Tesla unveiled a semi truck capable of 500 miles of range and a 0-60 time of 5 seconds flat.
Tonight’s Tesla event in Hawthorne, California may be one for the record books in terms of two vehicles that were unveiled, Tesla’s much anticipated Semi Truck and an all new-roadster, but this article will focus mainly on the Semi. Earlier today (Nov. 16, 2017) Elon Musk took the world by storm by driving a pair of prototype semis onto a runway in front of an airplane-sized hanger to a packed crowd of Tesla’s invitees, presumably investors and journalists. Elon Musk boldly ushered in a new age of freight transportation in the modern era, one that won’t require fossil fuels, at least at the pump.
Here are the nitty-gritty facts you want to know.
- Tesla’s Semi takes its motors straight from the Tesla Model 3, there are 4 motors in total with a motor on each rear wheel.
- Performance figures are staggering. 0-60 MPH unladen in five seconds and with its full load of 80,000 pounds, that same blast to 60 MPH takes just 20 seconds.
- The range is 500 miles on 100 percent charge. Park at a megacharger and 400 miles of range is yours for 30 minutes. Can you imagine the size of that plug and the gauge thickness of the wires?
- Autonomous capability. Like its popular Model S and Model 3, highway autopilot is available as well as a possible platooning capability (Tesla Semis talking to each other.)
All of these impressive facts have no significance to fleet owners if it doesn’t save money in the long term. Musk says that compared to a Diesel truck, these Tesla Semis will be 20 percent less expensive to operate.
owners can expect to gain $200,000 or more in savings over a million miles based on fuel costs alone
Reservations for the truck start at $5,000 with tentative production starting in 2019. If you know anything about Musk is that you take his deadlines with a grain of salt.
I’m excited for what this might mean for our freight operators and drivers. It’s a little-known fact of daily life, but our world relies on trucks. When we’re asleep, these hard-working drivers are up and at ’em delivering food and restocking stores among other important life necessities. Any technology that increases the quality of life (at the job site) for drivers is inadvertently a welcome change for everyone.
Drivers can benefit from being less stressed on the road, not necessarily relying on their trucks to take over, but having the driving assistance when needed. The free market capitalist in me says that early investors will reap the benefits of drivers who can do more within the same amount of time.
And this technological leap for trucks shouldn’t be relegated to Tesla. Hopefully, this stokes the fire of competitors to come out with their own EV Semis. A competitive market benefits everyone.
