The Most Unbiased Tesla Semi Breakdown From an Engineer

Your fuel weight comparison contains an error. The primary purpose of a semi is the payload and dollar return so weight is an essential factor. You have quoted a semi with a 250-gallon tank with a range of 1000 miles a conservative calculation. We can therefore reduce the fuel and increase the payload. Next, we only carry that fuel at the start of the journey as the mileage increases the fuel load decreases saving wear and energy. Yes, EV has a place in the distribution of goods but Tesla is failing in my opinion. Other brands are quietly getting on with the job without fanfare. Amazon delivers all packages in Germany with a fleet of electric Mercedes and DHL all local services with a fleet of Ford-based self-made trucks. Long distance is a completely different ball game with a limited number of companies willing to pay a premium for using EVs for green exposure and most others squeeze the industry for every cent.

It seems like your weight comparison did not account for the electric drive train components weighing less than a diesel engine and transmission.

I see absolutely no reason why an EV semi is allowed to weight more the it's diesel counterpart. Weight is typically determined by the roads and vehicle construction ie tires and suspension.

You cannot subtract the difference of electric motors and diesel drive train to show that ev's are similar in weight. It's simple, take full weight of e-semi and compare it to a similar model diesel and that's the difference. Anything else is a sales pitch and means nothing. So you're at 8-10k lbs difference. If you load both vehicles to the 80-90% max. capacity they say is "typically" hauled and you are still at 8-10k lbs less on the e-semi. Simple math. Yes I'm ignoring the 2k lb bonus given to e-semi because it's not any safer and they shouldn't be given an "bonus". Take the 1k range of a diesel before refueling compared to 500 on the e-semi and its not going to get the load there any faster and would actually require more trips taking more time which will increase cost of product not counting for the cost to by an e-semi. In the city with smaller loads, yeah an e-semi may be beneficial but not on a long haul with heavy loads.

Updated the article and now have a Grammarly proofreader that will help with mistakes. Thanks for the feedback and I will work to do better.

Everything Musk pushes is " better ,faster,cheaper and far more efficient than anything ". The reality is far different. What is the cost of a 5 ton battery after so many "mega charger " cycles ? I would be very skeptical about the claimed charge rates .

This is certainly not an unbiased breakdown. I am not against electric vehicles, but I would like to see truth when pushing the electric technology. For example, compare the actual weight of a class 8 tractor with the electric version. The ACTUAL weight not this add this and subtract that estimation. Secondly, If I want to compare apples to apples I should use a fuel tank size comparable to that of the electric vehicle range. If the electric vehicle is capable of 500 miles on a charge, then I don't need 300 gallons of diesel fuel to go 500 miles. At roughly 6 mpg I would only need about 85 gallons of fuel, which weighs about 600 pounds, not 2100. Do I need to go further? Please give an unbiased comparison and not the sales and marketing version.

I don’t know what kind of engineer you are, but none if your assumptions make any sense.

If that truck could even remotely carry what diesels can pull, it wouldn’t be hidden from the public.

This truck can barely pull chips to fat kids.

Just once I would like to see someone do a real nuts and bolts comparison between the Tesla semi and a diesel semi. Do a calculation of the total cost of goods per pound delivered. Include all costs, (initial cost of the vehicle, maintenance, fuel/ charging costs, insurance) you know the total cost of everything. Remember trucking companies want to deliver the most cargo per the least total cost. Do a 100,000 mile or a number of deliveries per year over the exact same route, like for instance Houston, TX to Seattle, WA.

Thanks

HOW IS THIS "The Most Unbiased Tesla Semi Breakdown from an Engineer" when the so-called unbiased engineer this is guy "Jeremy Johnson is a Tesla investor and supporter. He first invested in Tesla in 2017 after years of following Elon Musk and admiring his work ethic and intelligence. Since then, he's become a Tesla bull, covering anything about Tesla he can find, while also dabbling in other electric vehicle companies. Jeremy covers Tesla developments at Torque News. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow his Tesla news coverage on Torque News"
there is NO WAY IN HELL your opinion is unbiased the facts don't add up your figures are skewed in favor of the tesla truck what a CLOWN SHOW can we get some ACTUAL FACTS up in this b....