025-honda-cr-v-efcev-test-drive-review

 

 

In case of Nikola truck, the Fuel Cell version still carries significant lithium battery capacity, plus weight of fuel cell and fuel tanks.  Given their history of being reprimanded for inaccurate weight claims, I’m not sure I’d take anything as correct unless it came directly from a scale.  Regardless, it would appear an FCEV should weigh close to a BEV variant, more or less, depending on BEV’s battery capacity.

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7 hours ago, SoonerLS said:

The hydrogen tanks are, as I understand it, usually made of composites (IIRC, there are/were some fuel cell vehicles which use(d) exchangeable cells to speed up refueling), so I wouldn’t expect them to be particularly heavy. Lithium-based batteries sized for vehicles are usually quite heavy, so I’d expect a fuel cell vehicle to have a significant weight advantage. 

THx..I guess I'm thinking they would be same as a CNG tank...A flammable gas

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  • 3 months later...

I just read that PACCAR (KW/Pete) is recalling a ton of 2024 and 2025 model year trucks for a couple issues, one being steering problems. Same article says it is laying off workers hired after May 2023. While I don't remember why and I'm too lazy right now to go back to article. But apparently they must feel that these new hires are responsible maybe???!!! 

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9 hours ago, Joe771476 said:

I just read that PACCAR (KW/Pete) is recalling a ton of 2024 and 2025 model year trucks for a couple issues, one being steering problems. Same article says it is laying off workers hired after May 2023. While I don't remember why and I'm too lazy right now to go back to article. But apparently they must feel that these new hires are responsible maybe???!!! 

https://www.ccjdigital.com/trucks/article/15666490/paccar-recalls-over-100k-trucks

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On 8/28/2024 at 1:54 PM, 7Mary3 said:

Here's the latest on the 2026 F-650.  Looks like a lot of really significant updates!  Who posts this nonsense?  

 

 

Why are they showing at some points an F550? Which brings me to my next question: Isn't it time for the latest generation F150 thru F550 sheet metal to replace the old generation cab? 

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  • 2 weeks later...
55 minutes ago, 7Mary3 said:

No clue as to his age but his pictures would say a reasonably young guy to be retiring.  As always, as critical as this unit is as demonstrated by the numbers,

the choice Farley makes here will be significant perhaps in terms of  how  Farley views  expansion beyond Transits  and light duty vehicles as the definition of "commercial vehicles".

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I've just been reading articles about the new -- but rather ugly -- new USPS delivery truck which looks like a duck!  Maybe they should call it just that..the duck truck! But last I knew about 6 months ago, this Oshkosh manufactured vehicle was supposedly going to be based on a Ford Transit, but there's no mention of that in the latest articles. Is anybody here privy to that info?

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18 minutes ago, Joe771476 said:

I've just been reading articles about the new -- but rather ugly -- new USPS delivery truck which looks like a duck!  Maybe they should call it just that..the duck truck! But last I knew about 6 months ago, this Oshkosh manufactured vehicle was supposedly going to be based on a Ford Transit, but there's no mention of that in the latest articles. Is anybody here privy to that info?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_NGDV

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1 hour ago, twintornados said:

 "For its part, Oshkosh Defense reiterated its pledge to build any mix of battery-electric and gas trucks that USPS requests. The company noted its battery and gas NGDVs share a chassis, making it easy for the company to adjust production." 

https://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/news/2022/03/23/oshkosh-corp-under-scrutiny-south-carolina-mail-truck-factory-plan/9453349002/

It appears that the NGDV chassis is Oshkosh. If it is on a Transit chassis, Oshkosh is keeping that info need-to-know, while the Ford 2.0L EcoBoost I4 ICE power plant is public knowledge

Edited by Chrisgb
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2 hours ago, Joe771476 said:

I've just been reading articles about the new -- but rather ugly -- new USPS delivery truck which looks like a duck!  Maybe they should call it just that..the duck truck! But last I knew about 6 months ago, this Oshkosh manufactured vehicle was supposedly going to be based on a Ford Transit, but there's no mention of that in the latest articles. Is anybody here privy to that info?

I mean, trucks in general, including pickup trucks, but especially commercial vehicles in this case, almost never look good. They're not designed to, they're made to be functional. You might see a stylized Ford corporate grille or light design, but that's about it.

 

Ford designers working on commerical vehicles are just told to do whatever the engineering and manufacturing guys say, of course vehicles designed in that environment are gonna look ugly. A commercial f-650 isn't exactly the kind of automotive product that's gonna get cat called and whistled at when driving down the road 😂. It looks the way it looks to serve the best combination of engineering and manufacturing attributes. How it looks is down there in priorities with the quarter mile time.

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On 9/14/2024 at 12:02 PM, DeluxeStang said:

I mean, trucks in general, including pickup trucks, but especially commercial vehicles in this case, almost never look good. They're not designed to, they're made to be functional. You might see a stylized Ford corporate grille or light design, but that's about it.

 

Ford designers working on commerical vehicles are just told to do whatever the engineering and manufacturing guys say, of course vehicles designed in that environment are gonna look ugly. A commercial f-650 isn't exactly the kind of automotive product that's gonna get cat called and whistled at when driving down the road 😂. It looks the way it looks to serve the best combination of engineering and manufacturing attributes. How it looks is down there in priorities with the quarter mile time.

Personally I think the Ford mediums are the best looking in their class beating out International, Freightliner and Hino by a mile! Also, the public has the right to know what the engine/chassis is, since the USPS is a quasi-govt. entity. It is NOT private like UPS. 

Edited by Joe771476
last minute addition
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Whether or not you think the F-650 looks good it looks the way it does because Ford used the old Super Duty cab on it.  No doubt that decision was made to save money, but that cab works reasonably well.  However (and this comes from the personal experience of driving a LOT of late model medium duty trucks) trucks like International and Freightliner that use cabs specifically designed for large commercial trucks do have significant advantages.  Visibility, ease of entry/exit, instrument panel layout (seen where Ford puts the brake air pressure gauge?), significantly larger in every dimensioin (in particular room for a GOOD air ride seat), and a better steering column angle.  GM did pretty good by using a cab made out of some full size van parts on the Kodiak and TopKick, I was hoping Ford would try something like that.  I think if Ford went to the current aluminum Super Duty cab on the 650 and 750 it would be an improvement. 

 

That new Postal vehilce has to be the ultimate 'form follows function' vehicle I have ever seen!  It's so ugly it HAS to work great!

Edited by 7Mary3
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