Good god I never knew how bad the mpg was on a semi with a full load. That’s terrible. There is no way an EV semi can be worse than that. As long as it gets the mileage stated, once a trucker needs to charge they can just sleep while it’s charging even if it takes longer to charge than a car.

How can anyone not like this solution?

 

It's as stated above, repairs to that system if you want it done are insanely expensive and why bother when you can get a new one. Just like a phone

 

Cost and reliability. If these things are even half as locked down as the cars this will never work since repair will be a pain and cost will be insane.

 

Striker223 - i can understand your perspective as a third party auto mechanic, but truck fleets can work out repair contracts so the costs are predictable, and the vast operating cost savings should MORE than offset the potential repair costs.

 

If it will work anything like the very expensive proprietary machines I've seen in factories they may have repair conracts available when new but it will be expensive. It will also have a lot of "gotcha's" for things not covered. Not trying to sound doom and gloom at all just saying repair options will be very limited compared to getting the truck worked on anywhere that does heavy truck repair.

PS- I like deisel fumes! lol

 

It pretty bad.
Like 5 mpg says a car hauler dude I talked to once.
Maybe newer trucks get a little better.

When I see UPS and Fed Ex and give up their old trucks I will start believing the cost of EV is worth it. lol

PS again- great thread Lex2k, I know EV tech is superior and just hoping they don't lock this new tech in to make it unaffordable for others.

 

I know nothing about the trucking industry but it seemed odd to me to see a one person cab. Do most truckers drive solo?

 

Believe me, if they didn't make sense these fleet managers at these companies wouldn't buy them.

I have several family members who are long haul truckers, or were and retired. Maintenance is a HUGE issue on these trucks, they break down, you see it all the time when traveling in the mountains, trucks struggling to clinb grades and broken down on the side of the road, the simplicity of the Tesla powertrain and the lack of refueling costs, if they can do the job, would dramatically reduce the cost and stress of operating a big rig.

 

There is a $40K incentive by the gov to buy them. Take that away…and poof. No sale

 

I saw video from Peterbuilt showing the testing of their EV truck and it had a one-person cab with the driver in the center. There may have been a drop down jump seat for a passenger. I'm sure that it would take some getting used to.

 

It’s probably cost cutting. Just have to make one style for different markets.

 

Don't know but guessing there are other factors other than just cost cutting.

 

Operating costs will be much lower just like cars in fleets like Hertz. 50% lower for the cars, Tesla Semi will very likely drop costs even more. As for roll over risk center of gravity on this Semi is drastically lower it will be like Tesla cars nearly impossible to overturn.

 

$40,000 is nothing, its a rounding error when you look at the cost of a big rig and the lifespan of the vehicle for an enterprise like that, its also an amount per unit that the company can easily save by purchasing a different truck. Its a sweetener, but its not going to make a corporation purchase trucks or not. Those commitments for the first Tesla trucks were also made long before the IRA.

In any event, thats the point of the credit in the act, to drive adoption of EV trucks and to expand the potential market which improves design and development. Tesla is not the only company developing EV trucks, legacy companies like Freightliner and Peterbuilt are too.

 

That's what I'm kinda thinking too.
I was going to put a number on how much I think these trucks would run but didn't want to embarass myself since I have no clue. lol

Anyone have the MSRP?