Tesla Electric Truck News

[kscarbel2]

Tesla to introduce electric heavy trucks in 2017

Bloomberg  /  July 20, 2016

Elon Musk unveiled his latest “master plan” for Tesla Motors, delivering a long-term vision that includes an integrated solar and battery product, the addition of a pickup, heavy truck and bus to its electric vehicle lineup.

“In addition to consumer vehicles, there are two other types of electric vehicle needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport,” said Musk on Wednesday. “Both are in the early stages of development at Tesla and should be ready for unveiling next year. We believe the Tesla Semi will deliver a substantial reduction in the cost of cargo transport, while increasing safety and making it really fun to operate.”

The semi-truck business is being led by Jerome Guillen, a former Daimler AG executive who recently returned to Tesla after a leave of absence.

 

[kscarbel2]

Ian Wright, chief executive officer and founder at Wrightspeed and co-founder at Tesla, talks about Tesla's plans to produce an electric freight truck and discusses demand for his company’s electric garbage trucks. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-07-21/tesla-s-tech-shortfalls-on-path-to-truck-production

 

[kscarbel2]

Tesla Gets Set to Run with the Big Rigs with Electric Truck

Heavy Duty Trucking  /  April 13, 2017

Tesla CEO Elon Musk Thursday sent shockwaves through the North American trucking and business communities with a single, mid-day tweet:

“Tesla Semi truck unveil set for September. Team has done an amazing job. Seriously next level,” the Musk tweeted, setting off a firestorm of speculation as to what, exactly, the Palo Alto, California, automaker has up its sleeve.

[mrsmackpaul]

no more information then ????

Paul

[james j neiweem]

Tesla definitely has the deep pockets to buy Mack!

[kscarbel2]

1 hour ago, mrsmackpaul said:

no more information then ????

Paul

It's the Tesla way Paul. They're tight with information on new product.

[TeamsterGrrrl]

More Tesla "Vaporware"...

[kscarbel2]

New details of Tesla's planned electric truck revealed

Neil Abt, Fleet Owner  /  August 28, 2017

Tesla’s soon-to-be-unveiled electric long-haul truck will have a range of 200 to 300 miles, according to a new report.

On several occasions in recent months, CEO Elon Musk has referenced the planned late-September unveiling of an electric tractor, though few specifics have been made available.

Last week, Scott Perry of Ryder System shared details with Reuters of a meeting he had with Tesla. He told Reuters the electric day cab will be aimed at regional hauls, at least in the initial phases. Perry is Ryder’s chief technology officer.

During a shareholders' meeting earlier this year, Musk told attendees “a lot of people don’t think you can do a heavy-duty, long-range truck that’s electric, but we are confident that this can be done.”

Several days before the Reuters story was published, I casually brought up the topic of Tesla with an executive at a truck manufacturer.

I was unaware he was the owner of a Tesla car, and he was quick to praise his experience with the vehicle during the past two years.

While skeptical that a true long-haul electric Class 8 tractor was ready for the road next month, he sternly said people would be wise not to underestimate Tesla.

He also suggested he was keeping his eyes open for an invite to truck unveiling. It is not uncommon for Tesla owners to have the opportunity to attend events.

He’s far from the only one in the trucking industry interested in what Tesla is cooking up.

[kscarbel2]

More Details Emerge on Tesla Electric Big Rig

Heavy Duty Trucking  /  August 25, 2017

New details concerning the introduction of Tesla’s all-electric truck, slated for public unveiling are emerging. The new truck will have a working range of 200 to 300 miles, Reuters has learned, a sign that the electric car maker is targeting regional hauling for its entry into the commercial freight market. Tesla has indicated that it will unveil the truck to the public next month, but is being tight-lipped as to when, or where, that public debut will take place.

Scott Perry, chief technology and procurement officer at Ryder System, told Reuters he has met with Tesla and that the new truck will be a day cab model. “I’m not going to count them out for having a strategy for longer distances or ranges, but right out of the gate I think that’s where they’ll start,” Perry said.

The article noted that Tesla’s plan is “consistent with what battery researchers say is possible with current technology,” and said that the company has not said publicly how far its electric truck could travel, what it would cost or how much cargo it could carry.

An article earlier this summer in Wired reported that a pair of Carnegie Mellon University researchers found a battery-powered semi would be limited to a 300-mile range, and that to cover 600 miles without stopping to charge, the truck would need a 14-ton battery. 

Reuters also reported earlier this month that Tesla is developing self-driving capability for the big rig.

Sandeep Kar, formerly with industry analysts Frost & Sullivan and now chief technology officer of Fleet Complete, a company that tracks and analyzes fleet and truck movements, told Reuters Tesla CEO that Elon Musk may well have found a sweet spot for the new electric if he can deliver, noting that roughly 30% of U.S. trucking jobs are regional trips of 100 to 200 miles daily. A truck with that range would be able to move freight regionally, such as from ports to nearby cities or from warehouses to retail establishments. “As long as (Musk) can break 200 miles, he can claim his truck is ’long haul’ and he will be technically right,” Kar told Reuters.

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[kscarbel2]

Possible Photo of Tesla’s Electric Truck Leaks on Reddit

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT)  /  October 3, 2017

A post on the Tesla "subreddit" of Reddit.com shows a concept vehicle that appears to be Tesla’s unannounced electric road tractor.

In the photo, an unidentified silver tractor or at least a cab is visible sitting on a flatbed trailer in a dirt lot. In an article on The Verge, Tesla neither confirmed nor denied whether it was its electric big rig, only saying that its policy was to “always decline to comment on speculation.”

There is no badging on the truck to indicate that it is from Tesla, but commenters on the post pointed out some similarities in the design when compared to the teaser image that Tesla released in April.

Interestingly, the original post in the Tesla subreddit has since been deleted and the Reddit user who posted the original photo has deleted their profile. The photo was later reposted by a second user who managed to save the photo before it was deleted.  

We may not have to wait long to find out if this is indeed Tesla's electric truck. The company plans to unveil the Tesla Semi on Oct. 26, at an event in Hawthorne, Calif.

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[james j neiweem]

Yikes yuck yall!

[kscarbel2]

Tesla's entry into truck-making presents a whole new challenge for Elon Musk

Los Angeles Times  /  November 14, 2017

There’s a cool new electric semi truck coming around the bend.

It looks Space Age sleek: no gears, so no constant shifting. Recharging the battery is a lot cheaper than diesel fuel.

Finn Murphy, an independent truck owner-operator, can’t wait to try it out. “The cab is larger, the living area is larger,” he said. “It’s very exciting.”

The truck Murphy was describing? It’s the Nikola One, a fuel-cell electric truck from Nikola Motor in Salt Lake City that’s expected to hit highways in 2021.

Not the much-hyped Tesla semi that Chief Executive Elon Musk is set to unveil at an elaborate stage outside Los Angeles on Thursday night.

The event “will blow your mind clear out of your skull into an alternate dimension,” Musk tweeted recently. He discussed the truck, and displayed a shadowy photo, at a TED talk last April.

Musk could reveal some amazing technology breakthrough on Thursday, a partnership with a big truck maker or some other surprise. But while Tesla had the luxury electric car market to itself when it upended the auto industry with the Model S sedan in 2012, the company can’t yet claim to be a pioneer in electric semi trucks. It will enter the semi truck business with an array of competitors already hard at work.

Heavy-duty fuel-cell trucks built by Toyota are moving freight at the Port of Los Angeles. Cummins, the diesel engine maker, debuted a prototype electric-drive semi in August.

BYD, the China-based company with a big factory in Lancaster, is about to deliver its first drayage semi tractor, with six more by the end of the year, to pull containers around ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego.

Daimler, the German motor vehicle giant best known for its Mercedes-Benz brand, already is making electric urban delivery trucks and plans to put the Vision One big rig on the market by 2022.

“Basically every [truck] manufacturer is developing battery, fuel-cell electric or hybrids,” said Andrew Swanton, vice president for truck sales at BYD Motors North America. “Peterbilt, Kenworth, Volvo.”

A slew of electric semi start-ups includes Wrightspeed, run by Tesla co-founder Ian Wright, which retrofiits standard truck frames with its own extended-range hybrid electric drive system; Proterra, an electric bus builder in City of Industry that plans to expand into trucks; and Chanje, a Los Angeles company that will assemble trucks from kits sent from China.

The Tesla truck will be introduced with Autopilot-like self-drive capabilities. But competitors ranging from Google’s Waymo to Uber-owned Otto and a slew of other start-ups will be selling driverless systems to manufacturers who aren’t developing their own.

“We are actively working with all those software developers,” Swanton said.

The reason for all this activity is clear: Governments from Europe to California to China are mandating and subsidizing electric vehicles to fight pollution and global warming. In fact, the trucks being tested at the ports are supported in part with California taxpayer money.

At the same time, truck owners and shipping companies are looking to cut fuel and maintenance costs. And self-drive trucks could remove a huge labor expense by cutting human truck drivers out of the equation. The leaders in those technologies could dominate the market.

Still, the electric truck business is in its infancy. Long-range heavy-duty semi trucks won’t overtake traditional trucks anytime soon, not in an industry where the main alternative to diesel fuel is gasoline, industry analysts say.

Electric penetration of the big-rig market “isn’t going to be very significant until after 2025 or 2030,” said Antti Lindstrom, truck industry specialist at IHS Markit. “And even then, it will be very limited compared to the total number of trucks being sold.”

Limited range and excess pounds for batteries will weigh on electrics for years. Every extra pound means less freight can be carried on a fully loaded vehicle; the upper limit in the U.S. for truck, trailer and freight is 80,000 pounds.

Range is crucial because with today’s technologies it could take hours to charge up a heavy-duty truck battery. Musk has talked about setting up battery-swapping stations, an expensive proposition whose market acceptance can’t be determined until it is tried.

The BYD port truck has a range of 100 miles — fine for moving containers from dockside to railhead but not for much else. Even then, it weighs 3,000 pounds more than an equivalent diesel tractor.

Everyone watching Tesla has heard rumors that the truck will have a stated range of 200 to 300 miles. It will take a real mind-blowing breakthrough to achieve that range at reasonable weight and manufacturing cost.

The upshot: The Tesla truck won’t be bringing in cash for quite a while, and the company has urgent matters to address.

Right now, Tesla is having trouble handling what’s already on its plate. The compact Model 3 sedan, whose closest gas-engine competitor is the BMW 3-series, is off to a bad start. The company sold 30 of them to its own employees in July, and since then only a few hundred have been produced. Both the company’s Fremont auto assembly operation and its giant Gigafactory battery plant are in what Musk has called “production hell.”

That’s why some competitors profess to be unworried about the Tesla truck.

“Everybody can do a one-off,” said Julie Furber, executive director of electrification for Cummins. “As the Model 3 shows, putting a model into production is a different kettle of fish.”

Whether the Model 3 proves a hit or a flop, Musk already has enshrined himself in automotive industry history by proving he could build and sell high-performance, cool-looking electric cars, when plenty of naysayers said he couldn’t.

He woke up a dozing auto industry, pushing the boundaries on self-driving cars and lapping all automakers with successful deployment of over-the-air software updates to add new features and make software-repairable fixes. On all counts, the auto industry is struggling to catch up.

The truck makers watched what happened and vowed not to get caught off guard. They’ve begun spending billions on electric powertrains and autonomous driving technology, which together would reduce fuel costs and wipe out labor costs, for potentially huge boosts to their bottom lines.

Daimler sells more heavy trucks around the globe than anyone: 415,108 in 2016 for $39 billion. Daimler trucks operate under the Daimler and Mercedes-Benz badges, and in the U.S. Daimler owns Freightliner, Western Star and Thomas Built Buses.

“Daimler trucks is massive,” said Marc Llistosella, the high-energy chief executive of Daimler Trucks Asia, based in Tokyo. “We know this business,” he said. “Why should we hand it over to Tesla, which has no experience in trucks?”

History, of course, is littered with examples of dead or diminished industry leaders that proved so beholden to existing business models or products that they couldn’t respond to young upstarts and shifting technology.

Daimler is trying hard not to be among the victims. Llistosella was dispatched to India to build a truck business there nearly from scratch, and succeeded. Now he’s the motivating force behind Daimler’s move into electric trucks with its Mitsubishi Fuso unit.

Already, Mitsubishi Fuso is selling medium-duty electric trucks, under the name e-Canter. The first commercial customer is United Parcel Service.

“We are leaner and smaller” than other Daimler divisions, and so faster and, perhaps, more innovative, Llistosella said.

Tesla hasn’t said much about its truck. No one doubts it will be equipped with driverless technology — another fiercely competitive arena. Google is developing autonomous technology that could apply to trucks as well. Last year, ride-share service Uber bought Otto and its self-driving truck technology. (The deal led to a lawsuit by Google’s Waymo unit, which claims theft of trade secrets.)

It’s only a matter of time before driverless trucks hit the highways, and that’s got drivers plenty worried.

“The ultimate goal of these companies is to eliminate the driver,” said Murphy, whose book about the trucker life, “The Long Haul,” was published recently.

“That will save a lot of lives,” he said. “On the other hand, you’ll have two and a half million truck drivers applying for jobs at Wal-Mart.”

[kscarbel2]

First Look: Tesla's All-Electric Semi Truck

Jack Roberts, Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT)  /  November 16, 2017

LOS ANGELES – The highly anticipated Tesla electric semi has finally arrived. And, as hinted, teased and promised these many past months, it is a potential game-changer — and quite possibly a disruptive vehicle for trucking in many ways.

Tesla chose to launch the truck at its SpaceX facility in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne, with more than 1,000 journalists in attendance from around the globe. Security was incredibly tight as journalists were taken in small groups to a small hanger, where two Class 8, all-electric daycab models were on display with engineers on hand to explain various vehicle systems and features.

Highlights from the unveiling event:

• Tesla chief Elon Musk promised a 500-mile range. "You can go out to the middle of nowhere and come back."

• 400 miles charge in 30 minutes, leveraging a global network of "megachargers"

• Electric drivetrain guaranteed for 1 million miles, and brake pads may last as long as truck

• Musk said diesel trucks are 20% more expensive per mile than the Tesla semi in total cost of ownership.

• Enhanced Autopilot will be standard.

• Production to begin in 2019.

A Tesla Semi Walk-Around

While the initial vehicle walk-around focused on a very high-level view of the truck, there’s still a lot of information available.

For starters, the unveiled truck very closely resembles the now-familiar blacked-out teaser photos that Tesla released months ago. This includes a highly aggressive aerodynamic design dominated by a Corvette-like front end and a steeply sloped hood. Remember, there is no internal combustion engine at the front of this truck, which allowed Tesla engineers to completely rethink its configuration with an emphasis on safety and visibility. One particularly slick feature is the LED marker lights at the top of the cab, which are located behind the windshield and shine through a darkened strip at the top, keeping them completely protected from the elements.

The massive batteries that power the truck are located directly underneath the cab, while the electric motors they power are arranged between the frame rails behind the cab and running under and aft of the fifth wheel. Tesla says these are the same electric motors found in Tesla Model 3 cars. One electric motor powers each drive wheel-end. The motors are computer controlled and can deliver electrical power individually based on tractive requirements, a trait that Tesla says gives the truck “fantastic” traction in a variety of road conditions and excellent lateral stability and handling at highway speeds.

The cab of the Tesla truck features an array of innovations and design departures backing up Tesla’s claim that the truck is a clean-sheet, “ground-up” design. The extremely tall, 8-foot-high doors of the cab are located farther back than conventional truck designs and swing open toward the rear of the vehicle in a “suicide” style. This is to keep the door hinges flush inside the cab body and maintain the overall slippery aerodynamic profile of the truck. Entry is as easy as climbing up the porch steps into your house, with two sturdy grab-handles on either side to help out.

You enter the cab behind the center-positioned driver’s seat, which can be accessed easily from either side of the truck. The cab interior is incredibly spacious and allows a 6-foot-tall person to stand comfortably thanks to the high-roof ceiling, which is at least 71 inches in height. This is a day cab truck, so a jump seat is mounted to the back wall of the “passenger” side of the truck.

The driver’s station is a revelation in itself. The seat features a memory air-ride system and is extremely comfortable. There is no dash in front of the seat. There is no conventional transmission selector, either. In all, it is a strikingly Spartan, uncluttered design that is focused on expansive exterior views in front and to the sides of the truck.

In place of a conventional dashboard, the driver has two Tesla screens mounted on either side at the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions that display all vehicle information and allow the driver to control all the vehicle systems. Both screens feature side-and-downward camera views on their bottom sections, which allow the driver to see persons or obstacles on or near the steps leading up into the cab. Tesla says the truck can easily upload an ELD that drivers can access on the display screens as well, and the entire system was designed to be expandable as new technologies, such as blockchain, become available.

These screens, which are highly reminiscent of handheld tablet computers, are highly configurable. In the version displayed in Hawthorne, the left-side tablet displayed all pertinent vehicle operating information, such as battery range, speed, and air pressure. The right-side screen was dedicated to a Google maps GPS display and other vehicle systems such as lighting and climate control.

The cab gets wider the farther back the cab goes, but the nose of the truck, where the driver sits, features pop-open windows on either side with enough space to pass a clipboard through, as well as cup holders and comfortable armrests. The steering wheel setup is arresting, too. Instead of the usual wide-diameter wheels common in big rigs today, the pedestal-mounted Tesla wheel is positively tiny — more like something you’d find in a Formula 1 race car than a semi truck. The cab features ample storage places to the sides, above and behind the driver.

Tesla says the truck was designed with as few moving parts as possible to minimize maintenance costs and features a regenerative braking system that, in addition to recharging the truck’s batteries, reduce brake wear.

This is a developing story. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expected to offer more specifics on the new Tesla truck as the evening progresses and the story will be updated accordingly.

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[kscarbel2]

Tesla's electric Class 8 to offer 500-mile range

Neil Abt, Fleet Owner  /  November 17, 2017

CEO Musk says Semi will arrive in 2019

HAWTHORNE, CA. Tesla finally unveiled its long teased electric Class 8 truck on Nov. 16, which CEO Elon Musk said has a 500-mile range and will result in “economic suicide” for fleets that stick with traditional diesels.

“It blows my mind – I think it will blow yours,” Musk said as he emerged from one of the two prototype Semi day cabs.

As he addressed a raucous crowd that resembled a rock concert more than a truck unveiling, he spent 30 minutes outlining the reasons he believes this vehicle will revolutionize trucking when it hits the road in 2019.

The 500-mile range, Musk said, is a worst-case scenario, based on being full loaded and traveling at maximum highway speeds.

“You can get to your destination and back, even if your destination has no charging,” Musk said.

With use of megachargers, a new high-speed charging solution, truckers can add 400 miles in 30 minutes. The chargers can be installed at origin or destination points, and along heavily trafficked routes.

Musk did not take questions from the media or disclose a purchase price. However, he declared the Semi has “the lowest cost of ownership,” with an estimated cost of $1.26 a mile at a guaranteed 7 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with an average of $1.51 a mile for a conventional diesel.

A Tesla fact sheet said “owners can expect to gain $200,000 or more in savings over a million miles based on fuel costs alone.” Musk added the cost of ownership is nearly half of diesel trucks when the Semis are linked in a platoon.

Musk not only called it “economic suicide” to use a diesel truck, but said the economics of the Tesla Semi outperform freight railroads as well.

Throughout his presentation, he took numerous shots at the overall appearance and performance of today’s conventional trucks.

He said the Tesla Semi goes from 0 mph to 60 mph in 5 seconds without a trailer, compared with 15 seconds for a diesel. It climbs 5% grades at a steady 65 mph, while diesel trucks max out at 45 mph. That makes a “gigantic difference” for truckers who are paid by the mile, he told the audience made up largely of Tesla car owners.

The improved performance is achieved by the vehicle’s “bullet-shaped nose,” completely flat bottom, and reduced gap between the tractor and trailer.

The truck has four Tesla Model 3 electric motors – one for each rear wheel. With no shifting or clutching there is smoother acceleration and deceleration, and its regenerative braking recovers 98% of kinetic energy to the battery, giving it a basically infinite brake life, the company said.

The roomy interior is also quite different than trucks currently available, including a driver seat positioned in the center.

Musk said the centered seat and camera system provide complete visibility of the roads, while two large screens next to the steering wheel provide navigation and other data truckers need while on the road.

Every Semi will come standard with “enhanced autopilot,” including emergency braking, lane keeping assist, and collision avoidance.

Onboard sensors that detect instability and the vehicle’s lower center of gravity means “jackknifing is impossible,” Musk said.

Among the loudest reactions from the crowd came from Musk’ declaration the truck will “not breakdown for 1 million miles.”

Even if two of the four motors break down, the truck will keep running and will “still beat a diesel truck.”

If there are any problems, it will be detected by Tesla’s remote diagnostics service, similar to the many “uptime” features offered by existing truck and engine manufacturers.

One problem truckers should not expect is a cracked windshield, thanks to glass that is thermonuclear explosion proof, Musk claimed, noting that was his favorite feature.

And much as you might expect from a rock concert, just when it appeared to be was over, there was an encore: a new Tesla Roadster emerged from one of the trailers, drawing the loudest reaction of the evening.

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[kscarbel2]

 

[kscarbel2]

Tesla, Elon Musk Unveil Electric Semi-Truck

Transport Topics  /  November 16, 2017

HAWTHORNE, Calif. — Tesla Inc. has unveiled its long-anticipated, all-electric Class 8 tractor, marking the electric car maker’s entry into the commercial truck business and showcasing its ambitions to reinvent the industry.

Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk introduced the truck here at its Nov. 16 unveiling by driving it into a hangar filled with a waiting audience, then stepping out of the cab.

The battery-powered Tesla Semi, set to enter production in 2019, is a daycab with a range of 500 miles on a single charge at highway speeds while hauling 80,000 pounds.

“Since the vast majority of routes are under 250 miles, it means that you can go to your destination and back, even if your destination has no charger,” Musk said.

With this vehicle, Tesla has redesigned the heavy-duty truck from the ground up, starting with scrapping the internal combustion engine.

The truck is powered by a battery situated under the cab floor and is propelled by four electric motors, one at each wheel end on the drive axles. It utilizes regenerative braking and requires no shifting or clutching. The front hood lifts to reveal exterior storage space rather than an engine.

The truck’s chassis features a highly aerodynamic, sloped design to improve energy efficiency and prolong battery charge.

“We designed the Tesla truck to be like a bullet,” Musk said.

Tesla is not positioning this truck as a luxury item. Musk presented a business case for trucking companies built around the total cost of operating the vehicle.

Factoring the cost of the lease, insurance, maintenance and fuel, a diesel truck is 20% more expensive to operate per mile than a Tesla Semi, he said.

A key component of that calculation is maintenance savings enabled by the electric drivetrain, which Musk guaranteed will last one million miles.

Without an internal combustion engine, transmission or emission aftertreatment systems, the truck has fewer moving parts and will require significantly less maintenance than a traditional diesel, the company said.

The Tesla Semi also features a radically different setup for the driver.

The driver’s seat is located in the center of the cab rather than on the left side, a design choice aimed at improving visibility.

“You’re positioned like you’re in a race car,” Musk said. “You have complete visibility of the road and all the surroundings.”

Inside the cab, the driver is flanked by two large touchscreen displays, one on either side of the steering wheel. Those screens replace the traditional dash display and contain all instrumentation, including the speedometer and controls for heating and air conditioning. The screens also display turn-by-turn navigation and video from blind-spot cameras.

Tesla showcased two versions of the truck at the unveiling. They were the same mechanically, but one was optimized for aerodynamics with a high roof and fairings covering the drive wheels, while the other was outfitted for shorthaul operations.

Tesla has not indicated where it will manufacture the trucks.

By unveiling the Tesla Semi, Musk has added commercial trucking to his list of business ventures.

The inventor and business magnate also is pursuing space travel and solar power with SpaceX and SolarCity, as well as transportation via pods in sealed tubes with Hyperloop.

With its truck, Tesla will attempt to drive the commercial trucking industry toward electric power as it has already done in the passenger car market.

The Tesla Semi’s 500-mile range would make it well-suited for dedicated regional operations where the vehicle can recharge at a fleet’s terminal.

But Tesla plans to build a network of charging stations to enable the truck to travel anywhere, much like its expanding charging infrastructure for its passenger cars.

And Musk made the case that recharging the Tesla Semi will not be a time sink.

The vehicle could plug in at its destination while unloading freight, or drivers could simply recharge it when they stop to use the bathroom or get a bite to eat. Charging stops could align with drivers’ required 30-minute rest breaks under hours-of-service rules.

“What this means in practice is by the time you’re done with your break, the truck is ready to go,” Musk said. “You will not be waiting for your truck to charge.”

The Tesla Semi also will come equipped with a Level 2 automated driving system dubbed “Enhanced Autopilot,” which includes automatic emergency braking, automatic lane keeping and lane-departure warnings.

“Every truck we sell will have Enhanced Autopilot as standard,” Musk said.

The driver-assist technology is similar to the Autopilot system available in Tesla’s passenger cars. When engaged, that feature automatically maintains the vehicle’s lane while keeping a safe following distance, but requires the driver to remain attentive and keep his or her hands on the wheel.

With the Tesla Semi, that technology goes a step further.

If the driver has a medical emergency and becomes disabled, the truck will stay in its lane and gradually come to a halt, and even call emergency services, Musk said. “This is a massive increase in safety.”

Tesla also has designed the truck to automatically prevent jack-knife accidents, which Musk described as a trucker’s “worst nightmare.”

With its independent motors on each wheel, the truck will dynamically adjust the torque on each wheel so that jackknifing is “impossible,” he said.

Musk began the presentation by touting his electric semi’s performance compared with that of a diesel truck.

The Tesla Semi can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in five seconds. Even pulling 80,000 pounds, it can reach 60 mpg in 20 seconds, he said. The Tesla Semi also can do 65 mph going up a 5% grade, compared with 45 mph for a diesel truck, he added.

Tesla said the truck will integrate directly with a fleet’s management system to support routing, scheduling and vehicle tracking.

Musk also highlighted advantages for reliability and maintenance.

Because the truck has four independent motors, it can lose two of them and keep going, he said. “In fact, even if you only have two of the four motors active, it will still beat a diesel truck.”

At the same time, the electric motors can turn the brakes into generators. The kinetic energy of braking goes back into the battery pack instead of wearing down the brake pad, Musk said. “The brake pads basically last forever.”

The truck also comes with “armor glass” to prevent cracked windshields, a common repair issue.

“This detail matters a lot,” Musk said.

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[kscarbel2]

Tesla debuts electric semi with up to 500 mile range, production set for 2019

Jason Cannon, Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ)  /  November 17, 2017

With a style more fitting of Star Wars than Smokey and the Bandit, Tesla’s electric semi made its twice-delayed debut Thursday in Hawthorne, Calif., the home Tesla Motors’ design center and company founder Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket factory.

Promising a range of up to 500 miles at maximum weight and highway speed, the company says the Tesla Semi consumes less than two kilowatt-hours of energy per mile when fully loaded. Battery capacity wasn’t disclosed Thursday night. The company is currently accepting reservations for Tesla Semi for $5,000 per truck with production set for 2019.

Thursday’s reveal ended a nearly 15-month-long tease of the Class 8 prototype Musk initially confirmed was in development in July of last year.

Without a trailer in tow, Musk says Tesla Semi features a five second 0-60 time, versus about 15 seconds for a comparable diesel truck. At a full-load of 80,000 pounds, he says the electric truck can hit the 60 mph mark in 20 seconds – about a third of the time of a diesel truck – and adds the truck can climb a 5 percent grade at a steady 65 mph. Most diesel Class 8s, he says, would top out around 45 mph on the same grade.

“We wanted a vehicle that feels incredible,” Musk says, “that accelerates like nothing else.”

Musk didn’t offer torque or horsepower figures for the truck.

Driving environment

Tesla Semi’s cabin wraps around the center-mounted driver’s seat.

“You’re positioned like you’re in a race car,” Musk says. “You have complete visibility of the road. It’s a beautiful spacious interior.”

The entry-point is behind the center-seat and in the daycab configuration, the passenger seat is mounted to the rear wall on the right-side.

Two touchscreen displays, borrowed from Tesla’s Model 3 passenger car, are positioned on both sides of the driver and provide easy access to navigation, blind spot monitoring and electronic logs.

There is no instrument cluster facing the driver. Truck data, like speed and air pressure, is fed to the display to the driver’s left. The steering wheel is also racecar inspired and much smaller than most on the highway today.

Built-in connectivity integrates directly with a fleet’s management system to support routing and scheduling and remote monitoring. Each can be flashed over-the-air via updates as-needed.

The truck’s steps are unobstructed, allowing for easier entry and exit. The doors open in reverse, suicide-style, as the company removed the front pillar where the vent-style side windows are now located. Grab handles run from the floor to the top of the door pillar and from the floor to the middle of the door jam, giving it three easy contact points.

The inside is spacious and full standing-height.

The large windshield offers a massive panoramic view and coupled with its large side windows, visibility in Tesla’s Semi is unrivaled.

All lighting in the truck is LED, a conversion that was made from bumper-to-bumper. Front marker lights have been moved from the roof to a strip behind the windshield, a nod to improved aerodynamics and the removal of leak points.

The truck’s fully electric HVAC system doesn’t require idling and the interior features deep sill and door pockets, along with overhead storage compartments and pocket storage along the rear wall.

By eliminating the hum of the engine, Tesla has also eliminated the truck’s white noise filter – meaning every other noise stands out even more. To combat that, the company said it trained its focus on ensuring the cab was tightly fit and sealed against creeks and rattles.

The batteries are centered under the truck to lower its center of gravity and give the Semi a more predicable feel, and the air suspension with independent front suspension gives the truck, Musk says, a more comfortable ride.

Electric power supply

Tesla’s new high-speed Megacharger DC charging station pumps about 400 miles of range back into the truck in about 30 minutes. Chargers can be installed at origin or destination points — such as at fleet terminals — and along heavily trafficked routes, enabling recharging during loading, unloading and driver breaks.

“400 miles is like 6 to 7 hours of driving,” Musk says. “What this means is that when you are done with your break, you’ll be ready to go.”

Regenerative braking recovers 98 percent of kinetic energy to the battery, giving it a basically infinite brake life. Musk estimates under most cases, drivers will seldom use the footbrake, opting to let the regenerative brake stop the tractor.

Tesla says the Semi’s battery is similar in composition to the batteries used in its energy products, and designed to support repeated charging cycles for over a million miles. The truck’s motors – two on each rear axle – are derived from those deployed in the Model 3 and offer independent torque control.

Driver safety

Tesla says its Semi’s all-electric architecture is designed to a higher safety standard than any other heavy-duty truck on the market, with a reinforced battery that shields the Semi from impact and gives it a low center of gravity. Its windshield is made of impact resistant, explosion proof glass that Musk says resists cracking.

Onboard sensors help prevent jackknifing by detecting instability and reacting with positive or negative torque to each wheel while also independently activating the truck’s brakes.

“Jackknifing is impossible in this truck,” Musk says.

The surround cameras aid object detection and minimize blind spots, automatically alerting the driver to safety hazards and obstacles.

“I can drive this truck and I have no idea how to drive a [semi],” Musk says.

One of the screens in the cockpit features views from cameras mounted under the side mirrors, eliminating the corner blind-spot.

Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving platform, Enhanced Autopilot – and its suite of Automatic Emergency Braking, Automatic Lane Keeping, Lane Departure Warning and event recording – will be standard on the truck, which is also platooning-enabled.

Cost of ownership

Aerodynamics feature heavily on the Tesla Semi, which Musk says offers a better drag coefficient than a Bugatti Chiron. Rear cab fairings, Musk adds, further streamline aero by adjusting to the type of trailer in-tow to close the gap.

With no engine, transmission, after-treatment system or differential for upkeep, Tesla lauds the Semi’s reduced maintenance needs. However, Tesla says the most significant cost-advantage comes from savings in energy costs. Coupled with the low and historically less volatile nature of electricity prices – which average $0.12/kWh in the U.S. and can be significantly less for commercial and industrial users – Tesla says Semi owners can expect to reap upwards of $200,000 in savings over a million miles on fuel costs alone.

Further, Musk guarantees the truck will not breakdown for one million miles. In the event one of the motors does suffer a failure, he says there’s little threat to missing a delivery date.

“You can lose two of those four motors and the truck will still keep going,” Musk says.

The truck is connected to Tesla Mobile Service and its telematics suite offers remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance, location tracking and communication with fleet dispatch.

Musk estimates the Tesla Semi will provide a $1.25 cost-per-mile versus a $1.51 diesel cost-per-mile. In a platoon, Musk says the Tesla cost per mile drops to .85 cents per mile, making it cheaper than rail.

Entry into a crowded marketplace

With Tesla’s entry into the market, the Silicon Valley automaker becomes the latest entry into a growing field.

Daimler’s Fuso division in October debuted its E-Fuso Vision ONE concept, a Class 8 truck with a range of up to 220 miles. The first all-electric Class 8 to hit the stage, E-Fuso also featured the longest range before Tesla’s entry into the market.

Tesla and Fuso aside, a range of about 100 miles has been the standard-bearer in electric commercial transportation, albeit in lighter commercial truck classes.

Unveiled in August, Cummins’ Class 7 Aeos Electric Commercial Vehicle Demonstrator – designed and built in collaboration with Roush – features a 140 kWh battery pack and a 100 mile range.

Fuso’s eCanter offers a range of 60 to 80 miles using six lithium-ion battery packs, each with 420 volts and 13.8kWh. Up to two additional battery packs can be added to increase operating range to roughly 100 miles.

Chanje’s electric V8070 Class 5 panel van uses a 70 kWh battery for its 100 mile range.

Electric power is more prominent in the bus segment and earlier this month, Daimler’s Thomas Built Bus division unveiled an electric school bus that features 100-160kWh of battery energy and a 100 mile fully-electric range.

Developed with Volkswagen Truck & Bus, Navistar’s chargE is an electric CE Series concept school bus with a range of 120 miles on a single charge due for launch as early as 2019.

Navistar, with Volkswagen Truck & Bus, also plans to develop an electric-powered, medium-duty truck, which could launch as early as 2019.

.

[kscarbel2]

J.B. Hunt orders Tesla's electric truck, others wait and see

Reuters  /  November 17, 2017

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc was the first major U.S. trucking company to back Tesla Inc’s new “Semi” electric trucks on Friday, saying it had reserved multiple vehicles for use on the U.S. West Coast.

Neither company responded to calls seeking to clarify exactly how many of the vehicles Hunt was reserving after Tesla unveiled the Semi on Thursday without specifying prices.

Hunt’s statement followed a rejection of the new vehicles on Thursday by Old Dominion Freight Line Inc, the United States’ fourth-largest less-than-truckload carrier and other carriers were also more cautious.

“Carriers have been skeptical about the heavy-duty tractor applicability to their models, given questions regarding torque, total hauling capacity, and recharging infrastructure,” said Benjamin Hartford, a sector analyst with brokerage Baird.

“(J.B. Hunt) the first mover, particularly with regard to Tesla, but we expect other carriers to follow as electric tractor viability becomes proven.”

Tesla has been trying to convince the trucking community that it can build an affordable electric big rig with the range and cargo capacity to compete with relatively low-cost, time-tested diesel trucks.

In a showy launch on Thursday, Tesla chief Elon Musk said the truck could go up to 500 miles (800 km) at maximum weight at highway speed, allowing it to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back without recharging.

Diesel trucks are capable of traveling up to 1,000 miles (1,600 km) on a single tank of fuel.

Tesla showed off the semi on a webcast which offered reservations for the truck at $5,000 each, but Musk did not discuss reservation volume.

A spokesman for United Parcel Service Inc said the courier had nothing to announce regarding Tesla’s vehicles but would always look for options that fit its needs.

Brad Pinchuk, chief executive of Dubuque, Iowa-based Hirschbach Motor Lines, said his firm was looking to test non-diesel big-rig options but needed longer ranges than Tesla could provide and speedier fuel-up times.

Pinchuk said he plans to buy two hydrogen-powered trucks made by Salt Lake City-based electric Nikola Motor Company when they are available in 2020.

“It’s a different application – putting liquid hydrogen into tanks – so it will be very similar sort of situation to diesel,” Pinchuk said. “You’d be able to fuel up. It would take about the same amount of time to fuel up a diesel and go about the same distance.”

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J.B. Hunt Reserves Multiple Tesla Semi Electric Trucks

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT)  /  November 17, 2017

J.B. Hunt Transportation announced that it placed a reservation to purchase multiple Tesla Semi electric tractors that was unveiled on Nov. 16.

The Tesla Semi is slated for launch in 2019 but companies can reserve a truck now for $5,000. J.B. Hunt plans to deploy the electric trucks to its intermodal and dedicated contract services divisions to support operations on the West Coast.

“Reserving Tesla trucks marks an important step in our efforts to implement industry-changing technology,” said John Roberts, president and chief executive officer at J.B. Hunt. “We believe electric trucks will be most beneficial on local and dray routes, and we look forward to utilizing this new, sustainable technology.”

In April, J.B. Hunt announced a five-year, $500 million commitment to enhancing operating systems, developing cloud infrastructure, and creating innovative and disruptive technologies, as the company commits to meeting the needs of an evolving supply chain and introduces new technology for customers and employees.

In addition to its investment in electric trucks, J.B. Hunt is supporting sustainable initiatives such as reducing engine idle time, governing top speed limits, converting over-the-roads shipments to intermodal, optimizing routes for better efficiency, and using biodiesel fuels when possible.

[fjh]

Has possibilities I guess ! Like our Cell phones etc ! where are the solar panels ? I often wondered why cell phones don't incorporate them ?

Same in this instance any advantage would assist in extra miles ! This concept also calls f infrastructure EVERYONE will have to be on the same page! all loading docks every Wall mart   every home depot !  fine to say it 500 miles but if you can't get back ????

Also WHO pays for the infrastructure????? Telsa , Joe blows Trucking  The government? lots of questions unanswered here!

[BC Mack]

with the large surface area of a semi and van trailer... it can't be far off when a flexible skin of solar receptor material could be wrapped around everything... in CA there seems to be a lot of sunshine!!

or just strap a genset behind the cab?... and call it a hybrid..!!

trailer technology is moving along too, braking energy recovery and solar powered reefer... not much work left for us mechanics to do, time to train up.... or retire.. LOL

BC Mack

[macks in nigeria]

By the time they become usable in my clime because of the infrastructure ,I would have changed address up above or too old to step into a truck.A 650,000 barrel per day new refinery is coming on stream here in 18 months.What an irony.

[Dirtymilkman]

What are the brakes on it? I'm sure regenerating brakes but we need air for trailers and suspension. Just the power to run an air compressor seems like a huge drain. Then figure ac, heat and electronics. Seems like we need better batteries more than anything. I say wait for the solid state batteries. 

[kscarbel2]

Tesla aims to upend commercial trucking with electric Semi

David Undercoffler, Automotive News  /  November 17, 2017

HAWTHORNE, Calif. -- Tesla Inc., undeterred by its widest quarterly loss in history and Model 3 production delays, formally set its sights on the commercial truck market Thursday with the unveiling of an all-electric semi.

The EV maker says the Tesla Semi will provide "a far better experience" for long-haul truck operators, while enhancing road safety and significantly slicing cargo transportation costs.

A prototype of the Semi was driven and introduced by Tesla CEO Elon Musk before hundreds of journalists, Tesla faithful, potential truck buyers and investors at an airport hanger here.

"I can drive this thing and I have no idea how to drive a semi," Musk joked.

The Semi -- currently in the prototype stage -- has a range of 500 miles at full load and highway speeds, Musk told the crowd, and can reach 60 mph from zero in 5 seconds.

It shares a number of components with the Tesla Model 3 sedan to keep costs down.

Pricing wasn't released but Tesla said reservations for the Semi can be made for $5,000 per truck, with production slated to begin in 2019.

Ahead of the introduction, Tesla executives showed off the Class 8 truck to journalists, describing it as "trailer agnostic," or capable of hauling any type of freight. Class 8 is the heaviest weight classification on trucks.

The truck is powered by four independent electric motors that are identical to those in Tesla's Model 3 sedan -- two motors on each of the truck's two rear axles. Each motor controls a specific wheel; the truck can route power accordingly depending on traction and load though the function is automated by the truck and not configurable by the driver.

Tesla also says the system can work to prevent jackknifing by applying positive or negative torque to specific wheels and or inducing braking.

The battery packs sit between the front axle and the first rear axle. Unlike the motors, the packs aren't pulled from Tesla's consumer vehicles but instead are "industrial cells."

Tesla said it will guarantee the truck's drivetrain, which delivers power to the wheels, for 1 million miles.

Like any electric vehicle, a key component of the Semi is aerodynamics.

The cab is pushed forward relative to a standard semi today. The driver sits in the middle of the cab, allowing Tesla to keep the cab at that spot as narrow as possible for better aerodynamics; a jump seat sits just behind the driver to their right. A pair of Model 3-sources touchscreens flank the steering wheel and are fixed in position.

At the front of the Semi is a small storage compartment -- what Tesla and its owners lovingly refer to as the "Frunk" in light vehicles. The truck boasts a full array of Tesla's Autopilot semi-autonomous capability, all of which is derived from its other models.

Tesla said the Semi can also travel in a convoy, where one or several Semi trucks will be able to autonomously follow a lead Semi.

Tesla is not the only company looking into the electrification of commercial trucking. Daimler, Cummins and Bosch have all revealed electrified semi trucks that they're developing for deployment around or just after the end of the decade.

"Tesla will be up against some formidable challengers, Daimler being one which knows this market well and already has customer trust and loyalty," Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for Autotrader, said ahead of the semi's reveal.

The Semi reveal also comes at a precarious time for the EV maker and it has raised questions about why the company would choose to get into long-haul trucking when it already has so much on its plate.

Tesla posted a third-quarter loss of $671 million, its largest quarterly loss ever. The company also disclosed that plans to ramp up weekly output of the Model 3 by up to 5,000 units -- the car upon which much of the company's survival has been pegged -- will be delayed three months until the end of the first quarter in 2018.

The setbacks have raised the likelihood that Tesla will need to raise more cash in 2018 to get production of the Model 3 up to scale and promised levels.

Tesla is also grappling with a lawsuit filed by a former employee at the company's Fremont, Calif., factory. The class-action suit alleges a culture of racist behavior, a claim Tesla has vigorously denied.

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[kscarbel2]

Tesla Unveils All-Electric Class 8 Semi Truck

Jack Roberts, Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT)  /  November 17, 2017

Tesla has revealed more details concerning its new, all-electric Class 8 Semi.

In a scene reminiscent of a Rolling Stones concert in the 1960s, Tesla CEO Elon Musk emerged from a silver Tesla Semi at a SpaceX hanger in Hawthorne, California, packed with raucous fans.

For starters, Musk noted that the truck will feature a 500-mile range on a single battery charge, which he said would allow fleets to “go out to the middle of nowhere and return.” Equally important, he said that a planned network of global, high-speed, Direct Current charging stations would give the truck an additional 400 miles of range — and compared that to the 15 to 20 minutes it takes to fill up a diesel-powered Class 8 truck today, adding that drivers are required to take rest breaks anyway. “Once you’re done with your break,” he said, “your truck will be ready to go.”

Fleets that use solar-powered “mega-chargers” would see tremendous savings, he added, since their trucks would be “powered by sunlight,” while adding that the batteries receive additional electric energy through the truck’s regenerative braking system, which Musk said was so powerful drivers would rarely need to use the brake pedal.

Musk likely raised more than one eyebrow when he claimed that thanks to its optimized traction and instantaneous torque, the new Semi would be able to go from 0 to 60 mph in five seconds without a trailer, and 0 to 60 in 20 seconds when pulling a fully loaded trailer. Equally important, Musk said the unique characteristics of an electric powertrain’s torque delivery with no clutch actuation or gear shifts would allow the Tesla Semi to climb a 5% grade while maintaining a constant 65 mph.

Musk also touted the simplicity of the design and its operation, noting that there was not transmission or gears that had to be “shifted constantly,” adding, ‘Driving a diesel truck today is a pain. This truck has one gear and is so easy to drive anyone can do it. I can drive this thing, and I can’t drive a semi!”

Musk also outlined his economic case for his new truck, explaining that at an operating cost of $1.26 per mile, a Tesla Semi will be 20% cheaper to operate than a comparable diesel truck, which he said typically runs at $1.51 per mile.

Jackknifed trailers would be a thing of the past for fleets running the Tesla Semi, Musk added, since its four, independently controlled electric motors were able to apply positive or negative torque to the drive wheels, as well as independently applied brakes while backing to allow a trailer to track smoothly.

Turning to the Semi’s interior, Musk told the packed hanger that the truck has a “beautiful, spacious interior” that “you can stand up inside.”

The two touchscreen displays mounted on each side of the driver’s seat allow access to the truck’s navigation system, blind spot sensors and electronic logging device along with other controls and gauges.

Tesla telematics and self-diagnostic capability will be standard on the truck, Musk added, with a Tesla app giving fleets updates on vehicle health and even anticipating when maintenance is required.

Another standard feature, according to Musk, is Tesla’s enhanced Autopilot autonomous vehicle control system, which uses cameras mounted around the truck to support a full range of autonomous driver aides, including automatic emergency braking, automatic lane keeping assistance, lane departure warnings and an event log.

Additionally, Musk said, the truck is capable of automatically contacting emergency services if there is no driver response in the wake of an emergency braking event. “This is a massive increase in safety,” he added.

In another eyebrow-raising statement, Musk said that Tesla Autopilot will also enable truck platooning operations, which he called “convoys.” In this operating mode, Musk said a convoy of Tesla trucks would then be half as expensive to operate as diesel trucks, and “10 times safer than with a human driver.” Overall, Musk said, the efficiency of a Tesla truck convoy would “beat rail.”

Musk wound up his Semi pitch by noting the importance of reliability in fleet operations and pointing out that a Tesla Semi has no internal combustion engine, exhaust aftertreatment system, transmission, axles or differentials to maintain. In fact, a storage compartment is located in the nose of the truck, he said.

“Reliability is incredibly important,” Musk finished. “We’re guaranteeing this truck will not break down for a million miles.” If two motors happened to break down, the truck would still move, and even at that reduced capacity it would still reportedly beat the speed of a diesel-powered truck.

Musk wrapped up his presentation by saying that Tesla was taking orders for the new Semi truck now, with full production slated to begin in 2019.

With that, Musk then unveiled a new, Tesla supercar roadster, with a world-record 0 to 60 time of 1.9 seconds that he said “would kill gasoline-powered sports cars.”

Once that presentation was complete, Musk invited Tesla guests to inspect the two Semi trucks up close, igniting something of a mob scene as a throng of spectators swarmed the trucks.

In all, the event was quite a departure from the more sedate model launches typically seen in the North American truck market. And it should be noted that the vast majority of the cheering, enthusiastic crowd on hand were Tesla car owners, who are given tickets to high-profile events like the one in California last night as a kind of loyalty program. There were, however, several executives from high-profile fleets on hand for the event, and according to published reports, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has already reserved several. If fleet response to Tesla’s new truck proves to be as positive as that of the automotive customers on hand last night, it is likely Musk’s new truck will carve out a niche for itself in North America’s highly competitive commercial vehicle market.

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[kscarbel2]

Wal-Mart Joins Retailers Planning to Try Out Tesla Truck

Dana Hull and Matthew Boyle, Bloomberg  /  November 17, 2017

Customers are starting to place orders for Tesla Inc.’s new all-electric Semi truck, with retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. preordering for both its U.S. and Canadian units.

“We have a long history of testing new technology -- including alternative-fuel trucks -- and we are excited to be among the first to pilot this new heavy-duty electric vehicle,” Wal-Mart spokesman Kory Lundberg said in an email. “We believe we can learn how this technology performs within our supply chain, as well as how it could help us meet some of our long-term sustainability goals, such as lowering emissions.”

While electric passenger cars get all the buzz, the move to electrify big rigs has been moving swiftly under the radar, given their high emissions profiles and hefty fuel costs. Adding autonomous features on top of electrification can also help operators save on labor costs, a major upheaval for a commercial trucking industry that’s gone virtually unchanged for decades.

Lundberg said Wal-Mart has preordered five of the electric trucks for the U.S. and 10 for Canada.

Meijer Inc. has reserved four Semi trucks for $5,000 deposits apiece, Dan Scherer, a fleet manager for the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based retailer, said after the product’s unveiling Thursday at Tesla’s design studio near Los Angeles. He said the closely held company operates 220 trucks in six states in the Midwest.

“Electric drivetrains are a proven technology,” Scherer said in an interview. “Electricity is cheaper fuel than diesel, and you are less dependent on the spot pricing of fossil fuel.”

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. placed a reservation to buy multiple Tesla Semi tractors, the company said in a statement Friday. The Lowell, Arkansas-based logistics company said it will deploy the trucks on the West Coast.

“Reserving Tesla trucks marks an important step in our efforts to implement industry-changing technology,” said Chief Executive Officer John Roberts. “We believe electric trucks will be most beneficial on local and dray routes, and we look forward to utilizing this new, sustainable technology.”