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He 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 m
by njarboe 9y ago
He 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 agoFirefighter here. I wouldn't be especially worried about the glass. Hitting it with a hammer isn't all that impressive (take a hammer to your driver's side window... I bet you'll be surprised how ineffective it is).
- 0xfeba 9y agoBut flick a broken spark plug ceramic piece at it, and it falls apart.
- arghwhat 9y agoTires, wheels, suspension, bearings, steering, brakes and drive axles (one from each electric motor to its wheel) will be the same as a regular truck, maintenance-wise. The maintenance reduction basically only related to the motor itself. And, supposedly the "nuclear blast proof" windshield. A collision with a deer probably be much, much more expensive compared to a truck with a safari grill or plow mounted for safety.
- greglindahl 9y agoAre you sure brakes go on the list? Regenerative braking uses the motor, not brake pads. The track record of this approach is already proven in cars.
- arghwhat 9y agoAh, sorry, brakes see less wear. I forgot. Design and maintenance procedure remains the same, maintenance interval drastically increased.
- PinguTS 9y agoBrakes in trucks are already using regenerative braking for about 20 years right now and its called retarder. Because conventional braking is too expansive.
- exDM69 9y agoI took an interest in this and looked up "retarder" on Wikipedia and it mentions engine braking (and exhaust braking), hydraulic retarders and electric retarders which are eddy current brakes more commonly used in the railways. Which one are you referring to? According to the article, most commonly these are not used for regenerative braking, the energy is wasted as heat instead. Eddy current brakes can be used for regenerative braking if there's an electric drive train (and high power electronics to handle it) but more typically the energy is just wasted as heat in a cooled resistor grid. Mechanical/hydraulic braking can be used to spool up a flywheel and this was used in Formula 1 in late 2000's (now they use electrical regenerative braking instead). Which of these techniques is commonly used in trucks? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retarder_(mechanical_engineering) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retarder_(mechanical_engineeri...
- tlrobinson 9y ago> "nuclear blast" proof That seems like a meaningless claim without size and distance from the blast.
- growt 9y agoI just noticed the windows on my car are "nuclear blast proof" too. They survived every nuclear blast that happened since I got this car!
- bobsil1 9y agoIt’s the new “bioweapons-grade cabin air filter”
- icc97 9y agoDoesn't really matter, it is just marketing. I guess somewhere through the design phase they did some calculations on how much force it can take and checked it against silly things for Musk to say. The only point is that it's stronger than normal glass, which is backed up with the video comparing the two different types of glass in a more realistic scenario.
- PinguTS 9y agoOver the last centuries there were a number of truck and bus manufacturers who tried the single/middle seat design. It was never a seller for any of those. If you take someone with you, you don't want to sit him/her to sit behind you. You want them to sit next to you. If you are on the road in the city, you have often colleagues with you, like in a moving company and alike. Such trucks are used in construction work where things damage easily because someone else crashes in your truck. No assistant in your truck will prevent that. Honestly, it seems they may have talked to some friends or their delivery companies, but not with companies from the industry.
- dnzm 9y agoCould it be that this semi just isn't meant for those in-city hauls, but more for the longer-range highway hauls?
- PinguTS 9y agoBecause of economics of scale, you design one versatile truck chassis. That can then be easily modified like longer vs. shorter for the super structure, the driver cabin is modified in size so that you have a sleeping possibility or not and all those things. Just take a look, the very same long haul truck is also used by the construction workers. Only the the cabin is a little bit shorter.
- eloisant 9y agoThat's true when you're big already like Iveco or Caterpillar, but when you're trying to enter a new market it makes sense to cater to a specific subset of the market.
- celim307 9y agoI would say no because they currently have no sleeper cabin in their design
- cm2187 9y ago
- _Codemonkeyism 9y agoWhat does "nuclear blast" mean? 5m to the explosion? 10km to the explosion? What warhead? 10kt, 10Mt?
- PhasmaFelis 9y agoI assumed it meant "nonspecifically, but impressively, tough."
- _Codemonkeyism 9y agoLike my fist has the power of a supernova explosion?
- dragontamer 9y agoIs your fist's energy not a derivative of the big bang itself? Where did you think your fist got its energy from? Supernova would be underestimating the power of your fist. Truly think about the history of the energy of your system!
- _Codemonkeyism 9y agoYES!
- mnx 9y agoIt means exactly nothing, and I think that's the point.
- JabavuAdams 9y agoProbably a certain amount of over-pressure. Marketing nonsense, though.