This startup wants the $80-billion U.S. railroad industry to switch from diesel to batteries

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/14/battery-electric-trains-voltify-wants-railroad-operators-to-avoid-diesel.html?__source=reddit%7Cmain

by cnbc_official

5 comments

  1. Daphna Langer has a bold ambition: To decarbonize the rail industry in less than a decade.

    How? By convincing U.S. freight railroad companies to switch from diesel power to rechargeable batteries — part of a business model Langer estimates could make her company, Voltify, as much as $10 billion a year.

    The rail industry needs to reduce its emissions by 5% a year by 2030 to reach net-zero goals, according to a 2023 report by the [International Energy Agency](https://www.iea.org/energy-system/transport/rail). In addition, switching to battery electricity would save U.S. rail freight companies $94 billion over 20 years, according to a 2021 study published in the journal [Nature Energy](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00915-5).

    Read more: [https://cnb.cx/3HdQRCP](https://cnb.cx/3HdQRCP)

  3. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST PUT WIRES OVER THE TRACKS. NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO HAVE A GODDAMN BATTERY.

  4. Why is this on an environmental sub? This is a terrible idea. This is just Americans not understanding how electrified rail works again.

    Electric locomotives are amazing! *Battery*-electric locomotives are good for switching engines in train yards and not a lot else.

    Since most people including government officials deciding things don’t know much about trains, here’s the short version:

    Electrified rail works by adding a connection (usually a third rail beside the track or a catenary above) that the engine can make contact with and draw power directly from the grid. These engines may have a small backup battery in case of intermittent connections, but mostly the engine is a very simple big-ass electric motor on wheels that can pull as much power as it needs whenever it needs to and never has to refuel because the power source is fully external to the engine. This has the advantages of making the engine:

    * Light weight, bring down the weight of the train and increasing efficiency (especially on passenger trains where the cars are light and the engine is a significant chuck of the weight).

    * More powerful, potentially allowing larger trains with fewer locomotives. They have lots of room for a high torque motor and infinite power to feed it.

    * Less expensive to manufacture due to general simplicity and less material needed.

    All of these advantages come from ***making the power source external***. By adding batteries you make it heavier than ever, more expensive, and since the energy density of a battery is much lower than diesel you have less range and less room for a big motor. Plus when they eventually need to be retired, electric or diesel engines are mostly just metal that can be repurposed. For battery electric you have to dispose of the hazardous chemicals in the giant batteries. It’s the next wonderful innovation in trains from the people who’ve never thought very hard about trains.

    Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

  5. This is dumb. When there is money to be saved by using battery powered trains, they will do it. No one needs a tech bro to save rail companies.

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