Tesla developing self-driving tech for semi-truck, wants to test in Nevada

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Reuters  /  August 9, 2017

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tesla Inc is developing a long-haul, electric semi-truck that can drive itself and move in "platoons" that automatically follow a lead vehicle, and is getting closer to testing a prototype, according to an email discussion of potential road tests between the car company and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, seen by Reuters.

Meanwhile, California officials are meeting with Tesla on Wednesday "to talk about Tesla's efforts with autonomous trucks," state DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez told Reuters.

The correspondence and meeting show that Tesla is putting self-driving technology into the electric truck it has said it plans to unveil in September, and is advancing towards real-life tests, potentially moving it forward in a highly competitive area of commercial transport also being pursued by Uber Technologies Inc and Google affiliate Waymo.

After announcing intentions a year ago to produce a heavy-duty electric truck, Musk tweeted in April that the semi-truck would be revealed in September, and repeated that commitment at the company's annual shareholder meeting in June, but has never mentioned any autonomous-driving capabilities.

Tesla has been a leader in developing autonomous driving capability for its luxury cars, including the lower-priced Model 3, which it is beginning to manufacture.

Long-haul potential

Several Silicon Valley companies developing autonomous driving technology are working on long-haul trucks.

They see the industry as a prime early market for the technology, citing the relatively consistent speeds and little cross traffic trucks face on interstate highways and the benefits of allowing drivers to rest while trucks travel.

Some companies also are working on technology for "platooning," a driving formation where trucks follow one another closely. If trucks at the back of the formation were able to automatically follow a lead vehicle, that could cut the need for drivers.

An email exchange in May and June between Tesla and Nevada DMV representatives included an agenda for a June 16 meeting, along with the Nevada Department of Transportation, to discuss testing of two prototype trucks in Nevada, according to the exchange seen by Reuters.

"To insure we are on the same page, our primary goal is the ability to operate our prototype test trucks in a continuous manner across the state line and within the States of Nevada and California in a platooning and/or Autonomous mode without having a person in the vehicle," Tesla regulatory official Nasser Zamani wrote to Nevada DMV official April Sanborn.

No companies yet have tested self-driving trucks in Nevada without a person in the cab. On July 10, Zamani inquired further to the Nevada DMV about terms for a testing license, an email seen by Reuters shows.

California DMV spokeswoman Gonzalez said that Tesla had requested a meeting on Wednesday to introduce new staff and talk about Tesla’s efforts with autonomous trucks. She said that the DMV was not aware of the level of autonomy in the trucks.

Tesla declined to comment on the matter, referring Reuters to the previous statements by Musk, who has discussed the truck in tweets and at the annual shareholder meeting.

Nevada officials confirmed the meeting with Tesla had occurred and said that Tesla had not applied for a license so far. They declined to comment further.

Skeptics  

Musk has said that potential customers are eager to get a Tesla electric long-haul truck, but he faces doubt that the company can deliver. 

While established trucking companies and truck manufacturing startups have poured resources into electrifying local package delivery fleets, battery range limitations have largely kept the industry from making electric trucks that travel across swaths of the country.

Lithium ion battery researcher Venkat Viswanathan of Carnegie Mellon University said electric long-haul trucking is not economically feasible yet.

“Your cargo essentially becomes the battery,” Viswanathan said of the massive batteries that would be needed to make range competitive with diesel.

Diesel trucks used for cross-country hauls by United Parcel Service Inc. can travel up to 500 miles on a single tank, according to UPS's director of maintenance and engineering, international operations, Scott Phillippi. By comparison, the company's electric local package delivery trucks travel up to 80 miles on a full charge.

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Tesla Semi 'has truckmaker disruption potential'

Trade Trucks AU  /  August 11, 2017

Expert sees creativity and innovation making battery truck a commercial proposition

With Tesla’s prototype battery-drive long-haul prime mover due to be unveiled next month, there has been plenty of debate in the US on whether founder Elon Musk has bitten off more than he can chew.

On the affirmative side are those who believe the physics, competitive propulsion sources and existing manufacturers, particularly Toyota, and new ones, such as Nikola, will spoil Musk’s trucking party.

On the other are those, such as engineering expert Randy Carlson, who speculate that the Tesla Semi will be of a radical design and come with innovative battery replacement services to help boost its range and reduce costs.

After undertaking careful analysis of the possible options, Carlson believes the use of induction motors, innovative cooling solutions and planetary reduction gearing, along with a hollow box-beam frame, amongst other developments, will help Tesla’s cause. 

He calculates that, after 30,000 miles per month, the cost per mile could be around 20 per cent lower than a comparably sized diesel-powered Freightliner Cascadia.

If this was borne out, the challenge would be for existing manufacturers to avoid deep disruption.

Despite that, he acknowledges Tesla has formidable manufacturing challenges ahead.

"The difficulty for established truck makers should Tesla's truck be a success will be similar to the problem legacy ICE car makers are facing with the advent of practical, good performing electric cars," Carlson says.

"In the case of heavy trucks, however, the shift in market demand - driven largely by economic considerations - could be much more abrupt. This could leave legacy truck makers scrambling for three things: High speed, compact, liquid cooled induction motor drivelines, sufficient cell supply to build lots of trucks with huge batteries, and charging or battery swapping infrastructure to support their electric truck models in service.

"All of the things legacy truck makers need to compete in electric line-haul heavy trucks are things Tesla is good at, things where Tesla holds a lead in technology, manufacturing or capacity. And, when it comes to cell supply and electric driveline engineers, carmakers scrambling to enter the electric car arena will be competing for those assets, too.

"Tesla building say 10,000 heavy trucks of the kind described would require the equivalent of 60,000 Model 3 motors, inverters and drivelines - something significant but manageable. A much more significant impact would be on the battery side.

"If the 10,000 Tesla heavy trucks each use the 2MWh battery, and swapping stations average one inventory turn per day, then 4MWh of truck batteries will be needed for each truck (one battery in the truck + one battery in inventory at a swap station).

"Ten thousand trucks a year on this basis would require 40GWh of additional cell supply. This is more than the entire design capacity of the fully built out Nevada GigaFactory. It is also more cells than Tesla will need to make 500,000 Model 3 cars.

"No wonder Elon Musk is talking about building a lot more GigaFactories."