Originally Posted by
Captn Rex Havack
The doubters here are all arguing based on today's technology. Payload issues, range - who says an electric propulsion system a decade from now will be bulky and heavy, who says it won't come with good range capability. That's what R and D does. Lamax made assumptions based on what's out there now. And he/she is correct - wouldn't work now. And that's why they are not doing it now. But give it time, money, R and D, and it will happen. I might be dead when it does, but I can see it coming.
In 1903 we had the first powered flight. In 1969 man walked on the moon.
Just 66 years later.
Rio Tinto and FMG are buying battery-electric locomotives
right now as a trial and assuming the batteries themselves work (the core loco electrics are well-proven), can see them being particularly successful given the vertical profile of the track there, and while there's not a significant weight constraint in that application, the
research and ongoing development is what will translate across to aviation uses. Even in heavy-rail use, a lighter battery means more can be carried for a given axle-load, increasing either range or available traction power, so there is most definitely an incentive for GE or EMD to continue their own R&D.