In the late 19th century a European born electrical and mechanical engineer Nikola Tesla, developed and patented an alternating current (AC) induction motor. This innovation spawned the prototype for for an all electric car designed and marketed by a 21st century company bearing the inventor's name, Tesla Inc. Following its success with the all electric car, Tesla Inc. has unveiled its long-anticipated, all-electric Class 8 tractor, marking the company's entry into the commercial trucking business. This all electric semi-truck will change the heavy-duty truck world as we know it.
The battery-powered Tesla Semi, slated for production in 2019, is a day cab with a range of up to 500 miles on a single charge, achieved while traveling at highway speeds and hauling 80,000 pounds. It can climb a 5% grade fully loaded at 65 mph. Most diesel powered semi-trucks will loose speed and power climbing a 5% grade.
In this ever changing world we live in, trucks and trucking are facing huge changes in the next few years. Trucking companies are looking at alternatives with the high cost of diesel fuel and maintenance on trucks, Tesla claims to have the answer.
Logistics firms are joining trucking companies in checking out the potential for the Tesla Semi, with at least two testing prototypes of the electric truck. These new electric trucks are the new wave in the industry. With the ability to have a 500 mile trip and a 30 minute recharge (the break time required by the FMCSA for drivers) to go another 400 miles, the trucks are amazing. The trucks are equipped with four drive motors, two for each drive axle, which gives the truck fantastic traction with positive or negative torque independently. The drive train has a one million mile warranty, no other semi-truck manufacturer comes close to that.
I believe that electric truck's promised reductions in maintenance will be a lure for drivers, as any repair-based downtime hurts their earnings. With no motor or transmission these trucks appear to be very simple to maintain. Tesla is also claiming that it will guarantee truckers electricity rates of 7 cents per kilowatt hour. That could result in fuels savings of more than $30,000 a year for some truckers, according to estimates. This will be done by adding solar power and massive battery packs at the charging stations. The downfall is enough charging stations strategically placed across the country for all the electric trucks on the road by 2020.
XPO Logistics Inc. is reportedly testing the Tesla Semi. In a client report, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said that XPO staff has been testing live prototype of the truck for 18 months, and have found that the truck lives up to Tesla’s claims of recharging time, anti-jackknifing features and power delivery compared with diesel trucks. XPO has a truck division that operates a fleet of 8,363 tractors. XPO ranks number 1 on the Top 50 list of the largest logistics companies >in North America.
Tesla launched the Semi in November 2017 with a $150,000 base price for a tractor with a 300-mile range and an $180,000 base price for a version with a 500-mile range. Production is scheduled for 2019. Currently it costs $20,000 just to reserve one of these trucks. Tesla said its Semi will provide $200,000 or more in fuel savings and a payback period of two years. A number of major freight-hauling firms have announced pre-orders, including:
40 by Anheuser-Busch
100 by Pepsi Co.
50 by Sysco Co.
125 by UPS Inc.
15 by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Fleet operators such as J.B. Hunt Transport Services, NFI Industries and Bison Transport Inc. confirmed that they have pre-ordered the truck or plan to do so.
Tesla's next adventure sounds like it will be an Autonomous electric semi-truck. The truck would still require a driver but the job duties would be very different from today's driver, with more monitoring of two touch screens instead of steering, scanning mirrors, watching gauges and speed. Companies are testing these trucks in platoons, trucks following each other as close as 30 feet in line. Some engineer's are concerned that the platooning of these trucks will create an extra amount of stress on bridges because of the close following distances. The positive of platooning is the drafting the trucks would create which will reduce fuel consumption. With the Tesla's Autopilot control system, the truck will slow and speed up for any driving condition, and ensures safer and better control than a truck driver of the past.