The Tesla Semi Revealed

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monkeymagick

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Despite some delays, as promised Elon Musk finally rolled in to reveal Tesla's new all-electric truck, the Tesla Semi. The big rig goes from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds and tows a max load 80,000 lbs with an estimated range of 500 miles on the highway. A range of 400 miles can be had in 30 minutes on a single charge from solar powered "Megachargers" the company plans to build.

'Cause we got a little convoy.

The real secret weapon of the truck, however, isn't that it can turn into a giant fighting robot (this feature hasn't been activated yet, if it does exist, and Tesla won't admit that it does). Instead, it's that the truck offers a transmission that requires no shifting of gears (as is normal for fully electric vehicles) with regenerative braking that provides "basically infinite" brake life per Tesla.
 
Damn, the truck can be charged and ready to go again before the truck is unloaded.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
if it can realistically get 500 miles that's pretty damn good.
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One would assume they have pretty good data on this, they've apparently been using the "prototypes" to haul batteries from megafactory to the Tesla car factory. AKA, like the powerwalls and some other stuff, these are something they built to solve their own needs and are now putting into production. Between 500 mile range and a 30 minute quick charge, these look very capable for both regional and local trucking. Apparently the all up cost per mile is also extremely competitive.
 
Don't know where they have tested the truck but around here, the average side road and gravel loading lot will scrape that air dam off in short order. Wonder what the power draw of the recharge station is during the 30 minute quick charge? Maybe they could use some Tesla battery packs to store grid power and fast dump to the truck batteries. If it works out, could be an answer to improving air quality around large shipping ports.
 
Now if they can build a smaller version that can haul the same as my 3500HD I will be all in...
 
The Nikola One will likely win out going head-to-head with Tesla's offering.
 
I like Musk's challenge that this thing could win a tug of war contest vs the strongest big rig.... going uphill.
 
TheOne&OnlyZeke said:
Wow...these will be fantastic. Especially the acceleration
Although you'd hope the loads would be well secured with a 0-60 like that
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I haven't looked into the claim much yet but I'm confident this is unloaded. 0-60 in 5 seconds loaded would require an incredible amount of power and traction... And probably a kingpin upgrade...

A regular semi running without a trailer can actually have some decent acceleration. My dad's old truck would pull you back in the seat nicely. The limited rev range kept the actual time pretty high.

DejaWiz said:
The Nikola One will likely win out going head-to-head with Tesla's offering.
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Oh, have they turned their vaporware site with incredible/bullshit claims around? Neat.
 
Epic| said:
Oh, have they turned their vaporware site with incredible/bullshit claims around? Neat.
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Because Tesla wasn't in the exact same position in their infancy...two dimensional depictions posted on their website and mere conceptual mock-ups that their advertising department had to run with to beg for deposits?
 
0-60 in 20 seconds when pulling an 80,000 lbs load. 0-60 in 5 seconds empty.

500 mile range with 80,000 lbs load. I wonder about the range when empty. Or when hauling less than max capacity.

No capacity for a sleeper-cab?
 
Why don't they have solar panel chargers on the top of the truck and trailer to help at least give some kind of emergency power boost?
 
Bigdady92 said:
Why don't they have solar panel chargers on the top of the truck and trailer to help at least give some kind of emergency power boost?
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Because solar panels have weight and could induce aerodynamic friction for what gain? Just how much range would they actually get from some panels?

I dont know just provoking a discussion.
 
DejaWiz said:
Because Tesla wasn't in the exact same position in their infancy...two dimensional depictions posted on their website and mere conceptual mock-ups that their advertising department had to run with to beg for deposits?
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Their claims should be at least somewhat grounded in reality.

Bigdady92 said:
Why don't they have solar panel chargers on the top of the truck and trailer to help at least give some kind of emergency power boost?
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The area of a semi is insufficient to provide worthwhile power for a Nissan leaf much less a semi. A large trailer with panels on the top would average out to probably 500 watts. Ie fuck all
 
A range of 400 miles can be had in 30 minutes on a single charge from solar powered "Megachargers" the company plans to build.
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Well I hope there's a serious redesign in them, because as someone else said in the other thread, doesn't look like the truck is going to fit under the panels
 
Dead Parrot said:
Don't know where they have tested the truck but around here, the average side road and gravel loading lot will scrape that air dam off in short order. Wonder what the power draw of the recharge station is during the 30 minute quick charge? Maybe they could use some Tesla battery packs to store grid power and fast dump to the truck batteries. If it works out, could be an answer to improving air quality around large shipping ports.
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If it's 600 volts, then it must be somewhere around 3,000 amps to charge in 30 minutes. Never heard of a 3,000 amp charger before, but it sounds cool!
 
I imagine these will be better used for trucks that have daily routes where they come back and sit overnight to recharge, say milk or beverage deliveries.

I could also see fleet like UPS where extra tractors will be left charging.

I don't see owner operators buying these though.
 
tec1500 said:
If it's 600 volts, then it must be somewhere around 3,000 amps to charge in 30 minutes. Never heard of a 3,000 amp charger before, but it sounds cool!
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I would imagine it's a bunch of parallel high voltage DC circuits charging the bank of batteries at multiple points.
 
I also like the mega chargers will be using solar. Eliminating one piece of carbon generation. Next step will be to find more Green methods to construct panels and batteries.
 
Of course it's all relatively best case scenario data. I wonder what real world, worst case scenario data looks like. Throw in sub zero temps and nasty roads, and I doubt that it's remotely as good.
 
Cities already have problems with power outages just from AC in the summer. How are they going to deal with the massive increase in demand of electricity if we all have electric vehicles? They won't be able to do it, IMO.
 
rezerekted said:
Cities already have problems with power outages just from AC in the summer. How are they going to deal with the massive increase in demand of electricity if we all have electric vehicles? They won't be able to do it, IMO.
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Addressed in the video.
 
bigdogchris said:
I also like the mega chargers will be using solar. Eliminating one piece of carbon generation. Next step will be to find more Green methods to construct panels and batteries.
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They will supplement with solar, there is no way they will be entirely solar.
 
Wierdo said:
Addressed in the video.
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Solar powered mega stations, which will be of limited use unless they are built all over the place. No, I still think this is going to be a major issue for the electrical grid once most people have electric cars.

I read just last week there is a shortage of the material needed to make solar panels.

And the paid for shills in that audience were annoying.
 
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Epic| said:
The area of a semi is insufficient to provide worthwhile power for a Nissan leaf much less a semi. A large trailer with panels on the top would average out to probably 500 watts. Ie fuck all
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You could probably get at least a 5kw array up there. Practical or efficient? No.
 
rezerekted said:
Cities already have problems with power outages just from AC in the summer. How are they going to deal with the massive increase in demand of electricity if we all have electric vehicles? They won't be able to do it, IMO.
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What cities have power issues?
 
kju1 said:
*cough* cables can be longer *cough*
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Oh sure, and it'll be great as long as truck drivers follow regulations/rules/procedures (*chuckle* because they always do that!). First time it rains hard and one of them goes under the panels to get out of the rain, then drives straight ahead and rips half the solar roof off we'll see.

Although.... make these computer driven semis and you might be in business!
 
rezerekted said:
Solar powered mega stations, which will be of limited use unless they are built all over the place. No, I still think this is going to be a major issue for the electrical grid once most people have electric cars.

I read just last week there is a shortage of the material needed to make solar panels.

And the paid for shills in that audience were annoying.
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It won't be any issue. They said they would power it with solar. They would only need about 2 megawatts of solar panels (about 6,000 panels) per charging spot (times how many spots there are at the station) and for the sun to be shining then. I think solar also works at night too when trucks need to charge.
 
rezerekted said:
Solar powered mega stations, which will be of limited use unless they are built all over the place. No, I still think this is going to be a major issue for the electrical grid once most people have electric cars.
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I believe this kind of thing is intended for those companies making regular deliveries from their main warehouses to their local hubs... Like the central valley in CA to LA, Sacramento, and Bay Area hubs. Kettleman City to Oakland or Sacramento is less than 500 round trip. So is Kettleman City to Orange County. I imagine California is a big target. Legislators and the CARB are probably salivating right now. A company can just ahve one big solar installation in the middle of the Central Valley to cover this kind of thing. Given the legislation that is bound to increase the cost of using diesel trucks, it will be worth it for these companies to build local solar farms to supplement the grid to the point that issues are minimal.
 
Yea, but I'm talking about when electric cars become common place, some countries are mandating all cars must be electric in the not too distant future. I'm saying the electrical grid can not support that without power outages. Solar is just supplementary and can not support all electrical vehicles. That is what I foresee anyway.
 
rezerekted said:
Yea, but I'm talking about when electric cars become common place, some countries are mandating all cars must be electric in the not too distant future. I'm saying the electrical grid can not support that without power outages. Solar is just supplementary and can not support all electrical vehicles. That is what I foresee anyway.
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Many Tesla superchargers already have large battery packs to reduce peak loads on the grid.

Your assumption that you know better than the engineers solving these problems seems misplaced.
 
rezerekted said:
Lots. Every place I have lived in Canada has had outages in the summer from AC use. Toronto is really bad and they share their grid with the USA.
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That’s crazy. I don’t see why they can’t get it to work properly. In Florida we have a lot of electric heat, because we only have a few cold nights. The power companies have no problem with everyone’s electric heat being used at once early in the morning, and electric heat uses way more power than AC.
 
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