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Tesla Semi

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Re: Tesla Semi

#281

Post by scoot »

nwmcsween wrote: post #132

Ok as a mechanic a few million questions: * What happens when a wheel seal goes? Do I have to remove all that ridiculous plastic on #2,3 axels?? * What happens when a tire blows? Is it going to destroy all that plastic and take out a few more tires in the process? * Why all the glass? I've spend entire days replacing windshields for a 12 or so truck shop which generally come in two (drivers and passengers), the Tesla…

If you check out the reveal, you'll see that it doesn't have those ridiculous covers, nor does it have near zero clearance between the cab and trailer which would prevent articulation, and nor does it have near zero ground clearance.

Re: Tesla Semi

#282

Post by saagarjha »

Mchl wrote: post #245
njarboe wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I don't think anything sold in the US today, not to the Department of Defense, has anything that poses "an immediate and extreme health and safety hazard".

Smoke detectors contain highly toxic Americum 241 isotope. It's not that hard to remove it from the ionization chamber.

…while it remains sealed in a layer of gold. It's not easy to get the Americium out.

Re: Tesla Semi

#283

Post by joelthelion »

tlrobinson wrote: post #254

How does the mileage and recharge time compare to a traditional semi-truck? And are there enough charging stations along trucking routes?

I suppose it would be quite easy to equip a few of the most important routes.

Also I suspect that this will also be used for the last, urban part of the trip.

Re: Tesla Semi

#284

Post by XorNot »

abtinf wrote: post #172

Is a center seating position common for truck drivers? It looks amazing , but it is different enough from my normal consumer driving experience as to make the entire product a non-starter if it were in a consumer car. I've developed decades of training and muscle memory sitting on the left side of the car. I wonder if there will be a measurable impact on accident rates.

I live in Australia. It took about 2 days to get totally comfortable driving on the opposite side when I visited the US. I don't think it'll matter that much.

Re: Tesla Semi

#285

Post by Reason077 »

Mchl wrote: post #245
njarboe wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I don't think anything sold in the US today, not to the Department of Defense, has anything that poses "an immediate and extreme health and safety hazard".

Smoke detectors contain highly toxic Americum 241 isotope. It's not that hard to remove it from the ionization chamber.

Most modern domestic smoke detectors are now photoelectric, rather than ionization based.

Not only do they not contain toxic Americum 241, photoelectric smoke detectors are also both more sensitive to real fires and less prone to false alarms.

(The later is actually really important, as people will often disable smoke detectors in response to a false alarm - and then forget about them)

Re: Tesla Semi

#286

Post by JorgeGT »

csours wrote: post #213
semi-extrinsic wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lower drag coefficient than a bugatti veyron I LOLed at this one. Supercars want lots of downforce so they don't constantly go off the road and you die. They're not built for low Cd. A Toyota Prius has 35% lower drag coefficient than a Bugatti Veyron. It's like when the "superfruit" people go "look at this amazing berry, it has 20% more vitamin C than a lemon!" Well yeah, an orange has 70% more vitamin than a lemon…

> Lower drag coefficient than a bugatti veyron Also, the coefficient is then multiplied by the frontal area of the vehicle. A semi has a helluva frontal area.

Also, drag scales with the square of the velocity [1], and a semi is a helluva slower than a racing supercar.

---

[1] drag = 1/2 x air_density x frontal_area x drag_coefficient x velocity^2

Re: Tesla Semi

#287

Post by JulianMorrison »

akhatri_aus wrote: post #223
aerovistae wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Call me a fanboy, but something tells me that the guy who built a revolutionary space program from scratch while successfully running a revolutionary auto company, probably has some ability to think things through pretty comprehensively from all angles and plan effectively for what's needed. Do you think you've just pointed out something that never occurred to him? Do you think if you could share your comments with h…

It wasn't really from scratch though was it, he hired out people who had already worked with space projects. None of the tech is really new (yet). We used to have the same types of rockets in the past. Amongst Model 3 fiasco Solarcity too currently has issues.

Private spaceflight has a long history of pretty computer graphics, small scale prototypes and broke millionaires. Musk made it happen, and made it pay. Also, nobody at all before them, and nobody else even now can land the boosters on orbital-class spacecraft intact.

Re: Tesla Semi

#288

Post by usaphp »

ksec wrote: post #233

I wonder how does Frozen Container works with this? I would be a huge drain to battery.

They are using external diesel power generators, they are not running from the truck engine anyway.

Re: Tesla Semi

#289

Post by growt »

tlrobinson wrote: post #257
njarboe wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He states that they have spent a lot of time talking to truckers and truck companies. I would guess they believe that with an electric drive train repairs and maintenance will be an order of magnitude lower (not sure how that works for tires and wheels). Body damage should also be much lower with automatic breaking and other features of enhanced autopilot. As Musk said, broken glass is a big cost for trucking as you…

> "nuclear blast" proof That seems like a meaningless claim without size and distance from the blast.

I just noticed the windows on my car are "nuclear blast proof" too. They survived every nuclear blast that happened since I got this car!

Re: Tesla Semi

#290

Post by Dylan16807 »

IshKebab wrote: post #276
isaiahg wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should probably watch the actual reveal, it's already on YouTube. The glass was already addressed and he gave it a specific focus. Even claiming it can withstand an atomic blast.

Yeah that is just classic "what sounds really impressive but actually isn't that bad" marketing nonsense. It might be able to withstand an atomic glass but it's still going to crack if a big enough stone his it at 70mph.

Big enough, yes, but there was footage of hitting it with a pretty big hammer.
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