3 ms·

Nice. Tesla claims they will "ramp up" production to 50,000 units per year. When does the 100th unit roll off the line? Let's see some actuals. Tesla's volume

• narrator 6mo ago
  The Tesla semi is the only truck with a 500 mile range. So it does have an advantage over other electric trucks for long-haul trucking.
  • 7e 6mo ago
    Tesla has a history of exaggerating the ranges of their vehicles to an extent that competitors do not.
    • jerlam 6mo ago
      Trucking seems like an industry where exaggerating the range will lead to contracts being cancelled and companies being sued. I'm assuming that a Tesla Semi can't just stop off at the nearest Supercharger.
      • mlmonkey 6mo ago
        I've read that Semis need to use a "MegaCharger" ...
        • danaw 6mo ago
          big branding fail not using "gigacharger"
          • iknowstuff 6mo ago
            Megacharger because they're a Megawatt of power. 1.2MW
          • DonHopkins 6mo ago
            Try ChargeMaxing, and hitting it with a hammer.
            • danaw 6mo ago
              an acceptable alternative :chefs_kiss:
      • whateveracct 6mo ago
        they haven't gotten on the road yet, so it remains to be seen
    • SlightlyLeftPad 6mo ago
      Being a two-time Tesla owner for 8 years, at this point, there is no claim Tesla can possibly make that I would ever believe. Their (and Elon’s) track record on countless claims have been wildly misleading at best or completely false at worst. [1]: https://www.theverge.com/transportation/917167/elon-musk-tesla-hw3-fsd https://www.theverge.com/transportation/917167/elon-musk-tes...
    • dzhiurgis 6mo ago
      Got source for this? IIRC they are right in the middle of pack.
      • narrator 6mo ago
        Right there at the bottom of the page: https://www.tesla.com/semi https://www.tesla.com/semi
  • darth_avocado 6mo ago
    My model 3 also “has” 350+ mile range. Barely goes 270 in the real world with conservative driving. Trucking needs a lot more.
    • DonHopkins 6mo ago
      "You're holding it wrong."
    • fragmede 6mo ago
      Try doing 68 instead of 75.
      • m463 6mo ago
        Or slower... I got really good mileage once. The charging station I chose was not working and I drove to a nearby station doing maybe 25 on city streets long after midnight. Instead of arriving with 1% I arrived with 4%. Probably would have gotten better mileage if I ran red lights and made stop signs optional.
  • Animats 6mo ago
    500 miles with what load? Pepe's Towing, the heavy towing company in LA with a very popular YouTube channel, has two questions for drivers whose trucks need to be recovered or uprighted - "What's your cargo?", and "How much does it weigh?". (Pepe's comments that most drivers who roll over a truck cannot answer either question, which has a lot to do with why they rolled over.)
    • masklinn 6mo ago
      > 500 miles with what load? Since cargo is enclosed on most semis, assuming identical trailers load doesn't really matter. Aging Wheels has a video on testing that in the silverado ev and got about 5%: https://www.youtu.be/UmKf8smvGsA https://www.youtu.be/UmKf8smvGsA
    • m463 6mo ago
      thinking of weird loads... I friend told me a story of when he drove trucks in a previous life. Once he had to drive a water tanker truck and someone ran a red light in front of him as he entered an intersection. He slammed on the brakes, but his water load sloshed. It would skid his truck forward into the intersection with each slosh. He avoided the accident, but just barely.
  • apexalpha 6mo ago
    500 miles with what weight?
    • masklinn 6mo ago
      Doesn't really matter, load is a really small factor in EV range.
      • apexalpha 6mo ago
        For a semi? That's seems absurd.
      • darth_avocado 6mo ago
        > load is a really small factor in EV range. That is just plain wrong. There is a reason why all EV companies, including Tesla obsess over energy density, and it’s because load is one of the biggest factors that affects range. Forget EVs, load also affects range for traditional Semis. Do you seriously think an empty semi and one with a shipping container on the tow, would both have the same range?
        • masklinn 6mo ago
          > That is just plain wrong. There is a reason why all EV companies, including Tesla obsess over energy density, and it’s because load is one of the biggest factors that affects range. Energy density is energy per unit of volume. Every company obsesses over that because volume is the limiting factor for getting energy in a vehicle. Energy specificity (energy by unit of weight) is only relevant to planes, no EV company gives much of a fuck about it. Would they like it if batteries were lighter? Absolutely. Would they take a heavier battery if it was denser? In a heartbeat. > Forget EVs, load also affects range for traditional Semis. There are major differences between a traditional prime mover and an electric one: electric motors don’t have the divergent torque/power curve of ICE, or the choked low end, and moving a load is kinetic energy which EVs can largely convert back into electricity instead of losing it entirely. So the inefficiencies related to getting the load moving largely go away.