Topic: Tesla Semi

[Ontariodriver]

Tesla Semi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtOqU2o81iI  <--launch, skip too 21.12, it's about half hour,

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2023-tesla-semi-truck-ev-first-look-review/





Where the magic happens.



I don't think I like that truly awful interior. The truck can haul up 82,000 pounds and can go 500 miles

[rrocket]

But it will haul less weight than a conventional ICE.

Not sure if that's progress...

[me_2]

My understanding us limits overall weight tractor + trailer to 80,000Lbs total but an exception was voted for BEV & natural gas tractor is up by 2,000Lbs.
here

Edit, as seen on https://www.tesla.com/semi : 
Fully Loaded at 82k lbs Gross Combination Weight
With less than 2 kWh per mile of energy consumption, Semi can travel up to 500 miles on a single charge.

They (allegedly) will post later a 8 hours long video later about the 500 miles ride from Fremont to San Diego, CA. A 2 minutes version of it YT

[me_2]

"Ellie in Space" summarizes the Semi presentation for you, in 7:23 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFdtSAIRl98

[Ontariodriver]

But it will haul less weight than a conventional ICE.

Not sure if that's progress...

2000 pounds more than diesel, apparently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv44W7xa4IU

Does The Tesla Semi Make Any Sense?

[rrocket]

My understanding us limits overall weight tractor + trailer to 80,000Lbs total but an exception was voted for BEV & natural gas tractor is up by 2,000Lbs.
here

Edit, as seen on https://www.tesla.com/semi : 
Fully Loaded at 82k lbs Gross Combination Weight
With less than 2 kWh per mile of energy consumption, Semi can travel up to 500 miles on a single charge.

They (allegedly) will post later a 8 hours long video later about the 500 miles ride from Fremont to San Diego, CA. A 2 minutes version of it YT

Your understanding of correct. And the updated weights for EVs proves my point.

But we can nail it down a bit closer.

The Tesla had 11 jersey concrete barriers for a load. They weigh about 4k each so 44,000lbs. An empty 53' trailer weighs about 10k.

So 81k less 54k is 27,000lbs.

A similar ICE tractor capable of the same job can weigh as little as 19,000lbs.

[warp]

My understanding us limits overall weight tractor + trailer to 80,000Lbs total but an exception was voted for BEV & natural gas tractor is up by 2,000Lbs.
here

Edit, as seen on https://www.tesla.com/semi : 
Fully Loaded at 82k lbs Gross Combination Weight
With less than 2 kWh per mile of energy consumption, Semi can travel up to 500 miles on a single charge.

They (allegedly) will post later a 8 hours long video later about the 500 miles ride from Fremont to San Diego, CA. A 2 minutes version of it YT

Your understanding of correct. And the updated weights for EVs proves my point.

But we can nail it down a bit closer.

The Tesla had 11 jersey concrete barriers for a load. They weigh about 4k each so 44,000lbs. An empty 53' trailer weighs about 10k.

So 81k less 54k is 27,000lbs.

A similar ICE tractor capable of the same job can weigh as little as 19,000lbs.

A typical empty diesel tractor trailer combination is about 36,000 lbs - 37,000 lbs ,(but including ~2000 lbs of diesel if it has twin 150 gallon tanks), depending on whether the tractor is Volvo or Peterbilt etc. With the 80,000 lb gross weight limit, it means that it can carry a load of 43,000-44,000 lbs, typically less in winter because sometime snow accumulates on the roof of the trailer and that can result in an overload situation at the weigh scale. Tesla must have ensured that it's Semi truck is competitive in terms of the payload that can carry vs the existing diesel competition, because that is all that matters from a revenue standpoint. So it will come down to what will be the cost per mile fixed as well as marginal to haul those 44,000 lbs and how will that compare to existing diesel trucks.

[rrocket]

A typical empty diesel tractor trailer combination is about 36,000 lbs - 37,000 lbs ,(but including ~2000 lbs of diesel if it has twin 150 gallon tanks), depending on whether the tractor is Volvo or Peterbilt etc. With the 80,000 lb gross weight limit, it means that it can carry a load of 43,000-44,000 lbs, typically less in winter because sometime snow accumulates on the roof of the trailer and that can result in an overload situation at the weigh scale. Tesla must have ensured that it's Semi truck is competitive in terms of the payload that can carry vs the existing diesel competition, because that is all that matters from a revenue standpoint. So it will come down to what will be the cost per mile fixed as well as marginal to haul those 44,000 lbs and how will that compare to existing diesel trucks.

Excellent.

[rrocket]

Any idea what turn around time will be?

I know Musk floated around 1.6mw chargers for these..But I don't think those exist.

[Ontariodriver]

Any idea what turn around time will be?

I know Musk floated around 1.6mw chargers for these..But I don't think those exist.

400 miles in half hour, proving you use there 8 pin mega charger, which is 13 times more powerful than a standard charger.

[JohnnyMac]

I’m all for anything that could make shipping and hence everything, cheaper and less volatile.  But we are likely a decade or more away from wide spread commercial use.  But I could see certain companies adopting this, like a Walmart , Whole Foods, etc.  Basically companies that have warehouses and other locations all across NA where trucks can charge while being loaded and unloaded.

[quadzilla]

What is the range of a diesel truck?

[JohnnyMac]

What is the range of a diesel truck?

From what I can find on google, looks like up to 2,000 miles between fuel stops.  But that likely is not the average and certainly not with a heavy load, in winter, going through the Rockies.  Still, it’s likely double at the very least.

But that only matters if you are driving as a team (multiple drivers) as 500 miles would pretty much be 9-10 hours of driving steady and you have to take a break shorty after that.  So it could be a positive in the sense that it forces truckers to take breaks every 9ish hours.  So more rested and alert drivers.

[Ontariodriver]

What is the range of a diesel truck?

I get around 600-700 click out of a full tank. There are variable sometimes. 

I also wonder, can you get a million kilometers out of the Lorry on one battery without serious degradation? Even 680,000 which is the one I'm driving now has.

[rrocket]

Any idea what turn around time will be?

I know Musk floated around 1.6mw chargers for these..But I don't think those exist.

400 miles in half hour, proving you use there 8 pin mega charger, which is 13 times more powerful than a standard charger.

Which don't exist currently from what I read

[Ontariodriver]

Any idea what turn around time will be?

I know Musk floated around 1.6mw chargers for these..But I don't think those exist.

400 miles in half hour, proving you use there 8 pin mega charger, which is 13 times more powerful than a standard charger.

Which don't exist currently from what I read

Good point. Also, almost all these companies would also have to have mega chargers at each drop off/pickup points too.

[rrocket]

Any idea what turn around time will be?

I know Musk floated around 1.6mw chargers for these..But I don't think those exist.

400 miles in half hour, proving you use there 8 pin mega charger, which is 13 times more powerful than a standard charger.

Which don't exist currently from what I read

Good point. Also, almost all these companies would also have to have mega chargers at each drop off/pickup points too,

Yes!

Wonder how much a 1.6mw charger would even cost??

[rrocket]

Good article

https://www.autoblog.com/2022/12/02/tesla-semi-ramsey/

[Ontariodriver]

Good article

https://www.autoblog.com/2022/12/02/tesla-semi-ramsey/

The numbers we can see show what looks like some tenderfoot driving. Keeping in mind that the speed limit for Class 8 trucks is 55 mph in California, the Semi did 55 or below for the opening stint; at one point doing 29 mph on what looks like open highway. The driver follows another rig on I-5 at about 60 to 65 mph for a spell, up to about the one-third mark in the trip. Then he locks into 55 or 57 mph for the long stint through central California, dropping as low as 44 mph and 39 mph for a surprising length of time.

For the final 100-mile stretch from Riverside to San Diego, after the driver takes his mandatory break, he doesn’t exceed 51 mph in the video, dropping as low as 47 mph on open highway.

I don't think you would be allowed to be driving that slow on the 401. 50-80 KPH. The stress alone trying to hyper mile every drop of juice.


Also as we know there's is only one version too, just like with Tesla cars. Your buying the same battery, as the 500 mile range, with software trickery to make go 300 instead. Most of all I would suspect with normal driving at least half that or maybe a bit more.

[Allen]