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Well, after their recent shocking announcement that such a thing existed, Elon Musk and Tesla announced and demonstrated their new electric “heavy rig” truck.
What does this mean for things like haulage and moving companies?
original declaration
A few months back, Musk shared one of his famous “oh near… “type announcement. It delivered the news with all the razzmatazz and drama one might expect from someone saying it”.oh i think it’s going to rain tomorrow“, that he will soon show a fully electric and high-tech haulage rig.
Virtually all industry pundits were shocked and excited. Some were highly skeptical that this was possible in the short few months between Musk’s announcement and his target date to present the truck to the world.
As usual, Tesla proved the latter wrong – including in pure theatrics when, at the same time as unveiling the truck, a new Tesla electric supercar appeared from inside it – again to the shock of nearly everyone.
However, let’s not talk about the car further here!
At the time of writing (Nov 2017) the truck has exceeded expectations in many respects.
Presence
Outwardly, the tractor and trailer don’t look that different. Certainly, some are streamlined and it not only improves the aerodynamics but it also looks a lot prettier than the other.
It’s really in the cab that the big visual differences are seen. Of course, as you might expect, it’s packed with technology including cameras, computers and display screens – including radar. It comes with armored glass that obviously won’t shatter or crack.
The most obvious difference, however, is that the driver’s seat is in the middle of the cab, not on one side. It is also unique in the sense that both the driver and passenger can stand upright in the cab.
All things told, if you include the interior cab appearance, this truck looks seriously different.
Display
The figures cited by Tesla have yet to be independently verified, but they include some startling claims:
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500 miles (805k) between recharges.
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fast recharging technology
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0-60mph (96kph) in 5 seconds (without trailer). This goes down to 20 seconds when pulling a minus of 80,000Lbs (about 36,000k).
Of course, all of this comes with zero or zero emissions.
It looks like a tempting offer.
practicality
Like all things Tesla, their innovation is second to none but sometimes application and practicality can be challenges.
For example, Tesla admits that, to put it plainly, it is messing with some of its car production. They’ve cracked more than just technology and marketing (people want their cars), but what they’re struggling with is slimy and maybe a little boring to them – ie mass production.
Hence, production delays and missing targets have become something they are almost as famous for as their revolutionary approach.
As some are hinting, the truck is due to go into production in late 2019, but there’s little hands-on so far on numbers or prices. So, there’s a huge unknown out there.
Others are pointing out that, perhaps a bit like the original Nikola Tesla, they are running the risk of narrowing their focus to too many fundamentally different lines of R&D. The risk is that their overall business impact is reduced, because they’re basically trying to do too much at one time.
Right now, Musk is pushing vast innovations in domestic power generation, electric cars, electric road haulage, aviation, trans-continental high-speed tube transport plans, orbital and even deep space travel. There is clearly synergy between some of these efforts but some are questioning whether it is too much for any one company or individual to stay on top.
conclusion
The world is already a better place thanks to Tesla and Elon Musk. This new truck appears to be part of that, but it will need to make a real impact on the road and in numbers if the company and its concepts are to gain credibility in this domain.
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