Already in 2017, Tesla attracted a lot of attention in the transport sector with the announcement that it would produce its own electric trucks. Since then, the start of production has been postponed several times. But now the time has come: the mass production of the semi trucks is to begin – and could set some upheavals in motion.
• Semi Truck can impress with strong performance
• Tesla’s electric truck is expected to bring significant savings in transportation costs
• Mass production started in the USA
The Tesla boss Elon Musk is known for pithy sayings. The multi-billionaire described the semi truck, which was announced in 2017, as an “elephant that moves like a cheetah”. In fact, the semi truck can impress with its data.
The semi truck can do that
According to Tesla, the semi truck will have an output of 1020 hp (735 kW). The electric truck is powered by three electric motors on its rear axles and the Plaid drives of the Models S and X. The tractor should be able to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in around five seconds – even with a maximum load of 37.2 tons, this acceleration should be achieved in just over 20 seconds. In an industry comparison, these figures can be classified as excellent. An important reason for the high acceleration ability is also the very low aerodynamic value of 0.36. This is made possible not least by the striking truck design, which is immediately recognizable as a Tesla thanks to its modern front.
The question of whether the range of the articulated lorries is satisfactory for the end customer is important for the commercial success of semi trucks. At this point, Tesla was only able to partially deliver: Originally, the new battery technology of the Plaid models should have been adopted – this would have meant 20 percent more range – but then a ton of payload potential would have been lost. Therefore, the Musk group decided against using the new batteries.
According to information that can be found on the Tesla website, the truck will have a range of 480 kilometers (basic version) or 800 kilometers (premium version) per battery charge – in a later version Musk is aiming for a range of 1,000 kilometers. Tesla states the average energy consumption as 125 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers. To ensure that the charging time on the new V4 DC superchargers remains acceptable, the semi truck was equipped with a 1,000 volt electrical system. This allows for a 70 percent battery charge recovery in about 30 minutes.
Lower fuel costs than diesel trucks
In addition to the strong performance, Tesla also promises large savings in terms of fuel costs with long-term use of the semi truck – the costs for fuel with the semi truck are said to be only half as high as with conventional diesel trucks. This should result in savings of up to $200,000 for fleet operators within the first three years, according to Tesla. Equally significant will be the benefit of features such as remote diagnostics, braking energy regeneration, over-the-air software updates and the reduction of moving parts. All of this should significantly reduce maintenance costs. In addition, the tractor units should spend considerably more time on the road and only rarely have to be serviced.
Apparently, mass production is about to start
But when will electric trucks finally be on the streets? Musk originally announced that production would start in 2019. However, similar to the eagerly awaited Cybertruck and the new Roadster, there were also massive delays in the start of mass production for the Semi Truck. However, the time has now come: Last December, Elon Musk himself presented the first series-produced semi truck to the US food company PepsiCo at a delivery event in Nevada. Pepsi had already ordered 100 Tesla trucks at the end of 2017. However, the other customers, including industry giants such as Anheuser-Busch, UPS and Walmart, are still waiting in vain for the vehicles they have ordered. Originally, 50,000 semi trucks were supposed to be produced in the Tesla plant in Texas this year, but according to Blick, this is a long way off. In the coming months, however, production should finally be ramped up. The basic variant is priced at $150,000 in the USA, while the premium version with a range of 800 kilometers currently costs $180,000. In Germany, on the other hand, it is not yet possible to order semi trucks.
The electric tractors are to come to Europe as soon as US customers, some of whom have been waiting for their vehicles for more than five years, have been served. Experts expect that the first semi trucks will be seen on the streets of Europe in the course of the coming year. It remains to be seen whether the Tesla semi-trucks announced with a lot of hype will then be able to secure a large piece of the European truck market, which is still dominated by Daimler Truck, the VW commercial vehicle division Traton, Volvo and Iveco – especially since the competition is sleeping and have already announced their own articulated lorries with electric and fuel cell drives.
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