What Do You Think of Autonomous Trucks?

If this is right, it's going to go over like a lead balloon. The batteries can cost between $161,000-$210,000 for a truck with a 300 mile range. Just the batteries will weigh 18,000lbs.

https://www.trucks.com/2017/11/13/tesla-electric-truck-whats-known/

 

"Musk repeated that “more to it” claim in an Oct. 6 Twitter exchange with a follower. “Semi specs are better than anything I’ve seen reported so far,” he wrote."

So basically, we will have to wait a few days and see what the reality is, and also realize that this is the Version 1.0, so we can expect that whatever it is, it will get better with time.
Just like the Tesla started out as a luxury car that very few could afford, but now it is becoming very popular, and soon to be affordable as well.

And what you just said about the problems of electric trucks, was said about the problems of electric cars, but he overcome those problems, and I have a feeling he will do it with trucks too.

 

He may not. People that buy the cars do it because they want to and they get a tax credit that they may be losing. The ones that would be buying electric trucks would be the companies that want to save money. Once they see that they won't,they are going to walk away. They want a turn key electric truck that meets their demands. I don't think Tesla will have the demand to limp it along until it is a viable product. His best option would be to continue to piggy back it off of the cars until he truly does have the technology.

The US Postal Service as had a couple of all electric delivery vehicles over the past 40 years. It is the best scenario but they didn't last for different reasons.

Railroads are the same way. Electric freight trains used to be common. As early as 1906,steam engines were banned in New York City. Everything was electric once you crossed the bridges/tunnels. The most powerful locomotives in the world are electric. Railroads know that they are better than diesels but go with diesels anyway. Electric locomotives need their own infrastructure and have their own electric bill.

Railroad electrification in the United States - Wikipedia

 

When you are comparing Tesla technology to every other attempt, remember that Tesla is also the only company that has actually made a popular and trustworthy electric car that people actually enjoy.
It has better performance and a nicer pretty much everything than almost all gas cars, and no comparison to the other electric cars that have come and gone.
Most electric cars have always been on the model of "getting by" with an electric, then Musk comes along and makes an electric that people envy and crave.
Remember he is also the guy who was able to land a rocket back on its tail, and make commercial reusable spaceflight a reality, so if he is introducing an actual product this week, I would expect that he has it to the point of at least some markets actually desiring it, even if it is only a small market. That was the method he used to launch his whole empire after all, getting a few people to fund his research into better electric car and battery technology.
Now he owns the biggest (and still being built bigger) battery factory in the world, and is the expert in battery design.
So, I have a feeling that he won't be "limping along", but is introducing a truck that has he will be proud to put his name to, even if it is for a niche market.
And then later as the technology develops, he can add more capacity and expand his market.

As to the usps electric vehicles, they used sucky battery and control technology, just like most electric cars have.

As to the electric trains, all locomotives are electrically powered, just most have a diesel generator, so there is no doubt about the benefits or ability of electric motors to power a heavy vehicle.
The difference between the US and most of the places that have electric trains, is the incredible expanse of the country!
China is probably the only other country that uses electric trains that has the kind of miles of track that we do, and they still use coal burning steam locomotives in some places, so I am not sure what the extent of electrification actually is.
Basically the cost and reliability of building new power infrastructure and caternery towers and millions of miles of power cables across mostly desolate and remote areas often with harsh weather, and then building a full new fleet of locomotives to use them, is just not a good business decision.

If the track is open, a diesel can run anywhere, mainlines, branch lines, spurs, industrial tracks, etc, without having to try to fit overhead wires in often already congested areas, or having to change from diesel to electric at the end of a long haul.

 

Oh, and do you think that UPS did the cng trucks to save money, or that Safeway uses the electric or liquid nitrogen reefers to save money?
Do you think that these companies are adding dpf systems to save money?

No, they are often driven to spend more money because of regulations or pressure from customers and jurisdictions, and you had better believe that certain jurisdictions will love them if they start using electric trucks along with the silent reefers, and with zero emissions, so don't think that the customers that Musk is targeting will be buying this truck because it is cheaper to operate than an International, or has a greater payload or anything like that, the greatest interest will be because of the zero emissions and silent operation, and while those may not be traits that you find value in, to the same companies that buy the silent reefers to avoid complaints and strict laws, these will be worth their weight in gold, or since they will probably be extra heavy, maybe only silver lol.

And yes, in the city delivery trade, they usually aren't running 80k 53 foot trailers all the time, so they can use a heavier truck for many purposes without any issues with the lost cargo weight.

Again, specific market, not limping along trying to do linehaual for hundreds of miles at full payload, any more than you would use a megasleeper bedbug truck in truckload freight, or a single screw daycab for OTR work.

 

What rail?

 

Do they park stupid?

 

They don't need to! Lol
No pee breaks, no lunch breaks, no fuel stops, just terminal to terminal, probably they would have staging lanes where the truck would pull in and stop, the yard jockey would come and disconnect the trailer and send the truck to the fuel bay, then to the outbound staging area where it would be hooked up to the new load, pretriped and sent off.

While it certainly could back and park, better than most human drivers lol, it would need a special trailer with sensors on the back, but since most yards use jockeys to move the trailers around anyway, that wouldn't really be needed in most situations.

 

All the truck stops shut down?
No more subway sandwiches?
All trucks running 24-7 to move freight that nobody can buy because nobody's working?

 

And there lies the conandrum...

The related cottage industry built around industry labor providers will collapse, moving the economy more & more towards Universal Income model (a.k.a welfare)