When it comes to getting things done in the world today, diesel is king. Heavy industry, long haul trucking and marine transport all rely on diesel fuel, but with the introduction on the world’s first electric semi by Telsa, this could all be changing.
Elon Musk is a very ambitious leader, and despite some major setbacks with the Model 3, labor relations and persistent allegations of racism at Telsa, he is charging forward with a revolutionary technology.
The Tesla Semi would be a game changer if Elon can get it to be widely adopted, and while his company was the first to demo a prototype, a number of other companies are working towards the same technology. This means that it is only a matter of time before electric trucks are a reality on the roads, and a lot of truck drivers are out of a job.
Major Advantage
If Tesla can produce these trucks at scale, and they perform as expected, it could mean some huge changes to the labor market, as well as how we use fuel. Goldman Sachs estimates that the widespread adoption of driverless trucks could cost the world as much as 300,000 jobs per year once they begin to be used, until there are few people left in the industry.
Tesla designed an interesting feature into the semi they introduced to the world yesterday, that allows them to run automatically with a single manned truck in the lead. Called “Convoy Mode”, this feature allows three trucks to follow a lead truck, so they can save a charge by lowering wind resistance. It also knocks down on the need for drivers, and this saves some serious cash.
On the performance side the Tesla semi is a real winner, and slaps the crap out of normal semi like no one’s business. They will need to be charged up by what Elon is calling a “Megacharger”, and like many things in the Tesla universe, are still in the prototype phase.
Great Move
While Tesla shares have come off the boil, they are still worth more than $300usd each, putting the company’s market cap in excess of $50 Billion USD. Wall St. seems unfazed by some of the “bottlenecks” that Tesla is dealing with, and that bodes well for the future of the company.
In classic Elon Musk fashion, he ended the semi’s introduction with a surprise. The new Tesla Roadster came rolling out from the back of a semi trailer, and the spec sheet on this little coupe is almost surreal. He claims a sub 2 second 0-60 mph acceleration, and a top speed of over 250 mph.
If the claims Elon is making are true, this little Roadster would be the fastest production car ever. And it looks sooooo sexy to boot!
[via theguardian]
Some simple (simplistic? I’m not a mechanical/electrical engineer) math: The Model S weighs 4,600 lbs., with 1,200 of those being the battery. Similar power- to-weight ratio for loaded 80,000 semi would require a 21,000 lb. battery pack. A typical diesel-powered tractor weighs 18,000 lbs, with engine and transmission weighing 5,000 lbs. Thus, the shell and battery combination for a Tesla tractor would be 34,000 pounds. (Did Tesla give any specs?).
The Tesla weight penalty would be 13,000 pounds, versus diesel. Competitively intolerable, when the typical truckload is 40,000 lbs.