Should Joe Biden fund an electric food truck startup?

Our current central planners love electric vehicles. “Slow Rollout of National Charging System Could Hinder E.V. Adoption” (New York Times):

More than two years ago, lawmakers approved billions of dollars [at least $5 billion] to build out a national electric vehicle charging network in the hopes of encouraging more drivers to switch to cleaner cars. The money, included in the bipartisan infrastructure law, was intended to help assure drivers they could reliably travel longer distances without running out of power.

But a robust federal charging network is still years away. Only two states — Ohio and New York — have opened any charging stations so far.

Central planners also love asylum-seekers and other immigrants without educational credentials. One popular job for low-skill immigrants is working in a food truck.

Our HOA sometimes hires a food truck for events on the common grass field. The sound of the truck’s generator is clearly audible and it would be much nicer if the truck were powered from a big EV battery.

What if the central planners in Washington, D.C. could be convinced to ladle out the taxpayer cash to a food truck EV startup?

What are the engineering requirements? A Google search shows that 5,000 watts (roughly 44 amps at 115V) is a good ballpark for the maximum draw of a typical food truck. Maybe the average load would be 2,500 watts and that needs to be supported for at least 6 hours, which implies a 15,000 watt-hour battery (15 kWh). The standard Tesla Cybertruck has a 123 kWh battery, so that should get the food truck to the site, run for two shifts if necessary, and get the food truck home. (The Ford F150 comes in 98 and 131 kWh “usable capacity” versions.)

In addition to saving the planet and providing jobs for asylum-seekers who wish to work, the Bidentrucks would reduce the ambient noise levels in our cities, which is an important equity issue. (“Noise pollution more common in communities of color and racially segregated cities” (Harvard 2017))

Maybe this all-electric truck wouldn’t help Greta Thunberg with her #FreePalestine goal, but it could save humanity from extinction.

7 thoughts on “Should Joe Biden fund an electric food truck startup?

  1. Makes lions wonder if houses have swung too far in the direction of investments rather than housing when the HOA hires food trucks. Houses were a stable investment when they were for housing.

  2. 🤦‍♂️

    Poke me on Twitter if you have questions about EV s.

    Idiots have completely taken over the media. As Scott Adams says, assume everything is a lie.

  3. Conceding that I am missing the point of your post, but I miss the time when food trucks were a bargain. Even before COVID, food trucks started to get expensive to the point where you were better off financially and from a variety standpoint to go to a sit-down restaurant. Back when Obama was president, you could find a cheap taco truck if you knew where to look.

  4. In NYC, it seems that every hot dog cart has an inverter generator (A honda EU2000i or a chinese-made clone, usually) It would seem that, for their meager electrical needs, something like an ecoflow delta (~1 kw/hr) would be sufficient and preferable, but I guess there must be some barriers. Having the whole battery for a tesla-sized pack would make a lot of power available. It looks like the cybertruck can put out much more AC than that, but its form factor would probably suck for building a taco truck on it. Also: does 6kw include cooking, or is this still assuming propane on board?

  5. Probably not the point of your post, but, as SuperMike brought up, an inverter generator would be a better idea than an EV truck. Tailgaters and campers know how quiet they are (good for your HOA). Mine puts out 2400w max and sips gasoline, lasts about 10 hours on a gallon of gas when I power my RV through it. It looks like they go up to about 5000watts.

    Also, your Rollei “snapshot” looks more like a “photo” to me.

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