Tesla semi truck is finally here! Pepsi taking delivery of first trucks. Event & drive videos.

I've driven a Prius over 100,000 miles, during which I gained an inkling of how regenerative braking works. In my understanding, and drawing from eighth grade science, it is essentially the conversion of kinetic energy into stored energy.

If a Tesla could convert all the kinetic energy of an 80,000 pound truck rolling down Donner into stored energy (in the short amount of time that the kinetic energy is being generated) then that would imply that those batteries could take a charge really fast.

Not sure, but I seem to remember talk about the drawback of an electric semi is that the batteries cannot take a charge really fast.

And what about the amount of heat the electric motors will be exposed to? As anybody who has run hard down a mountain and watched their jake heat up their water temp in the diesel engine can attest, a great deal of kinetic energy generated by resistance of whatever is holding back the wheels, be it a diesel engine or electric motor, is being converted into heat.

Not counting the heat generated by the friction of the service brakes.

Which is why you'll smell a Tesla before you'll catch it, which surely you will.

 

A motor literally burning oil will put out more heat. Where do you think that heat goes? Same with electric motors. And a Prius has a hybrid system and so is geared to power in combination most of the time and doesn't have a hugely powerful electric motor. A large truck capable of driving the motors with enough electrical discharge will certainly have no issue doing so in reverse.

 

Everyone will just pay a mileage tax like Oregon has now instead of a fuel tax.

 

Well I don’t know…
On the one hand - they really made it.
On the other - tons of questions. Where to charge it? (Sometimes you have to drive 100-150 mi to get diesel fuel, but diesel trucks everywhere for decades now.) Let’s say they put chargers. But looks like it has to be a truck stop for EV only? Or what? They will put a charger on every spot in existing stops???
How long those batteries will last?
What will happen in let’s say 100 k miles? Will battery still be ok to run 500 mi? They say truck will last 1 mil miles, but it’s not a small car. High loads is normal for it….
And what is after 1 mil? Rebuild? Recycling?
I think another manufacturers can just say: all new diesel trucks now have 500k mi/5years bumper to bumper warranty and free maintenance. And it can be a game over for Tesla. I would buy a diesel one in that case

 

But not right now. Been saying this for quite some time. I'm sure it will happen eventually.

 

It has to fit the application. These are perfect for local fleets, not OTR.

 

I guess there’s this…..

 

if you look at the graph of the 500 mile trip you can see the battery level along the trip as well as energy usage. When the truck went up to the Grapevine, energy use spiked, and battery level dropped 20% or so. As it came down the other side, energy use was nearly zero, and at the bottom of the hill the battery level was within a few % of where it was on the other side.

Tesla has been running their proto types between their factories in Sparks and Fremont, CA for a couple of years. Running up and down Donner is in large part why they spec’d the driveline the way they did.

 

Yes, but Tesla says nothing about local only applications
They say it’s the future of industry

 

I think they would be ok if the frame rails were longer so you can mount a big diesel generator and tank. Best to get an army surplus gen that is loud and belches smoke.

 

It may be the future.
If Tesla didn't say to use it as a boat, would you?
Common sense required.