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Tesla Semi

tesla.com

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Re: Tesla Semi

#111
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't be an issue - not all trucks are long haul, lots of trucks do pickup & delivery and never leave the city they're in.

That seems reasonable for a box truck or similar. I'm skeptical about a semi though. I'm sure there are some use cases, just not convinced it's a significant percentage. It also rules out consecutive/night shifts with a second driver. Edit: Product page says 300 miles standard, but a 500 mile option: https://www.tesla.com/semi/?new

> It also rules out consecutive/night shifts with a second driver.

One of the things we're learning about electrical vehicles is that they do lead to a culture change in the way people operate them.

Trucker culture currently... blows. They often eat bad food, subsist on caffeine and often other stimulants, work excruciatingly long hours, and often have or cause accidents due to those long hours. They're away from home and their families for weeks of a month. They sit in unergonomic conditions and often sleep in cramped quarters aboard their trucks. Truck drivers in India are often seen as very low class people because of this kind of living situation.

One of the biggest cultural changes happening in truck driving in India are companies switching to relaying cargo - a driver may only go 100-300 miles from home, dropping off or switching their trailer for one heading back the opposite direction, and hauling back home for the night, where the next person goes the next distance, and so on. That allows the driver to have a somewhat normal home life outside of trucking. And as it happens, relay trucking is perfect for an electrically powered system, as it forces truckers to adopt the saner living situation by having to recharge after a run. So, not only healthier, it's safer for everyone on the road and better for the environment.

Re: Tesla Semi

#112

It seems like it will require a $5000 deposit (with a $50,000 "full deposit") and the truck will cost between $200,000 and $250,000, according to the page source.

Well shoot, if they can deliver full self driving capabilities, can I just buy one of these to live in instead of a house, cruising the freeways endlessly?

Re: Tesla Semi

#115
post #104

Details for those that couldn't watch the live stream: -500 mile range on a full charge. On empty 30 min of charging will get you 400 miles. -Lower drag coefficient than a bugatti veyron -They're claiming cost per mile is less than rail for shipping goods. -2019 availability -Lane centering + other features (jack knife prevention) -1,000,000 mile guarantee ---------------- Also they surprised announced a new roadster…

> They're claiming cost per mile is less than rail for shipping goods.

Note: This only applies to "Convoy mode" where 3 or more vehicles draft off each other.

Re: Tesla Semi

#116

I'm really curious if it comes with big differences compared to modern trucks (except for being all-electric). I also wonder why they try to push multiple models and niches when they can't even build enough Model 3s as they had expected.

They have always known that the first few months of production were going to be "production hell" for the model 3. While the model 3 production has been worse than they hoped for (elon musk always underestimates timelines so if you know how his companies normally operate, it's normal) but a 3 month delay for a massive hardware engineering project is not end of the world.

Re: Tesla Semi

#117
post #104

Details for those that couldn't watch the live stream: -500 mile range on a full charge. On empty 30 min of charging will get you 400 miles. -Lower drag coefficient than a bugatti veyron -They're claiming cost per mile is less than rail for shipping goods. -2019 availability -Lane centering + other features (jack knife prevention) -1,000,000 mile guarantee ---------------- Also they surprised announced a new roadster…

That was incredible. Excited to see TSLA early tomorrow morning.

Re: Tesla Semi

#118
post #104

Details for those that couldn't watch the live stream: -500 mile range on a full charge. On empty 30 min of charging will get you 400 miles. -Lower drag coefficient than a bugatti veyron -They're claiming cost per mile is less than rail for shipping goods. -2019 availability -Lane centering + other features (jack knife prevention) -1,000,000 mile guarantee ---------------- Also they surprised announced a new roadster…

Also, the 500 mile range is with a full 80,000 pound load.

Re: Tesla Semi

#119
post #104

Details for those that couldn't watch the live stream: -500 mile range on a full charge. On empty 30 min of charging will get you 400 miles. -Lower drag coefficient than a bugatti veyron -They're claiming cost per mile is less than rail for shipping goods. -2019 availability -Lane centering + other features (jack knife prevention) -1,000,000 mile guarantee ---------------- Also they surprised announced a new roadster…

FYI the 500 mile range figure is fully loaded (cargo is at maximum load for U.S. roads). They claim "80% of routes are less than 250 miles", so they say that the truck can take most routes back and forth without needing to charge.

The million miles is on the drive train. I don't remember if they mentioned the battery warranty?

IIRC the cost per mile in a convoy that they quoted was $0.83/mile.

Same enhanced auto driving features of current Teslas. Automatic breaking, etc.

EDIT1: The dash is the wheel and two screens (left and right). Supposedly their software has all the integrations drivers need, so they don't need to slap other 3rd party devices into their vehicle (which they describe as a problem for existing trucks. I have no clue one way or the other).

It has a frunk.

Re: Tesla Semi

#120
Wow not just a semi truck but a new super car? I always wondered what they could do if there weren't trying to make the cars affordable to most of the population, I guess this is it.

620 mile range is disgustingly insane, I wonder how they were able to pull it off. I can't imagine cramming more batteries would help weight and speed, maybe it uses some kind of different battery technology to get that kind of power storage.

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