Here is why the Tesla Semi is NOT a savings

If that's legit I am impressed.
Never heard of anyone getting that mpg before

 

Good thing Daytons aren't common anymore. Spin the spokes right thru the valve stems!

 

All the young just went "Do WHAT????"

 

Nice to see some numbers on a 10 mpg truck

Im not sure im Ready to give up an old kitty and my 94 t600 though since my savings would only be 15-20 k a year

(80 k miles, 5.5-6.5 mpg, and i idle quite a bit)

Is it worth it, yes... but is it worth a new truck versus paid off old?

Take me 10+ years before it was paid for... (200k + financing for new truck im assuming)

 

Factor in stopping for 90 minutes to charge 80% in the middle of every day. How is that going to affect your gross?

 

130 years ago the idea of a car was deemed ludicrous and anyone who thought automobiles would replace horses risked being committed to an insane asylum.
Get A Horse! America’s Skepticism Toward the First Automobiles | The Saturday Evening Post

There was similar skepticism towards home computers in the 1980s and pdas in the 90s. When the iPhone was introduced many claimed it was a fad for those with too much disposable income.

On the other hand, it was widely believed that barcodes would be the basis of smart homes.

Not all technology is going to end up being ready for the marketplace at the moment there is demand for it. Had satellite radio debuted 5 years earlier it might have gone mainstream but the technology for data transmission outpaced satellites and made satellite radio almost obsolete when it debuted.

Electric trucks aren't ready to replace diesel engines yet, and something else may come along and forestall evs all together, but knee jerk, blanket condemnation because the technology and infrastructure is still being developed is rather short sighted.

 

I know my company (mega fleet) isn't getting anywhere close to that with our 2022s. Half of my miles are empty, loaded weight averages 18,000, with an 80 mile average length of haul and the best I can average is 9.45 mpg. Mpg goal for the 22s is 8 mpg I believe, which means average fuel economy is 8.2 - 8.3.

Give me a manual transmission and I can get better fuel economy than a similarly set up automatic. But that's me, not a fleet. There is no way a manual fleet can match the automated transmissions. I don't like saying it, but numbers don't lie.

 

That’s not even the full kicker.
Let’s talk about Tesla Battery Degradation.
By Tesla’s own metrics, their batteries lose 10% of their capacity in the first year. That 500 mile (claimed) capacity is now 450 miles. Want to roll the dice and risk needing a tow in city interstate traffic near the drop? Of course not. Figure in the distance to a truck stop recharging station and that 450 miles is closer to 400 - and the truck is only one year old!

Electric trucks make sense as local delivery vehicles from a warehouse hub but not as cross country Semis.

Tesla claims its battery packs lose only ~10% capacity after 200,000 miles

 

That's why Tesla has never claimed it would be good for that, nor do they even offer a truck with a sleeper.

Simple fact is people should not be comparing to an OTR truck. It's not even trying to get in that market.

 

They put a picture of 4 of them in the earnings report.... looks like one of them is either a flat top or a mid roof.