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Tesla Will Reveal Its Electric Semi Truck in September (techcrunch.com)
From a report: Elon Musk just let us know when we'll get a look at the electric semi truck that he's teased in the past: The Tesla transport vehicle will be revealed in September, the CEO said on Twitter on Thursday, noting that the team has "done an amazing job" and that the vehicle is "seriously next level." Plans at Tesla for an electric semi truck have been in the works for a while now: The vehicle was first mentioned back in July of 2016, when Musk revealed part 2 of his fabled "master plan" for his electric vehicle company. The Tesla Semi, as Musk called it, is designed to help reduce the cost of cargo transportation, and improve safety for drivers, according to the CEO at the time.
Given how critical aerodynamics are for ev's, I wonder if they'll be able to streamline the vehicle without it looking like a phallus on wheels.
I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
I say to Tesla: Reduce the complexity and(or) the gimmickry and see cash flow into your coffers. Folks, how about creating a near "normal" car with better range and more competitive pricing?
I for one know I'd be a sure customer. I also know that I am not alone. Who needs a car whose handles will pop out? These get "stuck" sometimes...and in a dusty environment, it gets worse!!
Given how critical aerodynamics are for ev's, I wonder if they'll be able to streamline the vehicle without it looking like a phallus on wheels.
Aerodynamics are just as important for gas powered vehicles as they are for EVs. Wind resistance doesn't care what you have under the hood. Besides, EVs have an advantage there because they don't need a radiator up front screwing up the air stream.
If the trailer is full of batteries you don't have room for that cargo.
It doesn't have to be "full" of batteries. If you devote 5% of the space to batteries, you can have a 1000 mile range.
If it takes one hour to recharge after 6 hours of driving, that is a total of four hours/day of downtime. With a human driver, the max legal limit is 11 hours per day of driving, followed by at least 10 hours of downtime. So the SDT has less total downtime, faster deliveries, and no driver to pay.
The attraction of electric motors for trucks is the same reason steam and diesel locomotives were replaced by diesel-electric. The heavy loading means there's a huge range of torque vs. speed requirements. So a direct mechanical linkage from an ICE engine to the wheels requires a massive number of gears in the transmission. For a train this would mean 20-50 gears. Most trucks use 10-18 gears (plus 2 reverse gears).
An electric motor can cover that huge torque vs speed range without any gears. At some point the extra weight of the transmission with all those gears is more of a burden than the losses you get from converting the ICE's mechanical energy into electrical to drive the electric motor. In that respect, even if the truck isn't 100% electric, it could offer some serious advantages. e.g. No low gears - the ICE engine only drives the truck at higher speeds. At lower speeds it's powered by an electric motor, whose battery is recharged by the ICE.