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Tesla's Electric Semi Truck Will Reportedly Get 200-300 Miles Per Charge (reuters.com)
According to Reuters, Tesla next month plans to unveil an electric big-rig truck with a working range of 200 to 300 miles, a sign that the company is targeting regional hauling for its entry into the commercial freight market. From the report: Chief Executive Elon Musk has promised to release a prototype of its Tesla Semi truck next month in a bid to expand the company's market beyond luxury cars. The entrepreneur has tantalized the trucking industry with the prospect of a battery-powered heavy-duty vehicle that can compete with conventional diesels, which can travel up to 1,000 miles on a single tank of fuel. Tesla's electric prototype will be capable of traveling the low end of what transportation veterans consider to be "long-haul" trucking, according to Scott Perry, an executive at Miami-based fleet operator Ryder System. Perry said he met with Tesla officials earlier this year to discuss the technology at the automaker's manufacturing facility in Fremont, California.
No, no, NO.. there is NO commercial vehicle on the market that would EVER sell any significant number of units if the ONLY thing they can get is a measly 200 to 300 miles a charge.
Your average OTR trucker will drive at LEAST about 500 to 600 miles a day, I know. I was one. And there will NEVER be enough time for a trucker to just stop for a day to recharge this hunk of over engineered trash. It is just flat out incompatible with the entirety of the US's commercial logistics infrastructure. In fact most of the large carriers specially try to get team drivers on the go, just so they don't have to waste any time. Most of these trucks, at best, will have all of 4 hours a day where they are NOT running.
Nope, this is just one more example of Mr. Musk trying to spin up for support to a technology just flat out won't work. Ironically, you might be able to make something like this work... but it would probably require an entire infrastructure of hot swappable batteries 'refueling stations' where you can stop and swap out batteries for fresh ones.