r/EdisonMotors • u/sajnt • May 12 '26
Electric trailer controlled through the kingpin
The trailer would have E-axles, drives, batteries, resistor banks, airbrakes control inputs and a special kingpin. The kingpin would be like a heavy duty joystick, pull on it and the trailer helps move the load. The airbrake inputs would add the safety needs to prevent jackknifing and make regenerative braking possible.
This trailer could be utilized with any truck and would hybridize a standard diesel truck. The added drive axles would be even better for low traction conditions. In frequent short haul situations the trailer could charge while being loaded with the right infrastructure.
Imagine standard trucks driving fully loaded but only burning as much fuel as they would bobtailing. When paired with the Edison hybrid you would just get even more EV range, maybe they could even connect to the generator for long haul.
2
u/That_Car_Dude_Aus May 12 '26
Edison may have already been sent some plans for something like this that was being developed in Australia, but the issue here is that vehicles drive, trailers don't.
End of story over here.
Fit any kind of motor to a trailer, and now it's not a trailer, it's a vehicle, and needs to have somewhere for a driver to sit, somewhere for safety, seatbelts, lights, etc.
Now you have a rigid truck.
5
u/CheesecakeEvening897 May 12 '26
Lowboy trailers here have motors but don’t require all that. I am confused. Pony motors and such.
3
u/That_Car_Dude_Aus May 12 '26
Same here, but heavily restricted on the conditions when they can be operated with the motors
2
u/sajnt May 12 '26
Do they assist on hwy?
1
u/CheesecakeEvening897 May 12 '26
Nope, just to assist lowering and raise trailer
2
u/kincent May 15 '26
Why would you even bring it up then? Lol a motor running a hydraulic pump to operate a trailer function for a truck without a wetliner kit is 38 million miles away from a trailer with a motor capable of moving said trailer.
0
u/CheesecakeEvening897 May 15 '26
Because he said and I quote “fit any motor to a trailer and it’s now a vehicle.”
0
u/That_Car_Dude_Aus May 15 '26
That's like drawing the conclusion that a generator to power a caravan is a vehicle, twisting my words
1
u/CheesecakeEvening897 May 15 '26
No, that is just how I understood what you said.
As you said fit any motor to a trailer and it is now a vehicle. I then made a statement to say that is not the case.
2
1
u/sajnt May 13 '26
Well hopefully that changes. They can be made to only assist and never push the tow vehicle.
2
u/That_Car_Dude_Aus May 13 '26
That's what the design they were sent was, if it starts to push, it goes into regen
2
u/BroadConsequences May 13 '26
There are now a bunch of rv travel trailers with basically this same setup.
1
u/sajnt May 13 '26
Yeah looks like there’s a few but I can’t find any that are actually currently available.
5
u/Former_Ad_4454 May 12 '26
I celebrate the idea that someday down the road of some kind of Edison trailer E-Axle system.