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Ok as a mechanic a few million questions: * What happens when a wheel seal goes? Do I have to remove all that ridiculous plastic on #2,3 axels?? * What happen
by nwmcsween 9y ago
Ok as a mechanic a few million questions:
* What happens when a wheel seal goes? Do I have to remove all that ridiculous plastic on #2,3 axels??
* What happens when a tire blows? Is it going to destroy all that plastic and take out a few more tires in the process?
* Why all the glass? I've spend entire days replacing windshields for a 12 or so truck shop which generally come in two (drivers and passengers), the Tesla semi would require a crane and expensive replacements.
* Why is there no bumper or frame attachment points? Bumpers save the truck from damage, no one wants to buy $xxxxx front end, lights, etc when a deer in the bushes jumps into the middle of the road.
Honestly from my point of view it seems Tesla tried to apply personal EV to a semi. Did they do any research from tractor shops or mechanics? There is a HUGE reason tractor/trailers are easy to service.
- RoboTeddy 9y agoRe: Glass: Elon Musk demonstrated that the glass is armored (it's unclear, but that might mean it just won't break under normal trucking conditions)
- greglindahl 9y agoHe showed a video of it in action. Note that Tesla is already pretty good at glass due to their huge glass windshield-roofs on the X and 3, and the solar roof.
- colordrops 9y agoBecause likely in a few years (less than 5 maybe?) these things will be driving themselves and if they get non-operational damage they'll just drive themselves to the nearest tesla maintenance center to get repaired.
- nwmcsween 9y agoThen it's dead out of the gate, almost every trucking company in existence does in house repairs due to cost.
- colordrops 9y agoTesla's gonna be the trucking company before too long.
- abalone 9y agoTesla is promising massive cost savings over traditional diesel trucks, so that might change the service equation.
- coldsauce 9y agoThe majority of trucking companies aren't big enough to be able to have in house shops.
- davnn 9y agoNot source checked but it appears that 96% of trucking companies have 28 trucks or less and 82% operate with less than 6 trucks. http://www.truckingoffice.com/2012/interesting-trucking-industry-statistics http://www.truckingoffice.com/2012/interesting-trucking-indu...
- njarboe 9y agoHe states that they have spent a lot of time talking to truckers and truck companies. I would guess they believe that with an electric drive train repairs and maintenance will be an order of magnitude lower (not sure how that works for tires and wheels). Body damage should also be much lower with automatic breaking and other features of enhanced autopilot. As Musk said, broken glass is a big cost for trucking as you can drive with a broken windshield. They think they have a super glass that is "nuclear blast" proof.
- einrealist 9y agoI wonder about accidents. Will the driver be trapped, because the glass cannot be broken?
- icebraining 9y agoMaybe the side windows are not that strong? Interesting question nonetheless.
- kamaal 9y agoStrong glass doesn't necessary has to be hard to remove glass. Those are two different things. Pressing a mechanical button or two should easily disassemble the glass gracefully. At the same while the glass is fixed it should ideally be immune to damage.
- icebraining 9y agoIs there a danger that the metal could crumple over the edge of the glass, preventing the removal?
- danmaz74 9y agoMechanical buttons have a tendency not to work after big impacts/accidents.
- JshWright 9y ago
- isaiahg 9y agoYou should probably watch the actual reveal, it's already on YouTube. The glass was already addressed and he gave it a specific focus. Even claiming it can withstand an atomic blast.
- PinguTS 9y agoThe iPhoneX has the strongest glass. … but actually breaks easier than the iPhone 8 glass.
- jquery 9y agoAre you sure? I saw a YouTube drop test video and the iPhone X survived multiple drops from head height (~66") onto concrete without breaking, but the iPhone 8 shattered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vHCBwJVeO4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vHCBwJVeO4 I've dropped my case-less iPhone X 5 feet onto bathroom tile and not even a noticeable scratch afterwards.
- rtdp 9y agoNot at all scientifically done.
- Tepix 9y agohttps://www.test.de/Apple-iPhone-X-Das-zerbrechlichste-iPhone-aller-Zeiten-5249243-0/ https://www.test.de/Apple-iPhone-X-Das-zerbrechlichste-iPhon... (German Consumer report: iPhone X is most brittle of all iPhones)
- jquery 9y agoIt looks like they dropped a single phone, and you didn't even get to see how it fell. Hard to say that's definitive.
- lumisota 9y agothe iPhone 8 and iPhone X use the same glass
- tbabb 9y ago"Well, it's a fraction of the cost to operate, but if a tire blows, the mechanic will have to detach a piece of plastic. So I think we'll pass."
- masklinn 9y agoIt's way beyond that. 1. it makes changing a tire more complicated, and time is money, the longer it takes to change a blown tire the higher the penalties 2. when a semi tire goes, it goes hard, as GP noted with this arrangement the cowling will probably shatter, requiring a replacement (not just a replacement tire) and the pieces taking out other tire. If the cowling does not break, it will funnel bits of tire straight into the next tires, blowing all of them.
- Gravityloss 9y agoIf a truck tire blows, it sometimes hits nearby cars and causes accidents, or just hits a motorcycle driver, cyclist or pedestrian and causes an instant death. These covers could be useful, if they were made for containment. Requires something like kevlar that can stretch and absorb the impact.
- unicornporn 9y agoLike so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-k6_zuno88#t=28s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-k6_zuno88#t=28s
- nwmcsween 9y agoFrom what I've seen tires don't really blow as in pieces everywhere but tear then slap around, retreads when they blow tend to remove all the tread which is why you see half a tread on the side of the road sometimes. Containment isn't really too much of an issue IMO. Even thick (3/8) aluminum fenders get destroyed.
- chewyland 9y agoWhen a rear tire blew on my campervan, in addition to having to replace the tire, the blowout caused many thousands of Euros worth of damage to the bodywork.
- dayaz36 9y agoWatch the actual reveal before commenting. The glass was addressed.
- rijoja 9y agoA lot of this is probably in order to get a 0.36 Cd Drag coefficient! Also having a lot of glass probably increases the view which in turn increases the security!
- scoot 9y agoIf you check out the reveal, you'll see that it doesn't have those ridiculous covers, nor does it have near zero clearance between the cab and trailer which would prevent articulation, and nor does it have near zero ground clearance.
- Dylan16807 9y ago> If you check out the reveal, you'll see that it doesn't have those rediculous covers https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/tesla-semi_24.jpg https://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/tesla-s... ? I'm not sure what you mean. Looks about the same as the linked page to me. > nor does it have near zero clearance between the cab and trailer which would prevent articulation, and nor does it have near zero ground clearance. https://i.imgur.com/cECtzId.png https://i.imgur.com/cECtzId.png https://i.imgur.com/EPIchQz.png https://i.imgur.com/EPIchQz.png Ground clearance seems smaller because of how huge it is.
- scoot 9y agoOdd, the article I read had this image: https://c1cleantechnicacom-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/files/2017/11/Tesla-Semi-Truck-Specs-Event-7-620x350.jpg https://c1cleantechnicacom-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/files/201... (or one like it), and looking at the video, it seems they had both on stage? Are there two models? It didn't seem to be discussed.
- jchw 9y agoThe page does say "300 or 500 miles" for the range. Sounds like there's multiple models to me.
- shardo 9y agoIn the middle of the presentation, Elon mentioned that people were asking for a Pickup truck so they built a smaller version of a pickup truck. The one you linked to is that. They aren't taking orders for it.
- jccooper 9y ago
- andygates 9y agoWhy wouldn't the side skirt simply hinge up to allow access?
- averagewall 9y agoThis alleged photo shows no cover over the wheels. You can probably just not use it if you don't like it. http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/a12771645/this-is-almost-certainly-teslas-semi-truck/ http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/a12771645/t...
- teekert 9y agoI get the concern, I know a truck driver, damage occurs very often and is difficult to prevent even by the best of drivers. But perhaps bumpers are less necessary when the thing is full of sensors and stops the truck before something is hit? Doesn't prevent damage from thirds of course.
- lloeki 9y agoTrucks already exist[0][1] that would seem to go contra your last two points (full-width windshield, no bumper/frame, flush lights). [0]: http://www.renault-trucks.co.uk/media/image/nouvelles-gammes/renault-trucks-t-long-haul-comfort-2b.jpg http://www.renault-trucks.co.uk/media/image/nouvelles-gammes... [1]: http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/man-truck-test-drive-1440x900.jpg http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/wp-content/uploads/2011/0...
- jameshart 9y agoRight - I was going to ask if I took an American truck mechanic to Europe and stood him by a highway, he’d look at all the trucks and say ‘those will never work, the windshields are too big and the engine’s inaccessible and all those fairing panels look fragile.’
- ajmurmann 9y agoI believe the main reason for why European trucks look soi different is regulations. European trucks have a length limit that covers the tractor as well as the trailer. Because you want to maximize the cargo space, the tractor is made as short as possible and gets this very un-aerodynamic shape. The truck in essence gets the shape that best fills in all permitted space. In addition they don't have plows or similar that make them take less damage in collisions because Europeans instead minimize the damage to people hit by the truck. Given the US doesn't have those regulations you really need different trucks and one truck won't work in the other market.
- letlambda 9y ago>* What happens when a wheel seal goes? Do I have to remove all that ridiculous plastic on #2,3 axels?? Seeing as you still need to do a pre-trip inspection, I assume they swing out of the way pretty easily.
- foobarbecue 9y agoWell, the glass is "thermonuclear explosionproof," whatever that's supposed to mean. They are claiming it will never need replacing. Musk did dwell on that for quite a while in his talk.
- maxerickson 9y agoIndestructible materials solve the problems with the wheel shrouds too.
- adamweld 9y agoRight, the only problem being that they don't exist.
- Tepix 9y agoWhen the last nuke went off in North Korea, my car window didn't break either. Amazing!
- SigmundA 9y agoThe windshield is a lot more like a modern Class A RV windshield. You don't necessarily need a crane to replace, just a couple guys. Having some tough glass though as they promoted would be really nice on an RV, I'm jealous.
- jasonwatkinspdx 9y ago> all that ridiculous plastic I'd bet those fairings are needed to get the low cD, and that without them the economics are nearly as competitive. I'd give them the benefit of the doubt on having designed for blow outs as that seems rather basic.
- lafar6502 9y agoWhy do you worry - only Tesla authorized service will be allowed to repair the truck