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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday November 18 2017, @05:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the keep-on-truckin' dept.

Elon Musk has unveiled the Tesla Semi Truck. It supposedly boasts a single-charge range of over 500 miles, more than what analysts had expected. Tesla could begin producing the vehicles by the end of 2019 (assuming it isn't delayed):

The truck can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in five seconds without a trailer, and in 20 seconds when carrying a maximum load of 80,000 pounds, less than a third of the time required for a diesel truck, he said.

He gave no price for the truck but hinted that it would be costly. "Tesla stuff is expensive," Mr. Musk said, drawing another cheer from the crowd, gathered at an airfield outside of Los Angeles. But he also said the electric truck would be less expensive to operate, in part because it has fewer components that require regular maintenance (no engine, transmission or drive shaft). Instead, the truck, called the Tesla Semi, is powered by a giant battery beneath the cab. It has two rear axles, each outfitted with two electric motors, one for each wheel. Its acceleration and uphill speeds will allow it to cover more distance in less time than diesel trucks, he added.

As a result, Tesla is estimating it will cost $1.26 per mile to operate, compared with $1.51 a mile for a diesel truck. The cost can fall further — to 85 cents a mile, according to Tesla — if groups of trucks travel together in convoys, which reduces wind drag. "This beats rail," Mr. Musk said.

In typical Tesla fashion, the truck is a sharp departure from industry norms. The cabin is spacious enough for a driver and passenger to stand. The driver's seat is in the center of the cab, not on the left side. It is flanked by two laptop-size video screens providing navigation and scheduling data as well as images of blind spots and other areas around the truck. It will be equipped with radar sensors, cameras and processors to enable drivers to use a version of Autopilot, the advanced driver-assistance system featured in Tesla cars such as the Model S and the new Model 3.

Tesla will also produce a new version of the Tesla Roadster that can go from 0-60 in 1.9 seconds.

Also at BBC, TechCrunch, and Firstpost.

Pre-conference coverage at Bloomberg

Previously: Tesla Sued Over Alleged Racism; Deliveries Pushed Back; Semi Truck to be Unveiled


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Saturday November 18 2017, @10:58AM (13 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Saturday November 18 2017, @10:58AM (#598621) Journal

    This. I recall reading that it takes about 1/3 the energy to travel by rail compared to paved road. Narrow steel wheels vs fat rubber tires, tighter convoying so to speak, more level routes, and on the railroad, engines have been hybrid for decades now. Surpassing the hybrid engine isn't enough to offset all the other advantages rail has.

    The US is prone to ignoring energy savings. Crazy how much low hanging fruit is not being picked. It's like it's against the state religion to conserve energy, because that might make them look poor, weak, and more feminine. Small cars are for liberals, wimps, and girls. Real men drive pickups. And of course, "drill, baby, drill!" I heard a bad joke about this: "What's the sound of a Prius accelerating? I'm gaaaayy!"

    Making boxy truck trailers more aerodynamic is incredibly easy to do, but truck operators will reach for the damnedest reasons not to. One crazy guy wouldn't consider vortex generators on the trailing edges because they are "ugly". I protested that the standard gray box trailer is already about the ugliest thing on the road, how could its appearance possibly matter? But it was like arguing with a brick wall. One change I have seen in recent years is the addition of a spoiler to move air around the outsides of the wheels, but still no dimples like on golf balls, or vortex generators on the trailing edges.

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  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday November 18 2017, @12:13PM (7 children)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Saturday November 18 2017, @12:13PM (#598633) Homepage

    I once drove on a two-lane highway alongside truckers outside of Mobile, Alabama in weather that was so shitty that even maximum windshield wipers couldn't prevent the heavy rain from obscuring my view.

    I was driving a small car, and big-rigs were passing me left and right at 90 miles per hour like a walk in the park even though I was white-knuckled scared-shitless. The problem with California faggots, especially those with too much rigteous indignation on their hands, is that they believe that they know fucking everything from their safe little comfortable vantage points, and that they can magically apply their silly mentality everywhere else.

    Sure, their trucks would work from Menlo Park to Sunnyvale, but I doubt they'd work as succesfully anywhere else.

    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday November 18 2017, @01:16PM (1 child)

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Saturday November 18 2017, @01:16PM (#598645) Homepage

      Hah. You Silicon Valley fucks can mod me down all you want. But I won the battle. You will lose the war!

      Best of luck to you, bitches: I will fight you until my dying breath!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 18 2017, @05:07PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 18 2017, @05:07PM (#598693)

        Meds, don't forget to take your meds!

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 18 2017, @02:24PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 18 2017, @02:24PM (#598660)

      > big-rigs were passing me left and right at 90 miles per hour like a walk in the park

      Visibility is much better from a higher vantage point. While the lack of visibility from-the-rain is about the same for everyone on the road, the spray-from-vehicles is much worse closer to the ground.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Saturday November 18 2017, @05:55PM

      by bzipitidoo (4388) on Saturday November 18 2017, @05:55PM (#598705) Journal

      A pity those trucks weren't more aerodynamic. More aerodynamic vehicles kick up less spray and wind. And your car would have been affected less by the buffeting if it was more aerodynamic.

      So easy to improve aero that a private citizen tinkering in his garage can drastically improve it, even on the best cars available in the US: http://aerocivic.com/ [aerocivic.com] Look at the underside of almost any car, and you'll see all kinds of things that stick out and add to the drag.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @04:33AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @04:33AM (#598839)

      I'm wondering if he's thinking ahead and whether these things have slide-in battery packs.

      I can see a driver pulling into a depot, grabbing a sandwich and refilling his thermos, and by the time he's back to his rig he's got another 500 miles of range replacing the depleted thing.

      I was driving a small car, and big-rigs were passing me

      Tim "The Toolman" Taylor: "This needs MORE POWER."
      http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=dragstrip+electric.car [google.com]
      The biggest problem those guys have is keeping the wheels from smoking.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @01:13AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @01:13AM (#599087)

        > slide-in battery packs.

        Just in case you check back, this might work in CA and the SW. Here in the NE USA, we have salted roads and things get really ugly in the winter. I don't give battery replacement much of a chance in this part of the world, too much contamination. Not to mention the problem of standardizing battery packs, when the different manufacturers are still improving them with every generation.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @06:39AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 20 2017, @06:39AM (#599172)

          too much contamination

          I would expect the battery compartments to be a sealed thing.
          Weatherstripping on doors of buildings keeps out the nasty stuff.
          Car trunks stay dry.
          Passenger compartments too.
          I don't see this as being any different.

          in the NE USA

          Yeah, that will have to be considered.
          The initial development is all being done in The Sun Belt.
          I expect subsequent generations of the tech, however, to be suitable for wider use.
          (The first automobiles were open configurations, unsuitable for winter up north.)

          standardizing

          Again, second-generation stuff should iron out the fine points.
          (The wide adopttion of the IBM PC architecture a few years after the birth of the personal computer was actually an anomaly for an industry.)

          -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday November 18 2017, @03:06PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 18 2017, @03:06PM (#598676) Journal

    The US is prone to ignoring energy savings.

    There's two things to keep in mind here. First, energy savings aren't that valuable due to the usual low cost of electricity. And such things also have costs.

    For example, I've worked security guard at a location where everyone leaves at the end of the day. It made sense in that situation to turn lights off when I found them (this is despite the fact that workers were trained to turn lights off at the end of the day).

    Now, consider instead a location where no one patrols the location after dark. Now, if you want someone to check the lights at the end of the day, you have to pay someone to drive in and walk around, just checking lights. Sorry, you just made making sure the lights are off into an expensive operation.

    The marginal cost of checking that lights are out in the first scenario is zero cost. I would be there and often turning lights on and off anyway. The marginal cost of the second scenario is much higher since one has to pay for significant transportation and time costs just to send someone out to check lights. To the person who never considers the cost of energy savings, the two scenarios are equivalent. But they aren't.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 18 2017, @04:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 18 2017, @04:03PM (#598686)

    Rail requires more involvement by the government and more trust in the government. If sixty different companies want weekly shipping between Chicago and Miami, they have to make arrangements with the private and government agencies that own rail lines between the two cities and bid against each other for the available trains and schedule time to move their material. Track maintenance is a serious disruption, alternate routes may not be available or may be too expensive to use.

    If sixty different companies want to ship by truck between Chicago and Miami, they just ignore each other and buy thousands of trucks. Road maintenance is a minor annoyance, they just use other roads.

    And that's even ignoring the price of fuel. Diesel taxes are dramatically higher in Europe, so if rail uses 25% as much fuel to ship a load the cost savings are colossal. Cost savings aren't nearly as big in the US, or at least aren't big enough to drive more investment in rail infrastructure.

  • (Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday November 19 2017, @06:57AM (2 children)

    by Arik (4543) on Sunday November 19 2017, @06:57AM (#598865) Journal
    "Hybrid."

    They aren't hybrid. They're electric. Have been for many many decades. Even the 'diesel' locomotives are electric. The diesel engine has no connection to the wheels, it only drives the electric generator.
    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @09:00AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 19 2017, @09:00AM (#598885)

      It is a series hybrid.

      • (Score: 2) by Arik on Sunday November 19 2017, @09:56AM

        by Arik (4543) on Sunday November 19 2017, @09:56AM (#598891) Journal
        Which is a misnomer, "series hybrids" are not hybrids, and are more accurately referred to as extended range electric vehicles. True hybrids get that name because they are both and neither ICE (n)or electric vehicles - their wheels may be driven by an ICE at one moment, by an electric motor the next, possibly even by both at the same time. A diesel-electric locomotive (or an i3) is not a hybrid, because that's not true. These machines drive with the electric motor - always and only.

        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?