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Tesla Unveils 500-Mile Range Semi Truck, 620-Mile Range Roadster 2.0

Rei writes: During a live reveal on Thursday, Tesla unveiled its new electric Class 8 Heavy Duty vehicle. As most people familiar with Tesla products would expect, the day cab truck features staggeringly fast acceleration for a vehicle of its size. It can accelerate 0-60 in 5 seconds without a trailer and 20 seconds with a 40-ton gross weight while being able to pull its maximum payload up a 5-degree grade at 65mph (versus a typical maximum of 45mph). The 500-mile range is for the vehicle at full load and highway speeds (80% of U.S. freight routes are 250 miles or less). Tesla also boasts a million mile no-breakdown guarantee; even losing two of its four motors it can out-accelerate a typical diesel truck. The total cost per mile is pegged at 83% of operating a diesel, but when convoying is utilized -- where multiple trucks mirror the action of a lead truck -- the costs drop to 57%, a price cheaper than rail. Tesla went a step further and stole the show from their own event by having the first prototype of the new Tesla Roadster drive out of the back of the truck. With the base model alone boasting a 620 mile range on a 200kWh battery pack with 10kN torque, providing a 1.9 second 0-60, 4.2 second 0-100, and 8.9 second quarter mile, the 2+2-seating convertible will easily be the fastest-accelerating production car in the world. Top speed is not disclosed, but said to be "at least 250mph." The vehicle's release date, however, is not scheduled until 2020.

373 comments

  1. Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...3 ... 2 ... 1

    1. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Please do not feed the troll.

    2. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone on youtube commented that the batteries add about 20,000 or 40,000 lbs extra weight compared to a diesel truck. That will reduce the total capacity of payload these trucks can carry, won't it?

    3. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Rei · · Score: 5, Informative

      Energy consumption is stated at "under 2kWh/mile", which is reasonable. So a 500 mile range would be a 1MWh battery pack. The larger the battery pack, the more you approach individual cell energy densities, so they're probably getting around 200Wh/kg. Hence the battery pack (the heaviest portion of the tractor) probably weighs around 5 tonnes. Given that a typical semi tractor weighs about 8 tonnes, the two should be comparable.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    4. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by michelcolman · · Score: 5, Funny

      OK, let's get them started:

      500 mile range at 250 mph means you have to stop every two hours, that's pathetic compared to gasoline cars.

      (OK, I'm outta here, have fun)

    5. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Electric Considerations

      SALT. Salt attacks steel and electric motors.
      Hilly places. Less MPG's or electric ones at that. And not being flat means the salt can be splashed up, to drip down.
      Batteries last longer if not stressed. It is a cost tradeoff - age Vs capital cost

      On the flats and traffic jams, electric wins for sure.But not everywhere.

    6. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Rei · · Score: 5, Informative

      Electric wins *more* in hilly terrain because it can climb grades faster, and regens on the downslopes.

      Salt isn't going to attack electric vehicle tractors any more than ICE tractors. And the vehicle uses a smooth belly pan anyway, it's not like the underside is a bunch of exposed wiring.

      Batteries that are discharged over the course of 7 hours are not "stressed". And Tesla batteries have superb longevity (check the charts/graphs tab).

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    7. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      Metric tonne or Imperial tonne?

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    8. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by MachineShedFred · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yeah, because there's absolutely no rusted out shitbucket internal-combustion vehicles throughout the midwest and northeast US due to road salt. Not a single one. Salt only attacks electric vehicles!

      On a hill, the electric truck will win every single time - no rapid downshifting to keep engine RPMs up, no tough hillstart climbs that require a lot of skill or extra mechanical devices like crawler gears or hill-start assist magic that prevent you from sliding your trailer into the family of 4 behind you, torque for days to pull the steep grade faster than 10 mph and regenerative braking to get the power back on the other side of the hill - in a diesel you just burn more diesel getting up the hill, and then wear your brake pads and drums even more going back down the other side.

      There's a lot of smoke and mirrors when it comes to these launches, but some of what they did here makes a lot of sense.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    9. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Also note that regenerative braking is huge boon for big rigs. A lot of energy is stored in the moving mass and wasted every time you have to slow it down.

    10. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Screw you dude. I spent at least two minutes thinking about it before I posted, so clearly I have seen things those so-called "professionals" working full time on the problem didn't even consider.

    11. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by nospam007 · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Someone on youtube commented that the batteries add about 20,000 or 40,000 lbs extra weight compared to a diesel truck. That will reduce the total capacity of payload these trucks can carry, won't it?"

      That's why they removed the large Diesel motor, the transmission, cooling, fuel and water tanks .....

      Also I read a few days ago, that some mining companies use giant electric trucks to move 60 tons of materiel down the mountain (generating electricity) and empty back up the mountain, so they generate more energy than they use.
      They have to go to the power outlet only once after each shift, not to load, but to _unload_ their surplus electricity.

    12. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Metric tonne or Imperial tonne?

      I prefer the fucktonne myself.

    13. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by skullandbones99 · · Score: 1

      By definition tonne is metric and ton is imperial.

      However the US confuses things by calling a tonne, a metric ton.

    14. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      Who gives a fuck about a truck....?

      The roadster here, gives me the absolute first "green" vehicle I could consider getting.

      The range looks good, now...if they can keep the price somewhere even close to the Vette, I'll be in.

      Nice to see a green car that isn't fugly.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    15. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 4, Funny

      By definition tonne is metric and ton is imperial.

      However the US confuses things by calling a tonne, a metric ton.

      Well, that is the long and short of it...

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    16. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Rei · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I once read about a high altitude mine that had a custom built electric truck haul ore to where it could be processed and shipped out. The truck actually had to discharge at the bottom, not charge, as the energy it consumed going up empty was less than the energy it recovered going down full.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    17. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you ever buy a used car in Utah, check the underside for salt damage.

    18. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Pascoea · · Score: 1
      Comparison, quick read would indicate that an OTR truck carries about 2100 lbs of fuel at full load. https://www.smart-trucking.com... 300Gal@7 lbs/gal.

      Would be interesting to get a comparison of the weight of the other major chunks, engine/trans/drive-line vs their electric counterparts.

    19. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no because these machines are so huge no company has built an engine that fits in them so electric was the only way to go.

    20. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by eth1 · · Score: 1

      Energy consumption is stated at "under 2kWh/mile", which is reasonable. So a 500 mile range would be a 1MWh battery pack. The larger the battery pack, the more you approach individual cell energy densities, so they're probably getting around 200Wh/kg. Hence the battery pack (the heaviest portion of the tractor) probably weighs around 5 tonnes. Given that a typical semi tractor weighs about 8 tonnes, the two should be comparable.

      Also, I seriously doubt that most trailers are at full weight all the time, so hanging another 5T battery pack under the trailer to double the range seems like it would be trivial, if you really need it. And easy to quickly swap out with standard equipment like a forklift.

    21. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by ranton · · Score: 1

      The range looks good, now...if they can keep the price somewhere even close to the Vette, I'll be in.

      Well starting price seems to be $250k, so not quite Vette range.

      Nice to see a green car that isn't fugly.

      I don't think I've ever talked to someone in person who thought the Tesla S was fugly. It is a gorgeous vehicle.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    22. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      The truck actually had to discharge at the bottom, not charge, as the energy it consumed going up empty was less than the energy it recovered going down full.

      Physics calls bullshit. But I know your IQ is too low to comprend that.

    23. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by WindBourne · · Score: 0

      Why? Do you have a hard time understanding that metric tonne is nothing more than tonne? Or perhaps that Celsius and centigrade are the same?

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    24. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by WindBourne · · Score: 0

      BTW, America does NOT call it a metric ton. Ever. It is always metric tonne.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    25. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Charcharodon · · Score: 0
      (Physics)That basic intro class that is used at college as an IQ test to filter out all the mouth breathers from the engineering track?

      Thermodynamics called and said Rei's statement is correct.

    26. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by WindBourne · · Score: 0

      GD it. I just Googled it and found it in wiki, and various definitions/convertors, and had to go page 5 prior to finding it actually used.

      reagan was such a dumbshit. America was prepared to switch to metric and that dumbfuck stopped it. We so need to switch.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    27. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      Someone from the School of Journalism called and wants a source citation.

      Better hurry, before the rest of the students find out and beat him to death (I don't have a lot of faith in what passes for 'journalism' these days).

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    28. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I did the fucktonne once myself, she was called your mother.

    29. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      "Someone on youtube commented that the batteries add about 20,000 or 40,000 lbs extra weight compared to a diesel truck. That will reduce the total capacity of payload these trucks can carry, won't it?"

      That's why they removed the large Diesel motor, the transmission, cooling, fuel and water tanks .....

      Parts which, collectively, don't even come close to weighing 10-20 tons.

      And that's just the batteries, how much do you think the electric motors, capacitors, high-voltage cabling, et al weighs?

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    30. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 3, Informative

      and then wear your brake pads and drums even more going back down the other side.

      Brake pads should get very little wear going down a hill. Apparently you need to take some driving lessons. You are supposed to shift into a lower gear to keep your speed down when descending a hill.

      In the case of a car, the the butterfly valve that controls the amount of air entering the engine stays closed until you open it by pressing on the accelerator pedal. This forces the cylinders to work against a high vacuum pressure. By down shifting you increase this vacuum pressure.

      Diesel engines work by throttling the amount of fuel rather than air. So they have what is commonly referred to as a Jake Brake. It opens the exhaust valve in a cylinder just after the top of the compression stroke. Which doesn't allow all of that pressure push the cylinder back down. This in turn forces the energy from the turning wheels to compress the next cylinder rather than the energy from the fuel detonation.

    31. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by sdinfoserv · · Score: 2

      The article did NOT says 250 MPH, it said the average route was 250 miles in length....

    32. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by mspohr · · Score: 2

      Reality says you're wrong.
      https://electrek.co/2017/09/17...

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    33. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by mspohr · · Score: 3, Informative
      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    34. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      I don't think I've ever talked to someone in person who thought the Tesla S was fugly. It is a gorgeous vehicle.

      I just don't dig "family cars"....sedans with > 2 seats.

      Ok, technically the new roadster had 4 seats, but those rear ones, much like the ones my old '86 Porsche Turbo , aren't actually functional for anything but a bag of groceries.

      I've never owned anything with > 2 functional seats and a manual transmission.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    35. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 1

      The article did NOT says 250 MPH, it said the average route was 250 miles in length....

      He was referring to the top speed of the new Roadster, not the semi.

    36. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by skullandbones99 · · Score: 1

      My point was that adding the clarification of "metric" to "metric tonne" is technically redundant because tonne is metric and was spelt tonne to avoid any confusion with ton (imperial). It is like saying "wet water". By definition water is wet.

      Centigrade was renamed to Celsius in 1954 to honour Anders Celsius who devised a similar temperature scale that had the freezing point of water to be 100 and the boiling point of water to be 0 (in reverse order to centigrade). Therefore centigrade is an obsolete term and I agree that Celsius and centigrade are the same.

    37. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're neglecting the fact that the truck is empty going up, and full coming down. There's potential energy in the mass of ore it brings down. If the road down has a steady grade, the truck needs no power at all to get down. If it captures that potential energy via regenerative braking and *if* the ore is significantly heavier than an empty truck it could indeed have surplus power. There's no violation of conservation of energy here. They're extracting potential energy from a high point by bringing mass to a low point.

    38. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they were African swallows ....

    39. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IME trailers are either nearly full or empty (no business was able to be had for the next segment) virtually all the time. In fact, those places they make trucks pull over all along major roads are to spot check and make sure they're not overloaded. They write quite a few citations for trucks exceeding their PUC maximum gross weight.

    40. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    41. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by barc0001 · · Score: 1

      Nobody's talking about the real stats - how long will the tires last at top speed? Do they really know, or will they give a Bugatti "answer" ?

      https://youtu.be/LSFX9vrwJf8?t=50

    42. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by ranton · · Score: 1

      I just don't dig "family cars"....sedans with > 2 seats.

      I get that. I put down a deposit for the Tesla 3 but ended up getting a convertible instead because I decided I just wanted a convertible. I would have went with a Tesla instead of a BMW if there was a convertible Tesla, but there isn't. A $50-75k Tesla convertible would certainly get my money when they make one though.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    43. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1
      So looks like there is another non-renewable energy source ready and available!

      We can load heavy boulders on the truck from mountain tops, drive it down hill and charge the grid!

      We could lay railroad tracks downhill, have these electric locomotives haul boulders downhill, regenerate electricity, and feed it to the grid.

      This can be even converted to a sort of mechanical battery to store excess electricity made by solar plants.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    44. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by kaybee · · Score: 1

      And it really cuts down on brake pad wear, which is also a decent cost and hassle savings.

    45. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Well starting price seems to be $250k, so not quite Vette range.

      Oops...went back and re-read your answer and saw this part.

      Ouch..that is a bit steep.

      But, hey, who knows...there may be a big push again for the state/feds to give credits, etc on "green" cars and the like. Maybe I could get one and sneak it through some such tax/rebate programs and bring the price down a bit.

      I think I recall on the early Roadsters, between the Feds and some states, it might have been CO...you could get something like $30K off the car which really made it worth it.

      Those aren't exact numbers of course, but should be in the ballpark I remember seeing back then.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    46. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey just be happy we don't call it a "globalist communist hippy ton"....yet

    47. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by upl8n87447 · · Score: 1

      Really depends on how much energy they generate, and the fact that you're destroying mountains in the process. This could make for an interesting battery though, depending on the energy of the conversion. During times of excess energy, raise dirt to an elevated plane. When energy is needed, lower the dirt and use the mass to generate energy.

      Then again, they already have mechanical batteries that use massive flywheels, and hydro batteries using water reservoirs and draining/filling techniques. I'm guessing this wouldn't be as efficient as those methods.

    48. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get that too, the S is great for a 4 door, but I want something that looks more sporty too. The new roaster looks great. Have to start saving up, it ain't cheap!

    49. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by edgedmurasame · · Score: 1

      Let me know when Tesla has a largish (Think Crown Vic) sized EV with that range at $25-30k. Then I'll be interested.

      --
      "Forget the engineers." -Carly Fiorina, briber of MIT Technology Review.
    50. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by upl8n87447 · · Score: 1

      First, you're referencing a comment on youtube. Second, the comment you're referencing gives a range of between 10 and 20 tons. For some reason I get the impression that the person you're referencing isn't much of an expert on battery weights.

    51. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by upl8n87447 · · Score: 1

      They removed the ICE components because of weight... not because this is a 100% electric vehicle. Got it.

    52. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      Metric tonne or Imperial tonne?

      I prefer the fucktonne myself.

      Imperial fuckton or metric fuckton?

    53. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      So looks like there is another non-renewable energy source ready and available!

      We can load heavy boulders on the truck from mountain tops, drive it down hill and charge the grid!

      That's basically what a hydroelectric dam is, just with water instead of boulders.

      This can be even converted to a sort of mechanical battery to store excess electricity made by solar plants.

      Are there already places doing that with water? I know I've seen the idea discussed on Slashdot, but I don't remember offhand if any place has implemented it yet.

    54. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A car with an 8 second quarter mile is not going to cost the same as a car with an 11 second quarter mile. You might as well suggest that they make the new fastest production car in the world the same price as a toyota corolla.

    55. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Adding a couple of silent letters to the end of a word doesn't distinguish it very well. Since a ton in the US is generally a short ton of 2000 pounds, it's worthwhile referring to a metric ton here when you mean a megagram (and a long ton when you mean 2240 pounds).

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    56. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Not in my experience. A megagram is normally referred to as a metric ton. Tonne shows up now and then. Unless you're talking about the non-US part of America, but still extending an absolute generalization to include the US is wrong.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    57. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      Does it also call bullshit on truckers getting speeding ticket with the clutch pushed in?

      I know someone (not me. Really. It wasn't me.), who was doing 90mph down a hill of Kentucky with the truck out of gear. The fastest the truck would do on a level plain was 80mph.

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    58. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      You are a gentleman (or lady) and a scholar, thank you!

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    59. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Rebel fuckton. I never was one to join the dark side.

    60. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I did the fucktonne once myself, she was called your mother.

      Oooh a your mum is fat joke (she is), and I had sex with her (you have horrible taste) joke. Witty. Did you find that in a Google search?

    61. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Every grid has pumped storages, never heard about country that has none.
      Otherwise you would need resistors to burn off excess electricity. You know: what you feed in has to be consumed. If you produce to much (and you always do that as most plants can only adjusted in steps of several dozen MWs) you have to you have to place the excess somewhere, and that is usually done with pumped storage as that is the most efficient, and has quick reaction times.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    62. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      We can load heavy boulders on the truck from mountain tops, drive it down hill and charge the grid!

      And the byproduct is a flatter planet, which makes it easier to pave.

    63. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by hackertourist · · Score: 1

      If you produce to much (and you always do that as most plants can only adjusted in steps of several dozen MWs)

      Not quite. The torque required to spin a generator at 50 Hz varies with demand. So you can do load-following by varying the steam input to the turbine that drives the generator. You might be making excess steam, but you don't have to make excess electric power.

      Just did a search for my country (.nl) and found no large-scale storage systems. We might be exporting excess energy to the rest of Europe, though.

    64. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by hackertourist · · Score: 2

      20-40 klbs seems a huge overestimate.

      A 85 kWh battery pack for the model S weighs 540 kg. A 1 MWh battery pack of the same construction would weigh 6352 kg. The electric motors weigh in the region of 90 kg each (going by the weight difference between the Models S 90 and S90D).

      A Volvo D16 engine weighs 2700 kg and needs a transmission (several hundred kg), a retarder (ditto) and 500-1000 kg of diesel fuel.

      So the extra weight of the Tesla is in the region of 3 tons (metric), not 20 tons.

    65. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Charcharodon · · Score: 1
      "Someone from the School of Journalism called and wants a source citation."

      "The Russians were in collusion with Thermodynamics to steal the election from Hillary" said a source that didn't want to be named, that works in a prominent Engineering department, that is made up only of white men, with known ties to the Koch brothers and David Duke.

    66. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by catprog · · Score: 1

      High altitude mine = going down it has ore, going up it is empty.

      --
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      Kindle Books http://www.catprog.org/rev
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    67. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Blimey! Thatâ(TM)s almost 3000 stone!

    68. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can only engine brake so much. And when some shithead cuts in front of you, you use the brakes.

      Use your brain.

    69. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by ASAPNow · · Score: 1

      It's funny because a few months ago people said "Cue the Musk fanboys in ...3 ...2...1"

    70. Re: Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You didn't even need to read the article.... the summary had it right there for you...
      "Top speed is not disclosed, but said to be "at least 250mph." The vehicle's release date, however, is not scheduled until 2020."

    71. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I read the same thing:

      https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/09/this-cement-quarry-dump-truck-will-be-the-worlds-biggest-electric-vehicle/

      Here's the really cool part: each round trip actually generates electricity. Because the e-Dumper goes up the mountain empty and descends carrying 71 tons (65 tonnes) of rock, it captures 40kWh on the way to the cement works via regenerative braking. But climbing back up to the quarry only requires 30kWh, so every trip will feed an extra 10kWh into the local electricity grid. Not bad when you then consider that the e-Dumper will be doing that trip 20 times a day.

    72. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Well, Netherlands are very small.
      They use gas instead of pumped storages, most likely because of the geography.
      Interesting charts about Netherlands im-/exports: https://www.tennet.eu/electric...

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    73. Re:Cue the Musk haters in ... by Iamthecheese · · Score: 1

      >There's a lot of smoke and mirrors

      You sound like you know what you're talking about. What parts of this launch are unrealistic, and to what extent do you think they'll hurt performance, and in what ways?

      --
      If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
  2. Just Like Knight Rider, Eh? by dryriver · · Score: 2

    You're driving along the highway going "I'm just a truck, I'm just a truck, I'm just a..." but when the bad guys appear, the artificially intelligent car you have hidden away in the back of the truck comes out, with this music playing: https://youtu.be/mhxRBa7zaOI?t... Thanks to Elon Musk, YOU can be David Hasselhoff. =)

    --
    Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
    1. Re: Just Like Knight Rider, Eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Says a 210+ IQ anonymous coward who didn't understand that the post was a well-intended joke even though it had a =) at the end of it. Or was that 21+ IQ?

    2. Re: Just Like Knight Rider, Eh? by kilfarsnar · · Score: 1

      Wow, you're a total idiot. Once again, I see how Slashdot users are clueless morons who are incapable of exhibiting justice. From the ridiculous advocacy of open source software and hatred of all things Microsoft to the post you just made, you really are incredibly stupid. Unfortunately, the rest of the world has to deal with morons such as yourself, which places quite a burden on society. If there was any justice in this world, some kind of disease would render all of you idiots sterile so that your population would slowly decrease. I thoroughly hate all of you, and I wish nothing but the worst for you incompetent fools for the rest of your miserable lives.

      Just out of curiosity, what does it mean to "exhibit justice"?

      --
      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
    3. Re: Just Like Knight Rider, Eh? by penandpaper · · Score: 1

      We should be asking Xzibit.

    4. Re: Just Like Knight Rider, Eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Prolly just a frustrated Russian troll who is not making as much as they used to shitposting slashdot

    5. Re: Just Like Knight Rider, Eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lighten up Francis.

    6. Re: Just Like Knight Rider, Eh? by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      Yo, dawg, I heard you like justice...

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    7. Re: Just Like Knight Rider, Eh? by penandpaper · · Score: 1

      I could only imagine what you put in my justice since you heard I like justice.
      lol

  3. Overextending themselves by The+Cynical+Critic · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I hope that I'm not the only one worried about Tesla overextending themselves by launching too many new products in too short of a timeframe considering the company's size/resources?

    Not saying that they shouldn't try to venture into new markets, but considering they've still got heavily negative cash flow and have still not been able to introduce a new car without significant technical and production-related teething issues they probably should down a bit. All in all the whole thing is starting to remind me of what happened to Escom*.

    * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    --
    "Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it."
    1. Re:Overextending themselves by Rei · · Score: 4, Interesting

      At the same time, they're dependent on scale. It's estimated that a doubling of battery production rates equals a 17% reduction in battery costs. Hence it's in Tesla's interest to sell as many batteries as possible - whether in Model 3s, stationary energy storage, or Semis. It's also notable that Tesla is doing the exact same thing with drive units: Semi uses the exact same drive units as the Model 3 - just 4 of them.

      Roadster 2.0, by contrast, is more of a halo car. Pricing hasn't been announced, but it's clearly the sort of vehicle where "if you have to ask, you can't afford it". Hence Tesla's target of 2020 (ages by Tesla's normally overly-aggressive timelines) seems to be "pushing capital expenses down the road".

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    2. Re:Overextending themselves by BabyAndTheButterfly · · Score: 1

      Probably the only one - rest is concerned just about the stock price and that could get a boost after this paper launches paint the bright future.

    3. Re:Overextending themselves by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Informative

      Pricing I've seen is $200k base price for the Roadster, with a $50k reservation fee. The founder edition is $250k.

      Not cheap but not expensive for a car with that kind of performance.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:Overextending themselves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope that I'm not the only one worried about Tesla overextending themselves

      I'm not worried. I don't work for them and I'm not invested in their stock.

      Why would you be worried?

    5. Re:Overextending themselves by tehcyder · · Score: 2

      Pricing I've seen is $200k base price for the Roadster, with a $50k reservation fee. The founder edition is $250k.

      Not cheap but not expensive for a car with that kind of performance.

      0-100 mph in 4.2 seconds and "at least" 250 mph top speed is pretty much Formula 1 racing car performance or as fast as a $2million+ Bugati.

      So, yeah, relatively inexpensive.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    6. Re: Overextending themselves by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      As long as they solve the QC issues esp on M3, they will be just fine. I have no doubt that by end of 2018Q1, that they will be doing just fine and likely at break even. But, if they do NOT solve QC, then they could be in a pickle.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    7. Re:Overextending themselves by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      Seems to me that he's trying to pull an Amazon on the electric vehicle world. Remember when Amazon was a startup and bleeding cash from every orifice. They only sold books, often at a loss, but there mantra was to satisfy the customer at any cost to gain marketshare. At this point, they are almost synonymous with online shopping.

      Is Musk trying to "own" electric vehicles?

      --
      Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    8. Re:Overextending themselves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because it could threaten the awesome future of fantastic, next generation cars and transport solutions.

      Because Musk and his plans are a significant brick in the wall against catastrophic climate change.

    9. Re:Overextending themselves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Achieving 250 mph won't be easy & surpassing it will be very, very difficult and it's going to need a pretty big rear wing & some very expensive tires to keep the car on the road.
      I'm not sure why Elon chose that hill to die on; he could aimed for surpassing the 0-150 & 0-200 mph times of cars like the 918 Spyder or the Rimac Concept One or tried for the best 0-100-0, 0-150-0, 0-200-0 times

    10. Re:Overextending themselves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Achieving it is much easier than surviving it. That said, I have survived 155 mph in a Triumph Spitfire 1500. The speed reading had to come from the 'vette next to me because my speedometer maxed. The Spitfire is an 1860 lb car and had a habit of losing ground contact at the leading edges of the bridges due to the slight bump there. It would usually regain contact within 100 ft or so. It also had an annoying habit of losing oil pumps above 10K RPMs. When that happens, the first sign that it has occurred is your rear wheels locking because your engine has seized and you couldn't get to the clutch fast enough. Pretty scary stuff. Oddly, not something a Tesla ever has to worry about.

      Anyway, I have no doubt that this roadster can achieve 250+. I do question the wisdom of Elon publicly encouraging the practice in any way.

    11. Re: Overextending themselves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As long as they solve the QC issues esp on M3, they will be just fine. I have no doubt that by end of 2018Q1, that they will be doing just fine and likely at break even. But, if they do NOT solve QC, then they could be in a pickle.

      The Model 3 problems to date are not quality control but scaling up production.

    12. Re:Overextending themselves by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Tesla don't have all the time in the world to hang around waiting for one product to mature before launching another.

      First of all from the business perspective. Electrification and automation has given the very rare opportunity for a new leading car manufacturer to be created. Possibly even a new market leader. But that can only be managed if they become as big as possible whilst the other companies catch up to the technology.

      And from the environmental perspective, the quicker Tesla pushes the industry towards total electric, the sooner greenhouse gasses can be reduced, and the less harm is done to the planet.

  4. Model 3? by segedunum · · Score: 1

    Asking for a friend.

    1. Re:Model 3? by Rei · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Is "Model 3?" a question?

      if you're asking how production is going: spyshots and VIN tracking currently suggests that they're up to about 100 per week. It got a bit weird because the VIN count stalled out for like a month in the lower 500s, but then suddenly leaped to nearly 1100, and then has been counting backward, filling in the gap. But there's been a real flurry of activity in the past week, week and a half. Multiple parking lots filling and emptying on a near-daily basis with Model 3s of differing VINs. So while it's not clear what exactly got uncorked, something clearly did.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    2. Re:Model 3? by lessthan · · Score: 1

      That sounds like something automated was improperly configured and required them to go back from the discovery of the error and fix each car.

      --
      Space Shuttle was a program that strapped humans to an explosion and tried to stab through the sky with fire and math
    3. Re:Model 3? by Rei · · Score: 3, Informative

      It could be. Or it could just be that they had a chasis surplus but were missing parts to fit them out.

      There's no single problem that's hit them; it's been a number of different problems. They had a supplier which fell behind on supply. They had a couple mechanical and electrical problems in vehicles which they had to go back and repair. Automated battery manufacture took them a long time to get right because the tooling they'd been given didn't work properly. There were some paint shop delays, although they don't appear to have been serious. They've had overheating problems when they try to ramp up the speed on the automated welding (they use ultra high strength steel (in addition to high strength and mild steel) for part of the frame, and UHS steel can be very finicky about welding). Etc. Just all around growing pains. But either way, it's good to see that production rate finally starting to angle up.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    4. Re:Model 3? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 4, Funny

      Apparently they didn't get of the naggers since you keep bitching about them. =P

    5. Re:Model 3? by Thelasko · · Score: 1

      It got a bit weird because the VIN count stalled out for like a month in the lower 500s, but then suddenly leaped to nearly 1100, and then has been counting backward, filling in the gap.

      My guess would be a bunch of cars got built with a common defect. Rather than stop production, they built them and stored them somewhere. Once a fix was available, the cars were repaired/completed. The cars are pulled out of storage in reverse order they went in because they didn't leave space to get the cars out.

      This is somewhat common for something that is simple to fix, like a software update that has to be flashed manually on every vehicle, or a supply chain disruption on an easy to install component.

      --
      One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    6. Re: Model 3? by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but QC may still remain an issue. That is the real killer for them.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    7. Re:Model 3? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, you can always tell a Queenslander, its where Oz keeps its dumbfuck redneck scumbag bigots. Crawl back under your rock you dumb cunt.

  5. No, I did not read TFA, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The truck sounds pretty good on paper, although I'm doubting the convoying benefits, at least in the near future. The Roadster looks exactly like a Mazda RX-8, I wonder if the "at least 250 mph" speed promise is true, does not sound too sensible, but what the heck.

    1. Re:No, I did not read TFA, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why shouldnt that be possible ?

    2. Re:No, I did not read TFA, but... by D.McG. · · Score: 1
      Simple convoying benefits off the top of my head:
      • * Fewer drivers to pay
      • * Fewer drivers to keep cool or warm given the season
      • * Fewer screens to keep lit in the cabin
      • * Aerodynamic drafting dividing air resistance

      All improve the amount of electricity left in the battery packs

    3. Re: No, I did not read TFA, but... by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      Screens in passengers vehicle does not make a dent in electricity. Likewise, HVAC in passengers vehicles, excluding use of cabin heating in early part of trip, makes only small dent . In truck, NEITHER will register on usage.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    4. Re: No, I did not read TFA, but... by D.McG. · · Score: 1

      Backlights of two 20" monitors at full brightness, space heaters, and AC compressors, do not run at zero watts. You seem concerned only with my 2nd and 3rd bullet items, so the 1st and 4th are substantial enough to be beneficial economically? Excellent!

  6. How many can they make now with current funding? by Jzanu · · Score: 2

    How many have they made, and how many can they make now? The only funding left for them is stock as they have billions in currently unpaid bank loans with payments due this quarter and no revenue stream to meet them.

  7. If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    The Bugatti Chiron can do 250 now, and they claim that after eventual fettling and tuning they will get it to do 300.

    It might be the quickest production car, though, which is not the same as fastest.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re: If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by bestweasel · · Score: 1

      That may be true but the Bugatti and its kind come at the end of the internal combustion era; any further improvements will be small and incremental. Current electric vehicle technology is comparable and in some ways (acceleration, energy efficiency, pollution) already better. The next generation of batteries a few years hence with some combination of improved cost, capacity and weight will see them overtake the old vehicles even faster.

    2. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by geekmux · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The Bugatti Chiron can do 250 now, and they claim that after eventual fettling and tuning they will get it to do 300.

      It might be the quickest production car, though, which is not the same as fastest.

      Bugatti - Spends two years and thousands of man-hours on developing an internal combustion engine and transmission to squeeze a gain of 25MPH faster than the previous model. Eventually becomes a not-so-useful one-seater that runs out of gas in 3 minutes at top speed.

      Tesla - Slaps in a bigger battery. Tells customers to hold on tight.

      Yeah, I think we know how this race is gonna end...

      (FYI, Koenigsegg Agera RS tops out at over 280MPH, so Bugatti already has some catching up to do.)

    3. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      Yes, but will it do 250 on Mars?

    4. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Imagine what happens when Bugatti make an electric hypercar, which is probably what they will do next.

    5. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by sheramil · · Score: 1

      Is it important that a truck - presumably intended for long hauls rather than Tom-Slick-style racing - be able to accelerate like mad? Once, Ettore Bugatti, when asked about the brakes, quipped "I want it to go, not stop." From what speed can the Roadster 2 stop, safely?

    6. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by vakuona · · Score: 2

      I think the point is that it can accelerate like mad, not that it needs to. This is demonstrating that it is technically superior in almost every way.

      Therefore, it should nearly always be running well within its performance envelope, which I imagine has benefits in terms of longevity of the components etc.

    7. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Musk said Roadster 2 will do >250mph. So it's in the same category as the Chiron. Until the production release we don't know how much faster than 250mph either of them will go.

    8. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Imagination is all that you've got. I mean, with Bugatti's extensive experience in electric motor and battery design.

      Imagine what happens if the world had no more war, and nobody went to bed hungry. See, I can make wild baseless statements too.

    9. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by MachineShedFred · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where it gets important is when you have a trailer with 60,000 pounds of cargo in the back, and you need to go from 0-60 up a hill. That takes a Diesel tractor minutes to do, where this thing could keep traffic flowing reasonably.

      That's the point.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    10. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Michael+Woodhams · · Score: 1

      Assuming you can get it there and you can build a really good road for it, it should go way faster than 250 on Mars, as there is much less air resistance, which is the main limiting factor for speed. However you'll die at the first corner because it will have the same momentum but only 1/3 the gravitational downforce (and little opportunity to use aerodynamic downforce) so it would look like a fish, move like a fish, steer like a cow.

      --
      Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
    11. Re: If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Imagination is also roughly the stage Tesla's new roadster is in currently.

      Electric motors and batteries are hardly rocket science and can be bought of the shepves easily.

    12. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      No, the truck is the more interesting story here, but I didn't have anything interesting to say about it.

      Anyway, I think we can expect another couple of ICE-based 300 MPHers before the ICE is dead, dead, dead.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    13. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by geekmux · · Score: 1

      Imagine what happens when Bugatti make an electric hypercar, which is probably what they will do next.

      Personally I'm not championing even this round of Roadster advancement by Tesla.

      Spoiled children who have spent more time in a dentist chair than behind the wheel of a car. The wealthy elderly who probably should have had their license taken away years ago. These are your future Tesla hypercar owners. Do you honestly think we're going to feel safe as a driver or pedestrian with them driving a car capable of 0-manslaughter in less than 2 seconds?

      Sorry, but this race to ludicrous speed really needs to stop until they create more rules around ownership and licensing. Should we be restricting hypercars to a race track when they make a NASCAR vehicle look like a skateboard? Should we require advanced licensing and testing to own and operate such a vehicle?

      Yes, we probably should.

    14. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Air resistance at high speeds is the problem, a Tesla going that fast isn't going to have its charge last long either.

    15. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's built like a steakhouse but handles like a bistro!

    16. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The car, its speed or acceleration are not the problem. The problem is that people who should not have a driving license are allowed to take control of vehicles. Fully autonomous vehicles can't come soon enough, along with stricter tests (and re-tests) for driving licenses.

    17. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Yes, fast acceleration in a semi would be a game changer. Trucks could mix freely with cars in urban metroplexes without blocking traffic. Their current slow acceleration causes other drivers to avoid being behind them, which makes trucks inefficient users of city roads.

    18. Re: If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Rei · · Score: 1

      Funny, the vehicle that they had on stage and doing test drives after the event was one of the most realistic looking "imaginary vehicles" I've ever seen.

      In serial production? No. Ready for serial production? No. But definitely not imaginary.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    19. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by jimbolauski · · Score: 2

      The fastest production car is a koenigsegg that goes 277 MPH, the astounding numbers are the 1.9sec 0-60 time and the sub 9 quarter mile. No electric race car, that's not a dragster, has made a sub 9 second quarter mile run. I am very skeptical of these numbers as it is a huge jump in performance. Being faster in a 1/4 mile then a purpose built race car is the biggest red flag to me. If this is true then Tesla is king of the mountain as far as cars go.

      --
      Knowledge = Power
      P= W/t
      t=Money
      Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
    20. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Put a sock in it, Miss Daisy

    21. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by mysidia · · Score: 2

      Yes, fast acceleration in a semi would be a game changer. Trucks could mix freely with cars in urban metroplexes without blocking traffic.

      It sounds like Convoying has huge % benefits to costs, so companies will definitely want to use it and maximize the size of their convoys for greatest efficiency.

      Convoying will definitely affect traffic; Think of having to wait for a tightly-locked convoy of 150 trucks to pass in order to merge onto the highway. This causes what in networking what is referred to as Head-of-Line Blocking Your BULK movement lands in the same path across the road network as your desired short transactions (Just get a small car through); Once the CONVOY is going it generates a continuous stream of LONG vehicles that completely fills all the capacity along the path, significantly increasing the amount of time to get that one small car onto the road and greatly increasing latency delays and trip times across individual vehicles (Even though it's definitely more efficient in the aggregate in regards to amount of Stuff being transported down the road).

    22. Re: If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And another dumbass falls for PT musks smoke and mirrors.

    23. Re: If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      still smarter than falling for your short seller lies

    24. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TFA says "fastest-accelerating" not "fastest". And no one really cares once you're over 200, let's be honest.

    25. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 1

      However you'll die at the first corner because it will have the same momentum but only 1/3 the gravitational downforce ...

      One could compensate for the lower gravity, for example by building magnets into the road to provide extra downforce and/or replacing the flat road surface and rubber tires with interlocking gears.

      --
      "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
    26. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Convoying is for outside the urban area. Can you imagine trying to convoy through a city?

    27. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      There wont likely be more than 5 trucks in a convoy. That is already a 50 yard long "vehicle".

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    28. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Na, to complicated. You just put 3 or 4 times the batteries into the car. Problem solved.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    29. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by RhettLivingston · · Score: 2

      Is it important that a truck - presumably intended for long hauls rather than Tom-Slick-style racing - be able to accelerate like mad?

      One of the most dangerous things modern trucks often do is allow themselves to accelerate downhill and decelerate up hills - partly to capture energy as momentum that would otherwise be lost to braking - but also because they are often underpowered and couldn't maintain speed all the way to the top of a hill without the running head start. Ultimately, the inability of diesel trucks to efficiently maintain a constant speed is a major contributing factor to the lowering of their speed limits relative to other vehicles in most states. How many times have you had to go to the fast lane to pass a semi going uphill only to have to dash out of the fast lane to not be plowed over by the same semi on the next downhill? All of those speed changes and lane changes increase accident likelihood.

      Electric trucks will be able to maintain constant speed using regenerative braking on the downhills and the extra torque of the motors to power up the hills fully loaded without loss of speed (due to that ability to "accelerate like mad". This is a huge gain in safety. Hopefully, they will have a decent capacitor bank so that you won't have myths arise about this practice causing a reduction in battery life.

      When enough diesels are displaced, it is likely that this normalization of highway behavior will result in the restoration of speed equality with other vehicles. After all, it is generally safer when all vehicles are traveling at the same consistent speed.

    30. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by geekmux · · Score: 1

      The car, its speed or acceleration are not the problem. The problem is that people who should not have a driving license are allowed to take control of vehicles.

      The problem is the vehicle. Take the most experienced car, mini-van, or truck driver and strap them into something that can pull sub 2-second 0-60 times, and I can assure you they will be nervous. Inexperienced or unqualified drivers only exacerbate that core issue.

      I'm not saying they shouldn't be built. I'm saying they should probably stay on a race track where they belong. This dick-measuring race between hypercar builders is pointless and dangerous, particularly on public roads.

    31. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      There's nowhere to go 250mph for long. It's a party piece no matter what fuels the car.

    32. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Maybe. Though I'd say any car company would be foolish to sink any money into non-electric non-automated projects at this stage.

    33. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not going to see a significant improvement in safety on the road until and unless the laws requiring a safe following distance and proper lane changes & merging are enforced consistently: People in general pack themselves in nice and tightly, attempt to drive at or above the speed limit while packed together, and generally cause all sorts of problems for each other on the road (in addition to a very large number also being busy talking or writing to their phones, drunk, inattentive, fatigued, impatient, and generally oblivious). Then comes the speed differential. So far as I can tell, is not merely a matter of a slow vehicles making rear-end collisions more likely, but rather, impatient drivers zipping by in a careless and aggressive manner, cutting them off, forcing them to brake, making whoever is tailgating the slow vehicle likely to crash (the slow truck may well have a driver which, rather than braking, will simply tailgate whoever cuts him off until something up front forces him to brake hard - he may at least have enough visibility to avoid the collision in front, but not so for whoever is tailgating him).

      At best, you might get some improvements as a side-effect. As late-2010s-era vehicles (presumably specced for major fleets), the electric trucks will probably come equipped with a computer which automatically applies brakes (or at least makes annoying beeps) whenever the driver does something stupid, making the knucklehead in the driver's seat slightly less of a threat to the public (though this trend also is going to increase the amount of complacency by the public, and perhaps even will encourage aggressive drivers to take even more insane risks to get a few more feet per hour out of their time).

    34. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Air resistance at high speeds is the problem, a Tesla going that fast isn't going to have its charge last long either.

      Any other automobile hitting those kinds of speeds also runs of out gas in mere minutes too.

    35. Re:If it's only 250 MPH, it won't be fastest. by rpstrong · · Score: 1

      Just build variable banking into each corner, as super speedways do. The faster you go, the further out on the corner you go, and the steeper the banking gets. No problemo.

  8. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Rei · · Score: 1

    With a market cap of over $50B, Tesla basically can't "run out of money", unless investors suddenly change their minds and decide it has no future. Obviously, they don't want to dilute stock, but they can whenever they need to.

    As for timing: first deliveries are scheduled for 2019.

    --
    We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
  9. How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by goombah99 · · Score: 2

    I seriously doubt that strictly on a milage basis this is cheaper than rail. Rail is incredibly efficient. And for that matter you could electrify rail the same way.

    Where rail breaks down is the last mile. Rail works out of depots. SO you need to offload these onto trucks in the end.

    plus then there is the crew size. it take a couple people to drive an entire train. But it would take one driver per semi.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re: How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Rail is electrified. That's the point of it.

    2. Re: How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by vakuona · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not so much in the US. Very little rail freight in the USA is electric from what I understand.

    3. Re: How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by guruevi · · Score: 1

      From what I understand this system is basically a train on the road. You basically have n number of trucks following each other with a single driver.

      --
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    4. Re: How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But with batteries instead of overhead lines. Scania's pilot in Sweden is much closer to a train on the road.

    5. Re:How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by greg_robson · · Score: 2

      Here's a great video that explains a lot of the cost factors in rail:

      tl;dr highlights

      Staff - rail has more people involved (on train, at stations, maintenance)
      Usage - trains have to accommodate peak usage, but spend a lot of time way below capacity.
      Land acquisition - land has to be bought initially
      Trains and carriages (or cargo trolleys) are expensive.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    6. Re: How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by fustakrakich · · Score: 3, Informative

      Even in the US heavy rail is electric. The diesel just turns a generator.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    7. Re:How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Trucking companies mostly avoid the first three problems by taking advantage of one of the largest socialist programs in the USA: government-provided roads.

    8. Re:How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by kaybee · · Score: 1

      In the not so distant future, convoys of trucks will be able to drive with just one or possibly zero drivers.

    9. Re:How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How's it socialist? Trucks pay on average $0.55 per gallon in tax to pay for those roads.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gas_and_Diesel_taxes.pdf

    10. Re:How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 2

      That doesn't nearly cover the damage they do to the roads.

      Typical toll roads would charge a truck several times that amount to go about 5 miles. (And toll roads probably overcharge automobiles relative to to trucks as well.)

    11. Re:How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by Shotgun · · Score: 1

      Doubtful. LTL (less than load) carriers already have a spoke and hub system. Getting several truckloads going in the same direction at the same time would cause to much of a delay for customers ("What do you mean my package has to sit on the dock for three weeks until you have five truckloads going that way?")

      --
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      Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
    12. Re:How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trucking companies mostly avoid the first three problems by taking advantage of one of the largest socialist programs in the USA: government-provided roads.

      It is fucking funny how "free market" believers start spinning when you propose privatising the road system to the highest bidder. With the exception that you should have guaranteed maximum prices for public busses over the road, it would be a great thing. I would personally make each 500m strip a separate business. I am sure the market would make everything better.

    13. Re:How do they figure it's cheaper than Rail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      there is a good study done by the DoT that talks about the physics of road damage to axle weight. turns out its a quartic function in axle weight effectively. so if your per axle weight is 5x, you do 625 the damage (but no where near that in fuel costs). You can work out the specs pretty quickly if you get some mileage numbers for an 18 wheeler at full load. I think when I did it at one point I found it's something like 50x the small car family pays relative to the fully loaded 18 wheeler for equivalent road damage amounts.

  10. They'll just issue bonds or shares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They don't need to be profitable or up to speed, the market views Tesla as defacto leaders of the electric car market and will buy up their stocks and bonds as needed.

    Where else would they invest the money? Bitcoin? Bitcoin gold?

    I'm reminded of the analyst who explained that Amazon would go bankrupt due to lack of short term cash.... I don't remember the analysts name now, I think he was an idiot with poor understanding of capital and was probably sacked a long time ago.

    1. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Jzanu · · Score: 1

      There is a difference between making a profit and investing it (what Amazon actually did) and not generating adequate revenue to cover costs even before research (what Tesla is doing now), especially while existing loans enter repayment and $2 billion more will as well by the end of the quarter. Glossing over the behavioral basis of TSLA stock prices just shows that you don't understand investments in any real sense.

    2. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazon were not making profits then, the analyst said they would run out of cash to cover their working capital. Of course they simply refinanced the loans to give them more capital.

      "Glossing over the behavioral basis of TSLA stock prices just shows that you don't understand investments in any real sense"

      No, that's you, I'm a professional investor. The market will happily take any bond they issue or rights issue for new shares as long as it has faith in the future of Tesla, and banks have nowhere to lend, they will happily refinance with increased working capital. There is infinite capital for companies like Tesla, and they're still getting Prime+tiny rates.

    3. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So in your world, building a couple of the largest manufacturing plants on the continent is either free, or not investment. And buying components for an aggressive manufacturing schedule in order to ship products is also not investment.

      Got it. You're just drinking the Jim Chanos short-seller kool aid. Funny how the sheep always come in after he gets his position locked in and announces it, dragging down the stock just enough for him to get paid, and everyone else loses their ass or has to hedge to get out the hole. And yet the sheep keep on doing it.

    4. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Investments are supposed to pay off. Tesla is in so much debt that they can never pay it off.

    5. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Rei · · Score: 1

      500k a year (not counting Model Y, not counting the 700k that Tesla thinks they can get if they actually start advertising), with an average sale price of $45k, and a 25% margin. $5,6B profit on sales per year. Explain to me again why Tesla "can never pay off" its debt?

      --
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    6. Re: They'll just issue bonds or shares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because none of those things are going to happen.

    7. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Cederic · · Score: 2

      There is a difference between making a profit and investing it (what Amazon actually did) and not generating adequate revenue to cover costs even before research (what Tesla is doing now),

      The key term here is cash flow. Profit is a choice a business can make, cash flow keeps them in business.

    8. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because they are already in a hole and their sales and they lose money on each sale.

    9. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Rei · · Score: 4, Informative

      Their margin on each S and X is approximately 25%, but don't let that stop you from making things up.

      --
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    10. Re: They'll just issue bonds or shares by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      That is ONLY if Tesla retains their reputation. QC could destroy it. Production slowdown is not a big deal. That is simply used for cannon fodder.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    11. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by pastafazou · · Score: 1

      If a business never makes a profit, their cash flow is negative. More cash flowing in than flowing out means profit, more cash flowing out than flowing in means loss. Not sure how you figure a negative cash flow can keep a company in business...

    12. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Cederic · · Score: 1

      More cash flowing in than flowing out means profit

      Far from necessarily true.

      As a basic example, depreciation: Acquire company X for $Y in shares, zero cash out but $Z in assets in. Depreciate 25% of Z over four years and that's additional cash you can bring into the business for zero profit.

      Now you have $Z in cash, and you still haven't made a profit.

    13. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The only thing that’s made up is the fictional 25% margin.

    14. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Rei · · Score: 1

      Right. And I'm sure all of the institutional investors' due diligence investigations decided not to check into that.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    15. Re:They'll just issue bonds or shares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Last quarter Tesla had an over $600,000,000 operating loss. That doesn’t include the extra $1,000,000,000 lost to capital expenditures. Only a complete moron like you would be stupid enough to invest in this scam.

  11. Top speed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It can accelerate 0-60 in 5 seconds without a trailer and 20 seconds with a 40-ton gross weight while being able to pull its maximum payload up a 5-degree grade at 65mph (versus a typical maximum of 45mph).

    So it doesn't have a limiter? 65mph is almost 105 km/h. How is that legal for a truck?

    1. Re:Top speed by Zuriel · · Score: 1

      They can software limit the top speed if necessary. The computer's already controlling the power flow, tapering off the power as it approaches the speed limit is fairly trivial.

    2. Re:Top speed by Rei · · Score: 2

      In Texas trucks can go up to 85mph on freeways. In Nevada, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming it's up to 80mph. Only about a third of US states have separate speed limits for trucks vs. cars on interstates. 55mph is the slowest of these speed limits, and only in California and Puerto Rico. See here.

      --
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    3. Re:Top speed by jsm300 · · Score: 1

      You must not be from the U.S. There are no "governor" laws in the US currently, although the Department of Transportation is currently working on trying to get one passed. Even if they do, it will have to phase in over time, due to the lack of governors in most trucks in the U.S.

    4. Re:Top speed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not from the US indeed. Where I am, all trucks have to be limited to 87 km/h by law.

    5. Re:Top speed by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      How is it legal? Because it is, in many jurisdictions.

      Or are you asking about the actual legislative process by which speed limit laws are passed?

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    6. Re:Top speed by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      They can software limit the top speed if necessary. The computer's already controlling the power flow, tapering off the power as it approaches the speed limit is fairly trivial.

      Trucking companies could also have speed limiters installed if they wanted to manage how their vehicles are driven and vary the limit based on local laws.. The could even have the system programmed to automatically limit the hours driven to comply with various laws as well. For example, combining GPS with driving time could determine if the driver can make the final destination, based on road conditions, traffic, etc., and require a stop at a rest area or truck stop to avid exceeding driving time limits. The ability to control the trucks power via software opens up a lot more ways to control how it is driven.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    7. Re: Top speed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a truck. Most if not all countries have a general 80 km/h speed limit for trucks, regardless of how fast cars are allowed to drive on the motorway. Trucks are also required to have limiters in most countries.

    8. Re: Top speed by kellymcdonald78 · · Score: 1

      In Canada in provinces where legislation in place is 105km/hr, Australia is 100 km/hr (where legislated). So definately not most or all counties

    9. Re:Top speed by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Arguably, the real limit for responsible drivers is the speed rating of the tires. With some ad-hoc Google research I find no tires for heavy trucks that are rated more than speed class "M", which is 81 mph or 130 km/h.

      This said, if you look on old forum threads like http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=97985, you can find statements like this:

      No, it's not a myth. A company I worked for had trucks that would go that fast. We had several tractors with Caterpillar 3406B engines set at 425 horsepower. One was always getting worse fuel mileage then the others. We had the local Cat dealer check out the tractor. They went into the computerized fuel system on the engine and were able to show how fast the driver had been running with it. He had been hitting 118 out on I-10 through Arizona pretty regularly. With a few keystrokes they cut his top end back to 85 MPH and the fuel mileage improved a lot. A lot of the tractors on the road have Detoit Diesel 60 series engines set at 500 horsepower and they will also easily run over a hundered if they are geared right and haven't had the top speed set down. Is it smart to run that fast? No way. It takes a lot more distance to stop as you get rolling faster. Trucks running close together to "draft" are just an accident waiting to happen.

      But I guess in 2001, speed limiters were not as widespread as today...

      --
      C - the footgun of programming languages
    10. Re: Top speed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Trucks have had mandatory tachographs to keep track of driving hours for many decades.

    11. Re: Top speed by Rei · · Score: 1

      In Europe, yes.

      America is still in the dark ages.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    12. Re:Top speed by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Arguably, the real limit for responsible drivers is the speed rating of the tires.

      I'll take that argument. The limit is based on a whole bunch of factors, including how likely a failure of multiple tires is. The slower you're going when such a fault occurs, the more likely you are to be able to recover.

      Except in the case of medical transplant shipment, there's no need for anyone to go that fast while making deliveries. If stuff takes a few more hours to get where it's going, whoop dee shit.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    13. Re:Top speed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Texas trucks can go up to 85mph on freeways. In Nevada, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming it's up to 80mph. Only about a third of US states have separate speed limits for trucks vs. cars on interstates. 55mph is the slowest of these speed limits, and only in California and Puerto Rico. See here.

      How wise is it to go above 60 mph though? Resistance increases by the square of speed, so an increase 60 to 70 mph doesn't cost as much as going from 70 to 80, or 80 to 90. Yes you get there faster, but you may use more energy (fuel/money) to do it: there's a trade-off at some point.

  12. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Jzanu · · Score: 2

    Tesla can dilute the stock, but that has a direct impact on the price, and given its existing price is based on enthusiasm more than financial merits there is a HUGE question of how stock holders would react to that. Would it prompt a large sell-off? Would it reduce future markets?

  13. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With a market cap of over $50B, Tesla basically can't "run out of money", unless investors suddenly change their minds and decide it has no future. Obviously, they don't want to dilute stock, but they can whenever they need to.

    As for timing: first deliveries are scheduled for 2019.

    I like the idea of the truck for shipping, particularly in areas with heavy pollution. Electric motors done right should also last a long time and the batteries can be recycled. I even like the center seat, though I'm not sure I understand all the implications. Still it strikes me as odd that we all drive from the left seat in America and on the right side of the road. It would seem to increase the chances of the drivers being killed, though how much it matters in practice I have no idea.

    Still, why not a three seat design tesla supercar for the masses? (One center front, two behind.) The mass distribution on such a design should be almost perfect and heck the rear seats might have some legroom, since they could presumably use part of to the side of the front seats.

  14. Yeah but are they good for... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > . It can accelerate 0-60 in 5 seconds without a trailer and 20 seconds with a 40-ton gross weight while being able to pull its maximum payload up a 5-degree grade at 65mph (versus a typical maximum of 45mph).

    Sounds like it should clear Christmas markets quite nicely -- will they be delivered in the next 5 years?

  15. Re:Typically Tesla by Rei · · Score: 0

    So what products has Tesla announced more than a couple years ago that haven't since come to exist?

    Tesla always delivers. Almost always somewhat late**, but they do deliver.

    ** - Model 3 actually broke this trend by launching on time (on a schedule that they had accelerated, at that) - but their scaleup hit a number of snags and ended up 3 months behind, so, Tesla is still clearly Tesla ;)

    --
    We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
  16. Gee, that semi is ugly. by forghy · · Score: 1

    It's really hideous. Couldn't they come up with something watchable?

    1. Re:Gee, that semi is ugly. by cloud.pt · · Score: 2

      Does it need to be pretty? Or better - does it need to be pretty for everyone? Because, in all honesty, it's not only a matter of taste (like the Model S and X were) and it's also completely OK by contrast (all semis are horrible IMHO), and I doubt drivers really care. After all, the part everyone sees the most on a semi is their trailer's back and sides...

    2. Re:Gee, that semi is ugly. by sheramil · · Score: 2

      It's really hideous. Couldn't they come up with something watchable?

      How much time do you spend staring at trucks?

    3. Re:Gee, that semi is ugly. by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Does it need to be pretty? Or better - does it need to be pretty for everyone? Because, in all honesty, it's not only a matter of taste (like the Model S and X were) and it's also completely OK by contrast (all semis are horrible IMHO), and I doubt drivers really care. After all, the part everyone sees the most on a semi is their trailer's back and sides...

      It's a matter of appealing to the buyer of trucks. Truckers are very passionate about what a truck should look like. However, I'm guessing fleet sales are the initial target and economics will overcome "it doesn't look like a truck" in the end. Even for owner operators the ability to save on operating costs, if big enough to cover buying a new rig, the economics would win over being a Mack/Peterbuilt/Freightliner person. 17% savings on the per mile operating costs is significant, in addition if you get older trucks off the road not only would the savings be greater since operating costs go up as tucks age but you'd cut down on the pollutants they emit.

      Since an electric truck doesn't have to have the same cooling system an ICE requires they can be more aerodynamic, if you could combine that with trailers designed for improved aerodynamics the savings could be increased. For a set of driverless trucks yo could draft to cut down on drag with the first and last ruck designed for improving overall aerodynamics of the truck train.

      I'd like to see Tesla enter this in the semi truck racing circuit. It would be like the turbine car at Ind, without the breakdown.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    4. Re:Gee, that semi is ugly. by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      The absolute last thing on the intended customer's mind is how it looks. The very first thing is operating cost per mile, and the second thing is the initial capital outlay.

      It could look like it drove through the ugly forest ripping down every branch over the road, but it it has a lower operating cost per mile, they'll sell a whole lot of them.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    5. Re:Gee, that semi is ugly. by cloud.pt · · Score: 1

      That's a fair point, but it seems to step aside from looks alone. Aerodynamic designs aren't necessarily pretty. Then again I doubt they would go for the "bullet train look" on a vehicle that first needs to win the market before it needs to innovate even more than it already does by trailing a completely new tech on semis.

      I'm not really into the (tech) design choices made by Tesla, but it appears to me that for security reasons, just like in other Tesla's and most EVs, the battery array sits on the floor of (which extends way back), and that the top is there just for the essential sleeping space common on semis. It also appears there are two versions of the tesla semi - one taller and one lower - which makes sense if one is targetting multi-day stints on the road while the other is for, say, a workday, or even a fleet that always accomodates drivers in standing installations overnight.

      Given this, there is no reason the vehicle needs to be any different from current semis in the front design: flat and solid (no air entry) is a given, as it needs no cooling, yet it also needs no more space occupied with batteries or sleeping space, and the only thing that could effectyvely be reduced and molded aerodynamically would be with a centered seat for the driver instead of keeping the norm of 2 or even 3-seater, but this, as should be obvious, presents another set of problems such as not being able to have shift drivers (I believe this is used in some markets) or to allow a passenger in a return trip, and the obvious fact that for security purposes, drivers should be on the side of the vehicle nearest to the center of the way. This latter one could surely be solved with technology (cameras and whatnot), but everybody knows that would increase costs and would need to be user-tweaked heavily, which are 2 more overheads I'm pretty sure the company didn't want right now.

      Maybe they could make the sleeping space on the front and decrease the height, but the trailer is still gonna be taking a lot of air drag, so it's perfect on the top. Trailer shape is something that DEFINITELY nobody is thinking of changing fresh in the market.

    6. Re:Gee, that semi is ugly. by Thelasko · · Score: 1

      It's a matter of appealing to the buyer of trucks. Truckers are very passionate about what a truck should look like.

      The initial reaction from the trucking community isn't good. However, I think the fleet owners will force the issue.

      --
      One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
  17. CDL by DaMattster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have my Class A CDL and would love to get a chance to drive one of those. I'll bet the visibility is phenomenal when you're sitting centered in the cab. Furthermore, I'll bet the ride is much smoother due to the lower center of gravity when compared to conventional tractors. This thing would be a driver's dream because you don't have to worry so much about emission system failures and other breakdowns well-known to diesel. The only thing that the driver would still need to be concerned with would be the air brake system. Air brake systems these days are very reliable with the automatic slack adjusters and redundant air supplies. Hell, you could put a solar panel somewhere and make some serious mileage in the desert southwest. You might be able to run the entire truck off of the solar panel and just use the batteries for the night time. As it is right now, re-fueling takes about 15-30 minutes of time off of a driver's clock. By the time the tanks are filled, mirrors and windshields cleaned, and other miscellaneous activities, an appreciable amount of time gets burned. Truck drivers constantly race against their 14 hour drive window.

    1. Re:CDL by Rei · · Score: 4, Informative

      I didn't have room in the summary to cover charging (tried to fit in as many specs as I could!), but I probably should have made room: 30 minutes to 80% when empty. And you can install those chargers (quite compact, and don't need underground tanks) at depots; they trickle charge to fill a battery buffer, when then surge charges a vehicle when it connects, so it doesn't even mean stops "on the road". Tesla is however planning to expand their current supercharger network to include these new "megachargers", starting on the busiest trucking routes. And since 500 miles range is like 7 hours driving, you're going to want a break either way. In the EU they make you take 45 minutes of breaks every 4 1/2 hours driving.

      I think it'll be really neat once they make a sleeper cab. No more awkward hacked-on solutions to avoid idling; the climate control is electric to begin with, and the cab has all the power you could dream of.

      Also, contrary to most peoples' expectations, modern EVs tend to deal with cold extremely well. They lose range, of course (not as much as most people expect** when you use a well thermally-managed powertrain like Tesla does, but still some), but you never have any issues with "difficulty starting" or the like. You get in and it just goes - even if the vehicle has been idling for days not plugged in and the pack is completely cold (the only "symptom" with that is you can't use regen until it heats up, and peak acceleration is reduced). Packs are generally rated for storage at -50 to -30 and usage at -30 to -20, depending on the chemistry, and utilize heaters (or in Tesla's case, deliberately-created waste heat in the motor re-routed by heat exchangers) to protect against out-of-spec conditions when necessary.

      ** - The instantaneous power consumption upon starting is much higher as the vehicle uses power to heat up; however, once it's reached its temperature and heating is only needed for maintaining temperature, power consumption is greatly reduced. And it should be all the easier for Semi, with its very high power demands creating a lot of waste heat (even electric drivetrains have some waste heat, which a good system like Tesla's recaptures; Semi should kick off about 10kW of waste heat when cruising at highway speeds), and its high volume to surface area ratio means that it should be extremely easy to outpace heat loss.

      --
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    2. Re:CDL by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      A trailer could be designed with solar cells specifically to provide power to the cab as well as auxiliary systems, the top of a trailer is essential a rolling flat roof anyway. One challenge would be container freight, stacking them without busting the cells could be challenging.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    3. Re:CDL by DaMattster · · Score: 1

      No more awkward hacked-on solutions to avoid idling; the climate control is electric to begin with, and the cab has all the power you could dream of.

      The current opti-idle technology is terrible! Every time the diesel starts and stops, I would get jarred awake. There has also been attempts at using something called EPUs which are essentially a battery bank that has enough power to run climate controls for about 5-6 hours. So in a hot climate, you will probably only get about that much sleep. The best solution so far for the condo cabs is the single cylinder, diesel APU which burns about an 8oz cup worth of fuel in 10 hours. But APUs, being a mechanical contraption, tend to fail and it sucks when they fail and it's 102 degrees outside at night.

      If the big boys decided to go with these in their fleets, I would strongly consider going back to truck driving. This would make the job a whole lot more comfortable and fun.

    4. Re:CDL by DaMattster · · Score: 1

      A trailer could be designed with solar cells specifically to provide power to the cab as well as auxiliary systems, the top of a trailer is essential a rolling flat roof anyway. One challenge would be container freight, stacking them without busting the cells could be challenging.

      This would work very well for conventional 48 and 53 foot trailers and really extend the operational range. However, lots of heavy freight is moved via flat bed so it would take some creative work to get extra power. About the only viable place to mount solar panels would be on the roof of the cab. You might also be able to harness the wind generated from the forward movement of the truck by placing an air duct underneath the trailer and have that air drive a turbine. Newer trailers include a wind scoop and side skirts underneath to keep them more stable for highway driving. Why not channel this wind energy and convert it into electric power.

    5. Re:CDL by sinij · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It is by for more efficient to reduce drag and turbulence then it is to try to harness some power back from turbulence you caused.

      I imagine electric trucks, when fully optimized for aerodynamics, will resemble art-deco steam locomotives in appearance.

    6. Re:CDL by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

      As it is right now, re-fueling takes about 15-30 minutes of time off of a driver's clock. By the time the tanks are filled, mirrors and windshields cleaned, and other miscellaneous activities, an appreciable amount of time gets burned. Truck drivers constantly race against their 14 hour drive window.

      By the time this thing hits the market en mass you'll have all the time in the world, because they'll be automated and you'll be unemployed.

    7. Re:CDL by Registered+Coward+v2 · · Score: 1

      A trailer could be designed with solar cells specifically to provide power to the cab as well as auxiliary systems, the top of a trailer is essential a rolling flat roof anyway. One challenge would be container freight, stacking them without busting the cells could be challenging.

      This would work very well for conventional 48 and 53 foot trailers and really extend the operational range. However, lots of heavy freight is moved via flat bed so it would take some creative work to get extra power. About the only viable place to mount solar panels would be on the roof of the cab. You might also be able to harness the wind generated from the forward movement of the truck by placing an air duct underneath the trailer and have that air drive a turbine. Newer trailers include a wind scoop and side skirts underneath to keep them more stable for highway driving. Why not channel this wind energy and convert it into electric power.

      Flat beds, depending on the load, might be able to have a separate roof that installs over the load. A lot would depend on how far you are transporting it and the most savings from using solar and installing a roof each time vs paying to charge. My guess is solar would be more viable over long haul trips but even then you have the issue is how do you instal panels on containers and keep them from getting damaged? I agree teh most straight forward is to design the panel as part of the cab; you have the hood as well as roof as locations. Trying to recoup energy from a turbine would cost more than it produces - between the extra weight you are carrying and added drag from the structure and turbine operation would outweigh any benefits especially since reducing drag is a better way to be more efficient in the first place.

      --
      I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
    8. Re:CDL by caseih · · Score: 1

      I would think any attempt to extract energy from air movement over the trailer would just cause drag.

    9. Re:CDL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the EU they make you take 45 minutes of breaks every 4 1/2 hours driving.

      More nanny-state communism. Do they mandate how often you need to pee? Good thing because most of you sheep aren't capable of deciding for yourselves.

    10. Re:CDL by znuggz · · Score: 1

      have you heard about this company here... https://www.hyliion.com/

    11. Re:CDL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I doubt rigid solar panels would ever be mounted beyond on top of the cab.

      Now, if they could roll up flexible solar panels into a contraption like a window roller shade mounted on top of the cab, with the backing being as strong as a tarp, perhaps kevlar just for sheer strength... they'd have something that would be pretty much useful on anything.

      Some quick calculations tells me a 40 ft container has 27.6 m^2 on top, and average solar panel can get 200 watts per m^2, we're talking about 5,500 watts per hour. Nothing to sneeze at, might extend range in the southwest by 90 minutes during day.

      Could even mount it on the south-facing side as well for theoretically double the solar power.

    12. Re:CDL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You just blew that guys perpetual motion machine right out of the water, you insensitive clod!

    13. Re:CDL by swillden · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I didn't have room in the summary to cover charging (tried to fit in as many specs as I could!), but I probably should have made room: 30 minutes to 80% when empty. And you can install those chargers (quite compact, and don't need underground tanks) at depots; they trickle charge to fill a battery buffer, when then surge charges a vehicle when it connects, so it doesn't even mean stops "on the road".

      I wonder if they're also planning to support the obvious (to me, at least) option of putting an additional battery in the trailer. Trucks often run loaded less than 100% capacity so trading off some cargo volume/mass for additional range could make a lot of sense. In fact I'm kind of surprised the battery capacity in the tractor isn't more modular. Battery swapping doesn't make so much sense for consumer vehicles, but it seems perfect for commercial fleets with maintenance depots. I'd think a smallish internal battery, good for short trips, plus a bay where additional capacity can be installed with a forklift would make a lot of sense -- and the ability to add additional towed battery capacity, perhaps up to non-stop coast-to-coast range (for full self-driving, which on freeways is probably achievable with only cameras and radar).

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    14. Re:CDL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      P.S.
      --
      roman_mir

    15. Re:CDL by sinij · · Score: 1

      Everyone on ./ knows that the perpetual motion machine must run on hot grits, as this substance when appropriately applied transitions to strange matter phase.

    16. Re:CDL by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      the only viable place to mount solar panels would be on the roof of the cab
      No, the sides work equally well.
      However I doubt the area is big enough to give a reasonable increase in range.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    17. Re:CDL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So your average 40ft trailer would be what, 8ft wide? that's ~30 sq meters, figure 150-200w per sq meter (assuming 15-20% efficiency), that's a 6-8Kw system (probably towards the lower end in reality because the panels are laying flat not pointing towards the sun).
      The truck takes ~2Kwh per mile... so for every hour in the sun you can go 3-4 miles....
      So at 60mph you can expect to go from a 500 mile range, to a 525-533 mile range... (optimistic numbers because you won't get 8 hours of sunlight hitting the panels at anything close to an ideal angle)

      To maintain indefinite travel during the day, at 60mph you'd need a 120kw system, which means even at the theoretical maximum on solar panels you'd need 4 times the roof of the trailer to get that many panels in place.

      The convoy style system is likely to improve range more than the trailer top solar.

  18. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How many have they made, and how many can they make now? The only funding left for them is stock as they have billions in currently unpaid bank loans with payments due this quarter and no revenue stream to meet them.

    Snapchat had losses of $500+ million in 2016 and $300+ million in 2015. They may never operate in the black, and yet went public this year with a valuation of over $20 billion.

    Pfft, who needs that old-fashioned revenue to run a company when you can fuel it with fashionable hype and Millennials.

    CAPTCHA: profits

  19. Re:Typically Tesla by geekmux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Whenever there has been too much bad news for a while, they announce some pie-in-the-sky plan or they 'launch' a product that probably won't ever exist, just to get some positive buzz and to deflect attention from their major problems.

    Give me a fucking break. I've lost count of the number of "concept" vehicles that have been paraded around by every other auto manufacturer for the last half-century that never made it to an assembly line, and often served as nothing more than marketing hype.

    This concept is hardly new or unique to Tesla.

  20. Has a special coating by grungeman · · Score: 1

    so the Tesla auto pilot does not mistake it for the sky.

    --

    Signature deleted by lameness filter.
    1. Re:Has a special coating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      any paint other than white

    2. Re:Has a special coating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      too soon

  21. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

    I hear they sell cars, that sounds like a revenue stream.

    --
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  22. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Still, why not a three seat design tesla supercar for the masses?"
    "Supercar for the masses" is a first rate oxymoron...
    Still, there were the Matra three seaters, and a couple of 365Ps made by Ferrari for good friends.
    Note that the next Tesla Roadster is a four-seater, for the same reason that the first "Production" Ferraris were four-seaters. Room for the Driver, Wife and/or Mistresses. Enzo famously did not like driving his own Cars; he had a Driver for that. But he did own, at one time or another, three of the Ferrari 250GT/Es. (The second one is now roughly ten meters to the North of here...)

    "...One center front, two behind."
    That is most awkward. It's hard to get a blowjob at full chat with that arrangement, unless one has a Driver up front, and the Driver is very discreet.

  23. I beg to differ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Not according to this.

    At top speed, a Bugatti Veyron would drain its 26 gallon fuel tank in 12 minutes, having covered only 51 miles.

    1. Re:I beg to differ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That's nothing. There are some British sports cars that can use up their entire load of fuel in under five minutes.

    2. Re:I beg to differ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Not according to this.

      At top speed, a Bugatti Veyron would drain its 26 gallon fuel tank in 12 minutes, having covered only 51 miles.

      Which is okay as at top speed it's tires would fail after 15 minutes anyway.

    3. Re:I beg to differ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What definition of "sports car" are you using?

    4. Re:I beg to differ by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      A vehicle specifically designed to break the land speed record is not a sports car however you look at it.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    5. Re:I beg to differ by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      How many hours does it take to refill the Bugatti's gas tank?

    6. Re:I beg to differ by Immerman · · Score: 1

      From the look of it (and description) it sounds like it's not really a car so much as a jet engine/rocket hybrid with wheels.

      Maybe it's just me, but when someone says "car" I think "propulsion is applied through the wheels".

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  24. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah. God forbid people use their imaginations and try to think up new ideas.

    Fucking losers.

  25. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Reservations for the first thousand 'Founder Series' roadsters requires a downpayment within 10 days or reserving of $250,000. If they can sell all the pre-orders, that is a handy $250 million. To reserve a non founders series requires a $50,000 downpayment.

    They will probably get a lot of money that way. There are a lot of rich people and the roadster looks like it could easily be a iconic car.

  26. only imperial tons matter... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    only imperial tons matter....

    1. Re:only imperial tons matter... by jabuzz · · Score: 1

      So is that a UK long ton or a USA short ton?

      Or perhaps I will just take a metric tonne which is somewhere in the middle and easy to visualize at being almost exactly one cubic metre of water. Any errors will be due to temperature and purity fluctuations :-)

      The joys of a consistent set of units. Unlike the Imperial system the USA seems wedded to, though oddly they call them English, which is really odd because their wacko take on the Imperial system has not been used in England since well, before the revolutionary wars, which in itself is long after England ceased to exist as a political entity anyway.

    2. Re:only imperial tons matter... by D.McG. · · Score: 1

      This is why Tesla did not use the term "tons" during the presentation. They consistently said a gross weight of 80,000 pounds. I did not see "40 tons" until reading slashdot today.

    3. Re:only imperial tons matter... by skullandbones99 · · Score: 1

      Yep, the USA failed to get some "updates" to England's Weights and Measures Act due to US Independence resulting in US Gallons not being the same as Imperial Gallons (British).

    4. Re:only imperial tons matter... by skullandbones99 · · Score: 1

      That is because people outside of the US don't know what a "pound" is.

    5. Re: only imperial tons matter... by jabuzz · · Score: 1

      Nope updates to British weights and measures came around *before* the revolutionary war. But keep kidding yourself why not.

    6. Re:only imperial tons matter... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      We do know what a pound, is :D In Germany a pound is 500g, half a kilo. And the foreigners have smaller pounds than we have, around 420g ... I guess they are not as strong build as we are ;D

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  27. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

    It appears that the electric motors have been done right, as they announced a whopping ONE MILLION MILE drivetrain warranty during the launch.

    As for the driving from the left seat, it's to give you better perspective of the whole road in a vehicle that is low to the ground - it's the same effect you get in right-hand drive cars while driving on the left side of the road. Center-seat in a commercial vehicle probably works nice because you are up high, and it would give you a perspective for guiding that large vehicle right down the center of a lane, giving less danger of clipping parked vehicles.

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  28. Re:Cue the Musk faggots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...3 ... 2 ... 1

  29. trains and exits by umghhh · · Score: 1

    How about taking the exit when one of tesla highway trains goes on and on making it impossible to get out on time?

    1. Re:trains and exits by Rei · · Score: 1

      They're not that close together; you can cut in-between them, and they're designed to deal with that.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    2. Re:trains and exits by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      I was watching a video about a different company's convoying approach. It spoke about the convoy spreading out more as it was approaching an exit, and then closing up again after the on ramp. Where there's miles between exits, that could be workable.

  30. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So what products has Tesla announced more than a couple years ago that haven't since come to exist?

    A $35,000 Model 3

  31. Star Wars inspiration? by grumling · · Score: 1

    The white one in profile looks little like a stormtrooper mask, especially with the blacked out windows.

    --
    "Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."
  32. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So what products has Tesla announced more than a couple years ago that haven't since come to exist?

    Auto pilot version 2.

  33. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by MachineShedFred · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's fueled by millennials? Do they have a big furnace in the basement or something?

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  34. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Rei · · Score: 1

    It's not so much that the motors can't fail, as it is the fact that you have four of them, so it's okay if one or two fail.

    --
    We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
  35. Re:Typically Tesla by Rei · · Score: 1

    That wasn't "more than a couple years ago". And you'll see it in a couple months.

    --
    We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
  36. Re:Typically Tesla by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

    So the two trucks, and the car that they actually drove into, and out of the event, don't exist.

    They must have some next-level hologram technology they aren't launching then. Or you don't know what you are talking about.

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  37. 1 seat and no sleeper? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Seems to limited in that part

    1. Re:1 seat and no sleeper? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1 seat and no sleeper?

      Keep in mind this is a vehicle with a 500-Mile range and a charging time that is going to be in the several hour range (I suppose, although I haven't read anything about this). This is probably meant for small to medium-range deliveries, where you expect to be back to the base at the end of the day. You recharge at the companies park and you sleep at home. They know they can't, for now, compete in the long-range because they need to recharge a huge battery pack, so there's no point on putting a sleeper.

    2. Re:1 seat and no sleeper? by Rei · · Score: 1

      There's a jumpseat behind the driver as well.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    3. Re:1 seat and no sleeper? by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Looking behind the cab, there was a lot of empty space, between the sidewalls of the cab. This is clearly an area that they've yet to design. Obviously not a design priority, so long as the space is available.

      I'd expect 2 passenger seats, one left and one right of the driver, but further back due to the curved glass of the windscreen.

  38. Tesla has a profitability problem by Nova+Express · · Score: 1

    The more cars it sells, the more cash it burns. That's not a problem you can make up with volume. Then there's the racial discrimination lawsuits, the drive to unionize, and a host of other economic problems.

    Maybe Musk should have concentrated on making one business profitable, not start a half a dozen more.

    --
    Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)

    http://www.lawrenceperson.com/

    1. Re:Tesla has a profitability problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe Musk should have concentrated on making one business profitable, not start a half a dozen more.

      Yes, he should have focused on SpaceX only, and let others flood the market with shitty electric cars, thus neglecting his opportunity to make a buck as a first comer. He may lose it all on the long run, but if people keep believing his company, he can just carry on...

    2. Re:Tesla has a profitability problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe Musk should have concentrated on making one business profitable, not start a half a dozen more.

      Maybe he's just hedging.

    3. Re:Tesla has a profitability problem by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

      Maybe he's just hedging.

      Nope, he's a marketing shill who excels at sucking down corporate welfare. After he threw a shitfit over Trump and huffed out of the room Trump cut off his welfare stipends and he's in the red all around. In turn he's doubling down on the hype in the hope that the public demands he get his welfare back, for the greater good.

    4. Re:Tesla has a profitability problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah yes, the ever reliable battleswarmblog.com news site. I get all my news from there. The default theme is a nice touch.

    5. Re:Tesla has a profitability problem by green1 · · Score: 2

      Actually it is something you can make up in volume if you understand where they're losing money vs where they're making it.
      They make money on every single car sold, actually among the highest profit margin in the industry. They just happen to spend even more on expanding their business. If Tesla slowed down their rate of expansion their profitability would go up. They could be profitable right now if they wanted to, but they're more focused on growing than on profitability.

      I personally think that Tesla are making a lot of very stupid decisions, and that they should focus a bit more on profitability than they are. I also think they're a slimy unethical company (see my other posts on that subject) but the one thing they aren't doing is losing money on a per-car basis, (even if they are losing money every single year, and even though some people chose to divide the losses by the cars sold to try to make a (false) point).

  39. I can't drive 55/65! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    I can't drive 55/65!

  40. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That wasn't "more than a couple years ago".

    In 2013, design chief Franz von Holzhausen said that the Model 3 will "be an Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class type of vehicle that will offer everything: range, affordability, and performance" that is targeted toward the mass market.

    2013 is more than a couple of years ago.

    And you'll see it in a couple months.

    No you will not see a single $35,000 model manufactured by January.

  41. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Market cap doesn't tell you how much money Tesla has available. Tesla has about $3 billion cash today. The only way they can increase that is to have a stock offering or sell cars at a profit.

  42. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

    With a market cap of over $50B, Tesla basically can't "run out of money",

    What are you talking about? Of course they can run out of money - their market cap is not income. Hell, it's not even what a company is worth.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  43. Re:Typically Tesla by Rei · · Score: 1

    In 2013, design chief Franz von Holzhausen said that the Model 3 will "be an Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class type of vehicle that will offer everything: range, affordability, and performance" that is targeted toward the mass market.

    Funny, could you boldface for me where he promises in that statement a $35k Model 3 in 2017?

    No you will not see a single $35,000 model manufactured by January.

    So to you, "a couple months" means "under 1 1/2 months". Interesting.

    --
    We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
  44. Matching trailers? by Michael+Woodhams · · Score: 1

    I can think of two extra features you'd like your trailer to have with one of these: cameras which talk to the tractor, and regenerative breaking. Some sort of trailer camera standard would be great whether the tractor is electric or ICE. If you're towing a standard trailer, do you need extra airbrake hardware, or does the trailer contain all of that?

    --
    Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
  45. Re: Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A mockup is not the same thing as a final product.

  46. Re:Typically Tesla by Rei · · Score: 2

    .... which was unveiled on 19 october 2016. And delivered in its basic form, although the updates for the "upcoming" expanded capabilities certainly have been well behind schedule. But most certainly not something from "more than a couple years ago".

    That said: I'm actually very much a doubter about full self driving, and if there's anything I think Tesla will fail on, it will be this.

    --
    We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
  47. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

    I wouldn't say it's "ok" but it definitely is better than if your diesel takes a shit on you in the middle of the desert. Only idiots argue against reasonable redundancy.

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  48. Good to see the E-vehicle haters in full voice by hyades1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I remember back when the Tesla Roadster had just been released, and certain parts of the Slashdot crowd were boldly predicting that Tesla would be bankrupt in months. And then Musk borrowed a bunch of money from the US government, and they boldly predicted Tesla would be bankrupt before it paid back a penny. Then Tesla paid it all back and released the S model, and the same crew (with additions) predicted Tesla would be bankrupt in months, and Elon Musk would be begging on street corners with a cup. Then the SUV, and Space X safely landed a bunch of first stage boosters, and the Model 3. Then Tesla open-sourced quite a lot of its patents, and the shrieks of rage could be heard for miles. How DARE they!

    And at every stage, growing ever larger as the alt right decided Slashdot would be a worthwhile acquisition, the same group confidently predicted the ruin of Space X, Tesla, and anything else Elon Musk did. And every time they've been proved wrong. It appears they now have been moved to redefine "success" as "anything Elon Musk does not do".

    So now Tesla proposes to produce and sell a full-on long-range tractor, and once again, a significant percentage of the comments here are all about how it will fail, and it's ugly and people will die and the world will end when electric trucks take over...and they will, though not for a few years yet.

    So I'll just head off to the office now, expecting to get modded down because it's 8:30 EST, and that usually means people without jobs (cough...alt right...cough) will be hanging around. And I'll smile because I know I'll be seeing a fair number of electric trucks on the road before I retire.

    Life is good.

    --
    I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  49. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Cederic · · Score: 2

    Still it strikes me as odd that we all drive from the left seat in America and on the right side of the road. It would seem to increase the chances of the drivers being killed

    While in a partial head-on accident (the most dangerous sort for a given speed) driver survivability is probably reduced by being on that side of the vehicle, the greater visibility afford to the driver by being nearer to the centre of the road greatly reduces the likelihood of an accident at all.

    It nets out at fewer deaths per mile, even if individual outcomes per crash suffer slightly.

  50. American Truck Simulator by Cederic · · Score: 1

    Be an interesting vehicle choice in ATS - where 500 mile journeys are well under the average distance I try to deliver.

  51. Re: How many can they make now with current fundin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is, but that doesn't help so long as they continue selling them at a loss.

  52. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Whenever there has been too much bad news for a while, they announce some pie-in-the-sky plan or they 'launch' a product that probably won't ever exist, just to get some positive buzz and to deflect attention from their major problems.

    Give me a fucking break. I've lost count of the number of "concept" vehicles that have been paraded around by every other auto manufacturer for the last half-century that never made it to an assembly line, and often served as nothing more than marketing hype.

    This concept is hardly new or unique to Tesla.

    Please name one car they (tesla) haven't delivered?

  53. A pick-up truck by CyclistOne · · Score: 1

    I'd love to see just a simple all-electric pickup truck.

    1. Re:A pick-up truck by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      I totally agree.

    2. Re:A pick-up truck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd love to see just a simple all-electric pickup truck.

      http://www.viamotors.com/

      http://workhorse.com/pickup/

      Probably the closest there is.

  54. and yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    still not even close to launching the model 3 which was to have almost 30,000 out on the road by now

    1. Re:and yet by Rei · · Score: 1

      Model 3 has been launched since July. They're about 3 months behind schedule, with about 1k produced so far. A large chunk of those just in the past couple weeks.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    2. Re:and yet by green1 · · Score: 1

      3 months behind the revised schedule... Gen 3 as it was originally called was supposed to launch in 2015....
      https://www.slideshare.net/dpa... (page 2)

    3. Re:and yet by Rei · · Score: 1

      Tesla's third vehicle did come out in 2015: the Model X. So they inserted an extra model into the lineup during the concept phase - so what?

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    4. Re:and yet by green1 · · Score: 1

      So in other words we can ignore any delay if they have an excuse...

      By that logic it would be basically impossible for them to be behind schedule at all on anything.

      Isn't it great when you can move the goalposts at will?

    5. Re:and yet by Rei · · Score: 0

      And in your world, developing a whole new car based on updated market data is something that should either A) not be done, or B) take literally zero time.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    6. Re:and yet by green1 · · Score: 1

      It's a choice they can make it they want. But they can't then claim that the other vehicle is on schedule when it's more than 2 years late. Yes, they have a reason it's late, but that doesn't suddenly change it from being late to being in time.

      Claiming it is on time is just revisionist history.

  55. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by CustomSolvers2 · · Score: 1

    Snapchat had losses of $500+ million in 2016 and $300+ million in 2015. They may never operate in the black, and yet went public this year with a valuation of over $20 billion.

    Perhaps this is a too extreme case, but similar situations where people having nothing, giving nothing and, basically, doing nothing, get a lot pretty out of someone's else stupidity kind of motivates me to do things properly. Just depicting myself in a situation where all what I have/know/accomplish is just an unfair, partial and empty result mostly conditioned by others' easily-changing/manipulated random actions is so unappealing to me that I cannot believe that I will ever be in a situation like that.

    I cannot even think about what-if scenarios where I could enjoy the associated benefits without most of the drawbacks because I know the entry price (losing your dignity or being hypocritical or tolerating dishonesty, unfairness and arbitrariness, etc. since the first second) which is already too high for me, much higher than any benefit/amount of money.

    --
    Custom Solvers 2.0 = Alvaro Carballo Garcia = varocarbas.
  56. OH right...no shifting??? by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
    Hmm....that just occurred to me.

    Not the truck, but I guess the Roadster won't be a manual transmission.

    I've never owned an automatic transmission in my life, I"ll miss it I guess on the electric sports cars.

    :(

    And part of the fun of a nice performance car, has always been the engine/exhaust note.

    That will be lost too...I guess I could put an external speaker out to play mp3's of engine noises...

    :)

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    1. Re:OH right...no shifting??? by D.McG. · · Score: 1
    2. Re:OH right...no shifting??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh yes, guys jerking off to how manly they are at giving the shiftstick a skilled handjob. Yes, so much to miss.

    3. Re:OH right...no shifting??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Rimac Concept One is an electric supercar with gearbox that you can elect to switch manually (via buttons, not a stick). It only has two gears, not the typical 5 or 6.

    4. Re:OH right...no shifting??? by lgw · · Score: 1

      Seems like all the high-end sports cars these days are going dual-clutch anyhow. The days of non-budget stick-shift sports cars may be numbered, except perhaps the inevitable retro wave.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    5. Re:OH right...no shifting??? by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      You probably won't miss it that much once you pin the throttle, blink, and you're going 80.

      With that kind of torque / horsepower, you would never be able to get that kind of acceleration - the gearbox couldn't shift fast enough, even if it's a double-clutch auto. And especially not a torque converter.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  57. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wouldn't say it's "ok" but it definitely is better than if your diesel takes a shit on you in the middle of the desert. Only idiots argue against reasonable redundancy.

    That's why I always bring 22 MULES with me into the desert.

  58. 1.9 seconds is just too fast for me by katorga · · Score: 1

    Maybe I'm just old, but a car that accelerates from 0-60 in 1.9 seconds is almost too much for everyday use. I would be constantly trying keep it more like my sedate Subaru in everyday traffic.

    1. Re:1.9 seconds is just too fast for me by FeelGood314 · · Score: 1

      It's 60 - 0 in 1.9 seconds. The brakes are regenerative. I may never want 0 - 60 in 1.9 seconds but I like the idea of stopping that fast. Note: that is almost 1.5G, so your coefficient of friction would have to be 1.5. You won't have that kind of traction with your standard road tires.

  59. Seems dangerous. by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    >> but when convoying is utilized -- where multiple trucks mirror the action of a lead truck -- the costs drop to 57%

    So basically they include technology and the desire to form solid lines of trucks that will completely lock out a whole lane from other road users. How is this gonna work when there is an impenetrable wall of Tesla trucks blocking freeway exits and entries?

    1. Re:Seems dangerous. by Rei · · Score: 3, Informative

      Not a solid line; they leave a gap between each truck, and are designed to deal with vehicles moving in and out between them.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    2. Re:Seems dangerous. by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      >> they leave a gap between each truck,

      I bet they don't, at least not one sufficient to get a car in.

      The whole reason there's a benefit to convoying is that they are actually drafting, (which is most usually a technique that racing drivers use), that capitalises on gaining efficiency by using the slipstream from the lead vehicle. It requires the following vehicle to be literally inches away from the rear bumper of the of the vehicle in front in order to gain any benefit of the effect at all. So by leaving a gap large enough for a car, they are forgoing any benefit.

    3. Re:Seems dangerous. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Yeah... that's what I figure they will be like TRAINS / Railcars going down the friggin' highway.
      To get the maximum numerical benefit; transport companies will want convoys as large as possible.

      This means you might get a convoy of 300 trucks tightly locked all departing Hub A destined for Hub B at the same time;
      jamming each entrance to the highway for no less than 20 minutes as they pass by, since all the vehicles have to wait the entire convoy to pass.

    4. Re:Seems dangerous. by Rei · · Score: 1

      No, the whole reason that they're convoying is so they don't have to pay a driver for each vehicle.

      They showed pictures of the convoying. The space between vehicles was quite large.

      --
      We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
    5. Re:Seems dangerous. by swillden · · Score: 2

      No, the whole reason that they're convoying is so they don't have to pay a driver for each vehicle.

      They showed pictures of the convoying. The space between vehicles was quite large.

      Further, even if they did close up tight, there's no reason the self-driving systems couldn't see your turn signal and open a space for you to get in / through. Unlike human drivers, computers don't become inattentive or annoyed.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    6. Re:Seems dangerous. by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      You mean there'd be an incentive for drivers to use their signals when changing lanes? Hot damn!

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    7. Re:Seems dangerous. by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      If you watch Musks' presentation he talks about saving battery by convoying. It has nothing to do with not paying for drivers.

    8. Re:Seems dangerous. by JustNiz · · Score: 2

      They'll probably have to run special courses for all the BMW drivers who don't even know their cars have them.

    9. Re:Seems dangerous. by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Well, the gap in the German experimental convoys is 20cm ... often less.
      But I guess the convoy length will be restricted to relatively low number.
      After all if the front car "crashes" it is likely that the following cars crash into the front car.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    10. Re:Seems dangerous. by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      In motor racing it might need to be inches. With big trucks you are still gaining a long way further back than that.

      There's also the point that they will spread out as they approach an exit, then close up again once they are passed the on-ramp.

  60. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Couple = 2 The end of January is over 2 months away.

  61. Re: Typically Tesla by Rei · · Score: 1

    A functional vehicle is not a "mockup". It's called a prototype in the earlier stages, a release candidate in the later stages.

    --
    We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
  62. small to medium-range can use 2+ people in cab by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    small to medium-range can use 2+ people in cab if just for unloading / loading help.

  63. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not so much that the motors can't fail, as it is the fact that you have four of them, so it's okay if one or two fail.

    It’s not ok if one seezes and locks up a wheel. Or short circuits and drains the batteries in an instant.

  64. what about hybrid trucks? by znuggz · · Score: 1

    then there is this company here, that does not get a mention in the article, but it leading the way towards electrification of long haul trucking (disclosure, yes I work here) https://www.hyliion.com/

  65. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't forget junk bonds

    When Level(3) got tight on cash during the telecom meltdown they did several tranches to allow them to continue their buildout

    I would imagine that Tesla could do the same if they really, really had to

  66. Re:Typically Tesla by Rei · · Score: 1

    1) "by January" = "If it's January, then that timeframe has passed"

    2) From dictionary.com:

    Idioms
    14.
    a couple of, more than two, but not many, of; a small number of; a few: It will take a couple of days for the package to get there.
    A dinner party, whether for a couple of old friends or eight new acquaintances, takes nearly the same amount of effort.

    --
    We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
  67. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please name one car they (tesla) haven't delivered?

    A $35,000 model 3

  68. Am I missing something? by tehcyder · · Score: 1
    Why does it matter that a big truck can do 0-60 in 5 seconds?

    I mean, obviously it's cool and impressive, but does it have any real life benefit?

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    1. Re:Am I missing something? by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      You need a certain amount of torque from the engines to get a full load up an incline. Tesla have over-specified this so that their truck clearly performs better than an ICE truck.

      You also need a lot of batteries to get an adequate range. Again Tesla have over-specified it. Truckers don't need 500 miles range. That's further than they can legally drive without rest breaks.

      Once you have several big motors and big batteries, the acceleration performance comes for free.

  69. Re:How many can they make now with current funding by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Itâ(TM)s not ok if one seezes and locks up a wheel. Or short circuits and drains the batteries in an instant.

    Seizing up is possible, but unlikely. Short circuiting is a detectable fault and the motor would be shut off.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  70. Re: How many can they make now with current fundin by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    Mod parent up. This is exactly right. In fact, if QC remains an issue, then Tesla costs will skyrocket( post delivery fixes ARE expensive ) and kill their profits or possibly, ability to break even.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  71. Accidents by sdinfoserv · · Score: 1

    My concern about the truck is that most Semi's have that huge front bumper, where as this lacks one...
    The reason being is that many trucks create lots of road kill.... the front end of this truck is going to explode when it it hits it's first deer... at about day 2.

  72. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From dictionary.com

    Noun

    two of the same sort considered together; pair.

  73. The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per charge by Noishkel · · Score: 1, Funny

    I watched the 'reveal party' stream from some a-hole on YouTube. It was a really crappy video shot by some a-hole with their smart phone with the quality settings real low, so it was hard to really hear what Muck was saying. But one thing I did see was that this hunk of shit takes about 7.2 MegaWatt hours per-charge. That's an INSANE amount of power just to keep one of these rigs running. By comparison your average US house hold uses about 897 kilowatt hours a month for all of their electrify needs.

    Also as a second real serious complaint... who the FUCK said that ANYONE wants a semi truck that can accelerate that fast? You in no way want a semi truck that accelerates like that, you want something that can have an enormous amount of TORQUE, so you can pull heavy loads. Not get there faster with a light load. I spent the last decade driving semi loads of bulk milk in and around the Memphis area, so I have some level of a clue about the trans deportation industry as a whole. No one needs faster trucks, we need more efficient trucks. And one final thought is that this idea that you're going to get ANY truck to last a million miles without a break down is just a flat ludicrous. Even with out the problems with a combustion engine there are still an enormous amount of accessory systems that will eventually have a break down. Suspension air bags, air compresses, for their braking systems, and just over all wear and tear from having to run on crappy highways and through bad conditions of all types. When your dealing with moving that much mass you run into all new kinds of engineering problems that I don't think anyone at Tesla has a clue about so far.

    And that's before we get into the real serious issue that the Trump admin is killing a lot of solar power subsidies, and that the Chinese have began to enforce tougher environmental regulations on solar panel production, increasing their cost by about 35%.

  74. The tipping point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This, if it works, is the tipping point. I've told everyone that asked me about self driving car: "We won't get it until we have self-driving commercial fleets of trucks."

  75. Re:Typically Tesla by green1 · · Score: 2

    So what products has Tesla announced more than a couple years ago that haven't since come to exist?

    Off the top of my head? I'm sure this is only a small sample of the many missed targets:
    - Hands free on-ramp to off-ramp driving (announced as coming through software within the next few months in 2014)
    - The car picking you up anywhere you happen to be on private property (announced as coming through software within the next few months in 2014)
    - Car meeting you at your front door on private property based on reading your calendar (announced as coming through software within the next few months in 2014)
    - Car automatically parking itself in your garage after dropping you off at your front door (announced as coming through software within the next few months in 2014)
    - Ultrasonic sensors that work at all speeds (announced in 2014, but the sensors actually have a lower top speed than the car)
    - Automatic Emergency Braking that brings the vehicle to a complete stop (Announced in 2014 as coming through software within the next few months, current version only reduces the impact of an already unavoidable collision, and actually releases the brake pedal once shedding a certain amount of speed)
    - 85kwh battery packs (they never released one, despite claiming to in 2012 and continuing to sell it until 2015, it was always only 81kwh and then software limited to 77kwh)
    - retractable sunshades in the Model S (announced approximately 2010)
    - Lighted vanity mirrors in the model S (announced approximately 2010)
    - Model S centre console retrofits in all interior colours
    - Charge cable that automatically connects to the car without human intervention (Announced in 2014)
    - "full self driving" capable hardware (they claim they're already shipping this, but mark my words, this hardware will NEVER be full self driving, it's simply incapable of it)
    - A vehicle with lower maintenance than internal combustion vehicles (announced repeatedly since 2012, but they continue to have among the highest shop rates and parts prices in the industry, coupled with extreme delays on getting any parts, and only mediocre reliability)
    - Seamless service experience where a valet picks up your car, replaces it with a loaner car that is a fully loaded top of the line car, and you don't have to go anywhere or do anything. If you prefer the loaner car to your own you can keep it and pay the difference.
    - $50,000 Model S
    - $35,000 Model 3
    - Free unlimited supercharging for life (unlimited now has limits, even for people who bought the car when it was marketed as unlimited)
    - A car that gets better over time through over the air software updates (the vast majority of updates actually remove functionality, not add new functionality)

    Tesla has a reputation for always delivering, though late. But the truth is that they only ever deliver a small fraction of the things they promise. They always over promise and under deliver.

    I don't want to belittle what they have accomplished, it's nothing short of amazing, and almost 10 years after they first announced the Model S, there still isn't a single other competing vehicle on the market, that says something right there. That said, I won't give them a free pass on their continual blatant lies and revisionist history. Tesla is an EXTREMELY scummy company, and the absolute slimiest I've ever had the misfortune of buying anything from (which says a LOT!)

    I will be the first person in line when a competitor to Tesla finally emerges, and I only hope that I can keep my S from losing too much more functionality than it already has in the interim.

  76. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by mrfrostee · · Score: 2

    ...You in no way want a semi truck that accelerates like that, you want something that can have an enormous amount of TORQUE...

    F=ma. Acceleration is directly proportional to torque.

  77. Re:Typically Tesla by green1 · · Score: 1

    Model 3 actually broke this trend by launching on time (on a schedule that they had accelerated, at that)

    Wow... that's some pretty revisionist history there! the Model 3 launched on their REVISED time. Not on the original time. The "gen 3" as it was originally named was supposed to launch in 2015 to people who reserved in 2014.
    https://www.slideshare.net/dpa... page 2.

  78. Re:Typically Tesla by green1 · · Score: 1

    If it's like every other car so far, it will launch several years late and with fewer features and lower specs than originally announced, and at a higher price. Even then, the features they claim it does in fact have at launch will turn out to not in fact exist in the vehicle.

  79. One seat by istartedi · · Score: 1

    One seat in the truck. No hitch-hikers or co-drivers need apply.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    1. Re:One seat by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      For now. There's another 2 years before production. Cab facilities beyond basic driving have obviously not been designed yet. Or at least not yet built into the prototypes.

  80. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by Noishkel · · Score: 1

    Yes, that's true. But even them, if they have a truck that can accelerate that fast then they should be able to build the driver train to make more use of able torque than horse power. Commercial vehicles need to pull heaver loads, not get there faster.

    Nice try in try to deflect away from this shit design with a snappy line instead of a deeper examination of the actual needs of the transportation industry.

  81. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Model 3?!?!?!

  82. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uh, the reason it can accelerate quickly is because of ENORMOUS TORQUE. Go watch the unveiling, the stats of max weight performance are impressive. As a trucker surely you can see the advantage of being able to get back up to speed while pulling max weight up a steep mountain road after being forced to stop. But, then again hauling milk from farms, I don't suppose you've had to navagate too many real hills.

    Tesla warranty is power-train for 1 million miles, yes that includes the breaks but not every single switch or knob in the cab.

  83. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by phorm · · Score: 1

    "who the FUCK said that ANYONE wants a semi truck that can accelerate that fast"

    Pretty much anyone who is stuck behind the semi which is blocking the left lane while passing the slightly slower semi that's blocking the right lane?
    How about the rig that needs to cross a large intersection that will already have the light turning red by the time he's 75% of the way through...

    With combined torque and acceleration, there are actually quite a number of situations where this can be a major benefit.

  84. Roadster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That roadster is great looking!
    Just wonder how much power in the battery is left to do one 8.9 sec quarter mile?

  85. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by Solandri · · Score: 5, Interesting

    But one thing I did see was that this hunk of shit takes about 7.2 MegaWatt hours per-charge. That's an INSANE amount of power just to keep one of these rigs running. [...] No one needs faster trucks, we need more efficient trucks.

    That is in fact why this truck exists. See, the U.S. is weird in that it measures fuel efficiency in MPG. That's actually the inverse of fuel efficiency (which would be GPM, or how many gallons does it take to drive 100 miles). Because MPG is the inverse, it leads to a numerical inversion which tricks a lot of people into thinking what's small is big. (The rest of the world uses liters per 100 km to avoid this problem.) Say you needed to drive 100 miles. How many gallons of gas do you need?

    • 6.125 MPG tractor trailer = 16 gallons
    • 12.5 MPG large SUV = 8 gallons (8 gallons saved over tractor trailer)
    • 25 MPG sedan = 4 gallons (4 gallons saved over SUV)
    • 50 MPG Prius = 2 gallons (2 gallons saved over sedan)
    • 100 MPG super-car = 1 gallon (1 gallon saved over Prius)

    Notice how every time MPG doubles, the amount of fuel saved is only half that of the previous doubling? In other words, the majority of the fuel savings comes at smaller MPG. The +25 MPG jump from a sedan to a Prius only saves you 2 gallons. While the +12.5 MPG jump from a SUV to a sedan saves you 4 gallons. Even though the 12.5 MPG delta seems smaller than the 25 MPG delta, it saves twice as much fuel. How? Because MPG is the inverse of fuel efficiency. Bigger is smaller, smaller is bigger.

    So econoboxes like the Prius are actually the worst possible place to put a hybrid or electric motor. The car is already very fuel efficient. You're adding a lot of complexity and cost for very little fuel savings. The best place to put these technologies is in the gas guzzlers - SUVs and tractor trailers. Raising that 6.125 MPG tractor trailer's MPG to 6.67 MPG (a 9% increase in MPG) yields just as much fuel savings per mile as doubling a Prius' MPG to 100 MPG (a 100% increase in MPG).

    This whole obsession with high MPG vehicles like the Prius is misguided at best, a terrible waste of money and resources at worst. Musk has done the math and knows this, and knows that the best way to really cut the country's fuel consumption is by improving the efficiency of gas guzzling vehicles like tractor trailers. Which is why he made this electric truck.

    Also as a second real serious complaint... who the FUCK said that ANYONE wants a semi truck that can accelerate that fast? You in no way want a semi truck that accelerates like that, you want something that can have an enormous amount of TORQUE, so you can pull heavy loads.

    HP = constant * Torque * RPM. That's right, the HP and torque curves for an engine are one and the same, just both axes are scaled differently. (The value of the constant depends on what units you're using.)

    Also, an electric motor deals much better with the huge range of power output that a truck needs. From low power at cruise speed, to high power during acceleration. Electric motors are so much better at this than transmissions that pretty much every modern train locomotive is electric. Even if the train still uses fossil fuels, it's energy isn't sent directly to the wheels via a mechanical linkage. It's converted into electricity, which then powers an electric motor which drives the wheels. AKA the diesel-electric locomotive.

  86. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And how many megawatt hours does a truck carry in its fuel tank? 400 gallon tank x 33.7 kilowatt hours = 13.48 megawatt hours.

    Now remind me again, what the fuck is your point?

  87. This Is Closer! by Ferretman · · Score: 1

    Looks an excellent step forward

    --
    Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc
  88. weight fees by worldthinker · · Score: 1

    My state and I'm sure many others, charges trucks for weight and tonnage carried on freeways. Ostensibly for the extraordinary wear and tear trucks make on the public roads. The Tesla Semi is probably going to weigh in at much higher weight than a traditional diesel tractor. Will states cut these trucks a break?

  89. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://insideevs.com/tesla-semi-truck-battery-is-how-big/

    As the above demonstrates, the battery required would need to store approximately 1.2 megawatt hours

    Your 7.2 megawatt hour figure is bullshit. You're lying. Where's the video?

  90. Engine Breaking by niaxilin · · Score: 1

    I know trucks rely heavily on engine breaking while going down interstate mountain passes. Without engine breaking, their breaks will overheat and fail. The Tesla can engine break fine, until the battery is full, but then what?

    The Prius charges its batteries in "B" (engine break) mode. But when the batteries are full, it actually starts to spin the ICE. You can tell because it gets louder. The Tesla has no ICE to spin. Could they dump the power into giant external heaters? Maybe defrost the road on the way down?

    1. Re:Engine Breaking by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      Unless the chargers are built on top of the mountain, the truck will have emptied more space in the battery on the way up the mountain than is needed to store regen electricity on the way down.

      But if it came to it, the truck will have to have enough conventional brakes to bring it to a stop regardless.

  91. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As usual, a stupid AC who never heard of efficiency. Electric gets above 90% efficienct, whereas diesel gets at best 25%.
    Fucking idiot.

  92. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by NoImNotNineVolt · · Score: 1

    But one thing I did see was that this hunk of shit takes about 7.2 MegaWatt hours per-charge. That's an INSANE amount of power just to keep one of these rigs running. By comparison your average US house hold uses about 897 kilowatt hours a month for all of their electrify needs.

    A typical diesel truck has two 100-gallon fuel tanks. Diesel is about 40.7 kWh/gallon. That's over 8 mWh to fuel up a diesel truck.

    --
    Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
  93. No wonder the Model 3 is delayed. by edgedmurasame · · Score: 1

    They've been working more on the truck and the unattainable-for-most supercar.

    --
    "Forget the engineers." -Carly Fiorina, briber of MIT Technology Review.
  94. Why not a more attainable $20-30k? by edgedmurasame · · Score: 1

    Instead of pawning off a bland 3, I'd be fine if they had a large (think 70's-90's land-yacht) car that wasn't stratospheric in price.

    --
    "Forget the engineers." -Carly Fiorina, briber of MIT Technology Review.
  95. Yea but by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

    (80% of U.S. freight routes are 250 miles or less)

    100% of US freight haulers don't have 8-12 hours to wait for their truck to "refuel"

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    1. Re:Yea but by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 1

      100% of US freight haulers don't have 8-12 hours to wait for their truck to "refuel"

      You could have read the article. Oh wait, this is Slashdot...

      Recharge time from empty to 80% full is 30 minutes at a Tesla megacharger. (A new battery-backed version of the supercharger, required in order to stuff that much energy that fast into a truck's batteries without browning out the local grid.) And because it's just an electrical box, depot owners can install them on premises without so much as a peep from the EPA. No environmental study and no paperwork. A depot owner could even install one right at the dock, and recharge while loading/unloading. It's actually more time efficient than a diesel for all of the deliveries where the trailer isn't just dropped off, because you never have to go anywhere else and spend time at a pump in order to recharge, once the infrastructure is built out.

      And make no mistake, the infrastructure will be built out. The major trucking companies who buy most trucks are absolutely salivating at the prospect of chopping 17% off their running costs before their competitors get the chance to. That's a huge competitive advantage, while it lasts.

  96. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but you are a moron!... Tesla didn't set out to design a truck to do 0-60 in 5 seconds, it designed a truck that can pull a fully loaded trailer up a 5% incline at 65 MPH. It just so happens that if you remove the trailer and the 5% grade, the cab by itself ends up really fast. No-one said we needed a faster truck, it's just a cool stat to throw out at a big party to announce a new truck. And that really fast acceleration is because of the Torque, by the way. He's also not saying the truck won't break down, he's saying it is guaranteed not to break down, which really just means that he fixes it for free when it does. And yes, that's a lot of electricity compared to a home, but a home doesn't pull an 80,000 lb trailer up a hill. Being shocked and astounded by comparing two numbers that don't really relate to each other in any way is just stupid.
    Please apply some level of logic or common sense to the facts before you post capitalize profanity to illustrate your shock and disbelief at something that is neither shocking or unbelievable.

     

  97. Ground clearance? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It looks too low for the places trucks go.

    Also is there a reason to drive from the side of the vehicle closest to the oncoming traffic?

  98. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 1

    When your dealing with moving that much mass you run into all new kinds of engineering problems that I don't think anyone at Tesla has a clue about so far.

    You guess wrong. Jerome Guillen is Tesla's VP of Truck and Programs. He was the Director and General Manager of the Cascadia program at Daimler AG. He knows more about trucks than you could dream.

  99. Re:Typically Tesla by Rei · · Score: 1

    That's not how this works. There exists a definition in the usage that I utilized. You don't get to redefine my words to mean a different definition.

    What you're doing is akin to someone saying "Does this tie go with this suit?" and you responding "The act of having an equal score in a sporting game cannot possibly go with a suit."

    --
    We gotta go to a crappy town where I'm a hero.
  100. Re:Typically Tesla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whatever dumbass.

  101. who will be first? by whodat54321c · · Score: 1

    From a professional driver view, the truck has excellent potential, but getting a large or even medium sized fleet to give them a try will be difficult. This has several causes, but the one I see right off the bat is the lack of infrastructure in the truck stop business right now. With diesel, I can usually fill the tanks, use the restroom, get something to eat and go in about 18 minutes or so, and I'm a slow poke. 30 minutes on a charger would cover the mandatory 8 hour break US drivers have to take, which would be fine, Getting major chain truck stops like TA, Pilot, etc. would be essential to those fleets, but there is also a need to have those charging stations in areas not served by the big chain stops. All Elon would have to do is open up Trucker Path to see the scale of that problem. Canada too, would need additional facilities, owing to their longer 13 hour running day versus the 11 hour one stateside. Trains would not be suitable for cross border work in any sort of automated or semi-automated environment because of traffic flows and the needs of inspectors at border crossings. Animal collisions are a concern, even for conventionally powered trucks, as they do a lot of damage, but is survivable in conventionally powered setups. I'm not so certain about batterry packs, but Tesla cars haven't got much data about wildlife collisions, as EV charging areas in Minnesota don't go far outside the exurbs of the twin cities. Overall, I give it a 5 of 5 for concept, but 2 of 5 for practicality with the lack of charging facilities right now.

    1. Re:who will be first? by nessman · · Score: 0

      I don't see these being used for long-haul stuff... but more for the drivers who go from point A to point B and back to point A within a single day. Park the truck and plug in the charger.

  102. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

    Idiot. More ability to pull loads, more ability to accelerate when unloaded. The acceleration comes for free from the fact that the Tesla is specified to pull a full load up hill faster than a diesel. And because EVs naturally out acclerate internal combustion engines.

    Acceleration will not have been a major design goal. Just a happy side effect.

  103. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

    I think this hole post is a troll. The launch didn't say anything about 7.2 Mwh per charge.

    The best guess is 1 Mwh per charge.

  104. you a compulsive liar?..even when there's no point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
    Once again facts to the rescue.

    The tonne (/tn/ (About this sound listen)) (non-preferred SI derived unit; SI symbol: t), commonly referred to as the metric ton in the United States, is a non-SI metric unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms;[1][2][3][4] or one megagram (Mg); it is equivalent to approximately 2,204.6 pounds,[5] 1.102 short tons (US) or 0.984 long tons (imperial). Although not part of the SI per se, the tonne is "accepted for use with" SI units and prefixes by the International Committee for Weights and Measures, along with several other units like the bar, litre and day.[6]

  105. Re:The Tesla Semi takes 7.2 megawatt hours per cha by suutar · · Score: 1

    according to https://xtronics.com/wiki/Ener... diesel fuel is about 11k watt-hours per liter. The driver of a tractor I happened to be fueling next to once told me it held 300 gallons, so a fillup on that comes out to about 4.5e10 joules (sayeth google's calculator), where 7.2 MWh is 2.6e10 joules. Now, I don't have figures on the range for either, but realize that the power you're talking about isn't anything unusual for big trucks.

  106. Bullshitter. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Their margin on each S and X is approximately 25%, but don't let that stop you from making things up.

    You are full of shit Rei.

  107. Re: Just try merging. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When one of these platooning road trains comes along while you are planning on merging, what are you going to do? Oh, I get it, just come to a complete stop while this road hog lumbers past.

  108. At least 90 minutes, by my calculations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It depends upon the average length of your pit-stop. If you have to stop every 50 miles, that means, in the same 500 mile journey, you would have to stop at least 9 times to fill your Bugatti's tank. At 10 minutes per stop, you would spend 90 minutes gassing up your Bugatti.

    It doesn't seem like it should be all that far off of recharging once, using the Tesla supercharging stations. I'm not sure how the numbers change in comparison to the specs of the new roadster. If you want to crunch those numbers, have at it. I don't care enough.