EV Pusher?
EV pusher? What’s wrong with this idea? Not Engineering but Economics?
Possible control problems: Solve with AI & ML; Use actuated hitch arm to direct forces in multiple degrees of freedom. Gentle vehicle control and manipulation will extend the life of the vehicle and the maintenance interval for its components.
Economic model: Substitute E-Trailer energy for gasoline (or reduce reliance on EV battery); who will pay for this? How much?
Trying to find that first eager customer, who will pay something for this…(can be subsidized by advertising perhaps - maybe a quid-pro-quo logo promo?)
$200 per week savings in gas corresponds to different amounts of gasoline depending on prices where you live, but say $5 per gallon. That’s 40 gallons per week or 8 gallons per day (about 120-160 miles at 10-20 mpg for an estimate of the ICE you’re displacing.
Consider however that ELTRA is “working” most when accelerating / climbing and these are the exact times when your mileage is poor. So the “displaced miles” are the toughest ones and correspond to much larger fraction of reduced mpg i.e. 5-10 mpg is a better estimate of the “displaced” work.
At those mpg, you can save twice as much by applying ELTRA.
Who spends $400 per week in gasoline? Who spends $1,000 per month (on gas for a given vehicle)? Luxury Taxicabs?
[right question - who would have $400 in avoided costs per week or $80 in avoided costs per day — they would be willing to pay
Can credibly rent ELTRA for about half that. “Hardware as a service” model.
If ELTRA can credibly gross $200/week or $500/mo, that can be capitalized against $25k in hardware (I think). Units at scale have to be cheap and save a lot of money for the user ($100’s per unit per month).
Look at cell phones for example. They are discounting $500-$1000 phones biennially in exchange for customer acquisition. Margin per unit has to be $10 per month give or take? ELTRA has to be margin valuing something like $100 per month or more to capitalize $25k in hardware. Am I doing this math right?
(Cell phone margin say $10 per customer per month and 95% retention rate?) ELTRA is like 20 cell phones?
Of course prototype will cost more than final product in mass production. Mass production of automobiles is well-known and ELTRA can borrow from that technology but ELTRA is much simpler than a car.
What’s the lifetime value of a customer discounted to present? I have no idea but will increase as gas gets more expensive; About =5, maybe estimate 3-12x the annual margin or 30-150x the monthly margin; take 75 as an optimistic guesstimate.
Monthly margin must be a only fraction of the amount saved by the customer, (split it with the customer) perhaps 25% margin is possible? $1200 (call it $1k) annual margin per customer on a good guess. Call it $400 per month rental because we’re saving $500+ per month for the customer (100 gallons of emissions saved, which is ~4 to 5 gallons per day not counting weekends) SAVED for the customer.
The fuel electricity costs something - $100?; (25% utilities)—> 20kWh at retail 50cents per kWh. —-> 100kWh at 10cents per kWh.
The costs of running a business cost something $100 (25% overhead)
The cost of the units is something (“interest” for the capital used or depreciation or what-have-you -> $100
The margin is 25% remainder.
Proposition: Save customer $500 per month ($100 per week, $20 or 3-6 gallons per day)
Customer pays $400 per month for ELTRA
ELTRA pays $100 per month for ELECTRICITY
ELTRA runs on 100% Overhead
Capitalized Unit Cost of Goods Sold Allocation = $100
Overhead is $100
Remaining value (“Customer value”) $100 per month or $1,200 per year.
Annuitized in a correlated-to-emissions reduction / cost of gasoline inflation-protected way
Unit COGS Allowance worth $25k? $50k? $75k? Have to make them and pay for the cost of goods rented — “Borrow” this money at 5% (ugh) -10% (uh oh) (public markets will accept 2.5% dividends?) 2.5% of $25,000 is 25*25 = $625 dividend obtained from $1200 margin per customer we’re in the right ballpark.
Maybe the unit cost can come down to $10k? And still save $500 per month for the customer at 40 gallons per month @ future $12 gas = 2 gallons per work day at 20 work days in a month = 36 miles at 18mpg. If mpg is increased to 100mpg, 0.36 gallons are used and 1.64 gallons are saved; about $8 worth now but $20 if gas is $12 per gallon.