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The Tesla Semi from an Insider's View After One Year: "Hot Mess"

bradmunchen.substack.com

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Re: The Tesla Semi from an Insider's View After One Year: "Hot Mess"

#2
> The constant use of the battery pack is unprecedented and is causing reliability problems for Tesla and other EV truck makers

I don't understand why this is a surprise and why they think they can muscle through it. I didn't think our current battery technology is built for this scenario.

> During the installation process, the Megachargers took down the power grid for a good chunk of the city

This is my fear with everyone eventually plugging in their electric vehicles at 5pm

Re: The Tesla Semi from an Insider's View After One Year: "Hot Mess"

#4

> The constant use of the battery pack is unprecedented and is causing reliability problems for Tesla and other EV truck makers I don't understand why this is a surprise and why they think they can muscle through it. I didn't think our current battery technology is built for this scenario. > During the installation process, the Megachargers took down the power grid for a good chunk of the city This is my fear with ev…

> This is my fear with everyone eventually plugging in their electric vehicles at 5pm.

If I plug my car in at 5pm, it won't start charging for 7 hours, when it's economically rational for it to do so. Time-of-use pricing seem to solve this. EV load is among the least time-sensitive of all power consumers. Set up your pricing right, and the EV charging will follow.

Re: The Tesla Semi from an Insider's View After One Year: "Hot Mess"

#5

> The constant use of the battery pack is unprecedented and is causing reliability problems for Tesla and other EV truck makers I don't understand why this is a surprise and why they think they can muscle through it. I didn't think our current battery technology is built for this scenario. > During the installation process, the Megachargers took down the power grid for a good chunk of the city This is my fear with ev…

> This is my fear with everyone eventually plugging in their electric vehicles at 5pm

Household- or neighborhood-scale battery banks make a lot of sense in the near term. Because they are stationary they don't need to emphasize light materials and can focus more on cost efficiency and charge/discharge rate than mass or energy density using more readily available materials and cheap production methods. With relatively simple BMS you can charge your EV now and recharge the battery at off-peak times if you need to use it again in the evening (lots of people do).

Re: The Tesla Semi from an Insider's View After One Year: "Hot Mess"

#6
> Tesla uses the the tri-motor system from the Models S/X Plaid on one axle of the Semi, which seems both dangerous and needless, given the lack of concern among Semi users for quick acceleration

Jay Leno did an interview with one of the Tesla Truck engineers the other week, I believe he mentioned each axle is geared differently. One specifically for highway speeds and the other one disconnects for optimal efficiency once up to speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMKySYs-hCg

Re: The Tesla Semi from an Insider's View After One Year: "Hot Mess"

#8
post #3

Why does anybody in the entire world want a semi with a 5 second 0-60?

I believe it's just a side effect of getting a BEV to that mileage range. Only the performance oriented Teslas put any thought into the acceleration, because it's already plenty fast by default.

Re: The Tesla Semi from an Insider's View After One Year: "Hot Mess"

#9
Looks like the design requirement for a heavy duty vehicle were not properly followed. Though that's how tesla builds something like software build find faults then itteriate. For light duty if you can get chinese $2000 truck with a hydraulic lift I think china is going to takeover the world's vehicle manufacturing markets.

https://electrek.co/2023/11/14/two-years-after-buying-a-2000...

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