Jay Leno drove the Tesla Semi and called it the biggest revolution since trucks displaced rail for most cargo.
Heavy trucks are 1% of the vehicles on the road but consume 18% of the fuel.
The Semi batteries are operating at 800-1000 volts.
It has a low-voltage 12 volt system but they are looking at switching to 48 volts.
Jay drove the Tesla Semi and found it to be very comfortable with great braking. The Tesla Semi can have minimal need for braking because of the regenerative braking.
Jay had his Semi tow a new low roof Tesla Semi. They had a gross vehicle weight of 60,000 to 70,000 lbs.
The Tesla Semi has about same turning radius as a Model S or Model Y.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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So why Tesla? It didn’t start making the electric semi trucks and it doesn’t lead the market.
This episode is worth watching. I spent many years driving the open roads of ND where the winter weather can change on a dime. Winter time driving (colder weather) is from Dec. to March up here. Keeping a small cab warm and the windows frost free can be a challenge even for a small car or truck. Resistive heating an enormous cab and using window defrosters at same time will draw huge on the battery during winter operations. I suppose A/C will have some effect too during warm weather operations. So far, in the northern tier of ND along a major federal highways, not one Tesla charger has been installed.
I assume they are not using resistive heating but are using heat pumps just like they do in their cars.
But I drive a model 3 in a cold climate similar to ND so it is true that in winter conditions you need to knock at least 30% off the range.
I’ve an air sourced heat pump in my home and It don’t work worth beans below 20F. It will still extract heat from the cold air but the electricity cost is huge. Resistive heating is cheaper at those temps. Ground based or geothermal works pretty good up here in ND. Very cost effective in the long run. Aquafers and soil remain around 48F year round and are a good source of cheap low grade heat or cooling. Expensive to install and require maintenance too. I don’t think Tesla will go that route. Maybe Tesla’s heat pump is different and better. In the end it still has to have a heat source to pull the heat from. Good luck with that when its -20F for a week or two in January.
Also, What about reefers?
They all run on some type of hydrocarbon. Propane for one type,
Are they gonna make a trailer that runs the cooler off battery packs? This maybe a charging station nightmare in the making. Charging a trailer and a tractor at the same time at a charging station. Wow.
I’m an advocate for Tesla semi’s. Their going to take diesel trucks down the same road that film cameras traveled.
Reefers are perfect for adding some solar to though, with a battery sized for night time demand, or charged via regenerative trailer brakes, as Carrier is developing.
https://www.carrier.com/truck-trailer/en/north-america/products/na-truck-trailer/vector-ecool/
Very true, and precisely why electric will never work, unless you’re just sporting around in town. Hybrid is the only answer.
Fuel costs are THE biggest operating costs
Tesla will reduce that by 66%