Tesla Semi: first truck rolls off high-volume production line

Deepway could very well be the future of a large segment of trucking.
DeepWay so far secures over 1,000 orders for smart new energy heavy-duty trucks | Gasgoo

autonews.gasgoo.com

 

Deepway in Anhui Province, China.
What a coincidence; I'll be there within the next few months for vacation because I own a home there.
Autonomous Truck Maker Anhui Deepway Technology Raises $102M - Ary News - Ai Reporting Yard
Anhui Deepway Technology Raises $102M in Series B Funding for Autonomous Trucks China’s leading autonomous truck…

 

I could not believe there was one in the country, registered and ready to buy. Plus the order time was only 10 weeks. $400k AU

The build quality was on point.




It was comfortable, quiet, smooth, spacious. No dressed up privatively ordered Kenworth but did the job in a practical sense. Not to sure about a touch screen though. Rarely can you access what you need without scrolling so takes your eyes off the job. Then try tapping that icon while your bouncing around on the #### roads I drive. Would rather a button, dial, or knob to be honest. Definatley needs a sub or better speaker or something.

 

It ought to be interesting when one burns completely through a bridge causing month long closure lol

 

My city guy and I run about 500 miles a day. In theory, I should have the truck plugged in by 07:45 and he doesn't out gate until 09:30, returning by 17:30, I start at 19:30, run down to Chicago and then have at least 2.5 hours of waiting time at the hub before returning. Tesla claims that a full recharge can be done in an hour. Both of us can start our days with full charges, in theory. In practice I've been getting home at 08:30, but I should have at least a half charge, so if I plug in and then use the yard truck to break my set the city guy should be just fine.

We get approximately 7 mpg - call it 70 gallons of fuel a day, or 18,000 gallons a year. At $3 a gallon that's $54,000 in fuel a year.

Tesla claims 1.7 kwh/mile, but let's assume 1 kwh/mile which works out to 128,000 kwh. At 20 cents per kwh it works out to about $26,000 in electricity costs.

$28,000 a year in fuel savings, conservatively. Closer to $50,000 at current diesel prices. Break even is 5 years on the outside, 3 on the inside - not counting the 2.5 quarts of oil my X15 burns every month (POS only has 120K), DEF, or maintenance costs which for cars are about 15% less.

Running the full numbers makes the sticker not so shocking.

Think about how many drayage operations that run less than 500 miles a day and end in the same location. They're who are going to start buying EV CMVs. Within 2 equipment cycles the extra costs of the charging infrastructure will be paid for. As those companies are soaking up the available EV trucks, public facing charging infrastructure will steadily develop. The infrastructure will be significantly smaller than Idleair required - a single gantry at the back of the parking spot with outlets that the trucker plugs their own cord into. The largest barrier to building out the infrastructure is state regulations that restrict the selling of electricity.

 

20 year old Tesla cars have shown to have 80% battery left. So concerns about batteries being stuffed for the second hand market I think will fade in time. Not sure on the Tesla, but the Deepway battery is warranted for 8 years / 1.5 million km. I do have concerns though if the battery is built into the truck as it is in some cars, and it drops a cell, then that's a significant cost to replace it. For my money all batteries should be easily removable for any issues regardless.

 

I just read Pilot truck stop was going to work with Tesla and install some chargers for trucks.

It’s not a truck but BYD is just started to make cars that can be recharged in about 12 minutes to 100% for

Diesel trucks are getting more expensive and that will make Tesla seem like more of an option. Tesla needs to make a sleeper cab version. My 2026 Volvo has been towed to dealer two time and truck only has 25,000 miles. Nice truck but you wonder every day what the next problem is going to be.

 

But is that really such a huge deal though? Swapping out an engine with a complete drop in reman is already a huge chunk of labour as it stands now.

 

True, and manufacturers have been increasingly making it harder for themselves to swap or access ICE motors for some time now. Its when a battery becomes part of the chassis like in a Tesla 3 I think, or one of them. Or when that whole battery pack is sealed with rubber membrane or similar. From what I understand it becomes almost an unfixable problem if we are talking financial sense. Would think batteries that are modular, accessible, and serviceable would make a lot more sense for truck.

Battery swapping however would mean collaboration between brands, not sure that's going to go so well. Especially if brand X has to rollout charge stations or exchange stations on their own. I guess we once has Beta v VHS video recorders, the most marketed as best tends to win regardless of reality.

 

Think its more what the the grid can offer these days rather than can the battery accept the charge. To charge a truck 500 mile in 30 minutes takes a good whack of energy. You put a dozen trucks all charging while having dinner and I doubt many grids can cope. The the further you get out of town the issue compounds. Its why swapping makes sense as that can happen 24hrs a day at reduced draw.

Sorry to hear about your new Volvo. You buy new to avoid issues and enjoy the latest developments, and expect a lot more from a Volvo. I know the mechanics at the dealership where I get my DAF services are not so sold on the new Paccar products, even the Kenworths. Maybe its change, maybe its all to complex. Its sure all to expansive.