The Staggering Economics of the Tesla Semi

I drive am automatic Freightliner class 8 tractor. I have slowed my speed to 62 and get 7.5 MPG carrying 76-78,000 gross weights. I stay away from NE and Western states due to mountains, tolls, cost of diesel fuel - all the things in this greatly affect performance of tractors.... Put a Tesla in the mountains with 78,000 lbs gross as my load of Pepsi is right now and watch if it can pull for 200 miles - I assure you it cannot due to battery drain... New business idea is put a gas fueled charger on a truck to he recharge these tractors and haha electric cars and trucks to make a financial killing.

It's not about the fleets it's about the routes. Fleets do need to be long range capable but I think, like regular cars, the majority of miles driven are short trips well within range of a single charge per day. So fleet operators with a standard mix of short and long range hauls will probably end up with a majority electric trucks and keep some internal combustion ones for the longer hauls. But even those will lose out. Crew rests are important and it's so hard to keep good drivers, if your fuel costs are a tenth of what they were before you can afford to pay your driver's more, give them more time to make the drive and charge and still save money. Argue all you want but trains are way slow and they still make sense.

90% of trucks do less than 500mi per day. Sure it may not be ideal for long haul, but for most routes, 500 miles is about perfect.

One thing they do not mention in the article is how much better these will be for off-highway driving. The extra torque, no shifting, possibly even one pedal driving, should all make this ideal for hub to spoke delivery routes where range is a minimal concern and the real benefits of electric motors can shine.

1/2 of all semis sold are day cabs doing essential than 500 miles

Relatively short distance.... my guy, 500 miles is no short distance. The average driver won't hit 500 miles in their entire shift. Maybe trucking in the mid-west across the plains sure, but not for 80% of America. 90% of my driving days were around the 500-mile marker(thanks to regs). These are fantastic for local-regional companies with the flexibility to go far if needed.

i dont know why everyone keeps making reference to where the energy comes from....u have to keep in mind also thats less engine oil, transmission oil, AND less fuel for both the trucks that have to haul the fuel and passenger cars that has to be processed by said factories for a vehicle which in turn could be used for energy production , ALSO instead of emissions from both the plant and the millions of ice cars,its only the plant...which IMO is still the right path

I'm sorry, but this is one of the most bafflingly non-sensical anti-EV talking points out there so I'm calling you out for it.

First, the grid's energy sources can change. They actually are, and quickly. Coal and petroleum use in the power grid have plummeted in the last 15 years.

Second and MUCH more importantly: if we roll out cars and charging infrastructure first, and we fix the power grid second, then the problem is solved. If we fix the grid and then adopt EVs and roll out infrastructure then we are *still 15+ years away from solving the problem,* because that's how long the gasoline cars we sell today will last on the road.

If we stop selling gas cars today, the free market will handle the charge infrastructure and we can pressure government to do something about the grid. We can start a 15 year clock until the day that gas cars are a hobby for vintage performance enthusiasts, and nothing more. If we wait until conditions are perfect for mass adoption, we we'll be waiting for longer than we have to solve this.

This thing isn't a *source* of electricity at all. That comment by the article's author is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
If you look past that to perhaps what the author *meant*, I agree that the original source of the energy is likely coal or some other other fossil fuel and this makes these semis - like most electric vehicles - not entirely clean. That said I think it's easier to scrub the emissions of one coal plant than it is to scrub the emissions of 1,000,000 ICE vehicles, so likely electric vehicles are still an environmental improvement.

That's all been factored in already
Basically a car gets 30 miles a gallon and a model 3 gets120 miles equivalent
The grid providing electricity is much more efficient than burning the same gas in your engine. I see what you're saying but it still doesn't change the equation and eventually the grid will become 100% renewable and is shifting every year away from coal

It's still 3-4 time more efficient to run from electric than fossil fuel because electric conversion from the power plant to an EV is still 60% and diesel burning trucks are only 15%.
And when the grid is completely solar or wind powered the harm will disappear.
Can't make fossil fuels from thin air like solar and wind can.

You should include the environmental impact of producing the batteries and disposing them at the end of their life. They are made of poisonous lead and battery acid. When you replace a battery pack you're going to pay a hefty disposal charge.

Oil fired power plants are pretty much a thing of the past. Most is now natural gas.

It's not a long-haul truck and has no plans to be. For short haul, however, it's so clearly superior to fossil fuels. Short haulers spend as much time in loading bays as they do on the road, and always return to a home base distribution hub. Retrofit those hubs with charging infrastructure, and you never have to stop your trucks for fuel--you can just plug them in as they load.

I don't expect to see long haul electric capabilities until high-capacity structural battery technology matures or until someone designs a truck with hot-swappable batteries and rolls out a nationwide feet services battery swap network.

19 tons? I regularly haul 26+ tons! At 19 tons I'm basically half loaded. My boss would be out of business in a month if that's all I could move much less the 4 ton capacity of the Tesla. Jeez a dually can legally scale 8x that much.

19 tons? I regularly haul 26+ tons! At 19 tons I'm basically half loaded. My boss would be out of business in a month if that's all I could move much less the 4 ton capacity of the Tesla. Jeez a dually can legally scale 8x that much.

Excellent point. I drive 20-25tons from the high desert to los Angeles and back daily. I'd hate to run out of electricity on the cajon pass!

Keep driving your ICE vehicles.
Be the first to switch or the last to switch.
Which one hurts less ?

That's it keep the diesels rolling, gotta feed the nostalgia of the good ole days.
Electric Trucks, they'll expect us to wear flowers in our hats soon :))

In response to your comment no long haul company will buy the Tesla. I know for a fact, both JB Hunt, and Walmart have orders in for them. I have been in them, back when they showed them at JB Hunt Corporate where I worked in the office at the time.