/sci/ - Science & Math

FURTHERMORE, Caterpillar happens to produce this, the CAT D6XE, an diesel electric driver variant of the popular CAT D6. They do this for exactly the reasons you'd think. Higher efficiency, higher torque, easier maintainence, and lower cost. Electric driver bulldozers are outright superior to diesel bulldozers, and diesel for power generation only makes sense when the fuel is cheap and you have free oxidizer wherever you go.

>>15139083
The Tesla semi battery pack would be capable of powering an electric bulldozer comparable to the CAT D6 for six and a half hours on a single charge at maximum output, a completely unrealistic workload. A still excessive, but more realistic example of 60-70% of maximum output gives you ten hours of charge. The Tesla semi can be charged to 80% in half an hour. The Tesla semi battery pack weighs around 11 tons, even if we simply add that weight to the current bulldozer weight, which assumes the diesel engine is still attached, it's actual weight on Mars will be approximately half of what it is on Earth.

In conclusion, not only does it make sense to fly electric bulldozers to Mars and to power them with lithium ion battery packs, it is in fact superior to all other options.