The future of Trucking – Tesla’s Semi: Huge potential cost savings

Elon Musk’s suggestion to the Lindsay Fox’s of the world is that there could be cost savings of $200,000 over a million miles of driving – on fuel costs alone – that’s the outcome for buyers of the newly announced Tesla Semi.

This thing is typical Tesla – as in, it’s nothing like anything on the road today – moreso than any Tesla car has been.

The truck has a swooping aerodynamic design, a huge toughened glass frontage which provides an outstanding view for the driver.

And the driver is key to the overall design – the centre steering position gives not only a great view of things, but could well mean global distribution can happen faster with a single model required for production.

Speed stats are rarely spoken about with big-rigs.  A typical truck might normally take 15 seconds to get from 0-60mph, without a trailer.  The Tesla Semi does it in five seconds.

Load it up and you’ll do that in 20 seconds, a task that would normally take a minute.

They appear to have covered everything, from speed at inclines and the huge driver advantage of not needing to shift gears.

Range will be around 800km, with a new Megacharger network to fuel them up with another 640km of range in just 30 minutes.

Considering many see trucking as the first and most lucrative area for autonomous trucks, it’s not surprising the Tesla Semi comes with “Enhanced Autopilot” allowing for automatic breaking, lane keeping and it can travel in a Convoy to automatically follow a lead vehicle.

Think about the maintenance costs saved, let alone fuel – there’s a lot to gain for owners.

No pricing of course, so expect it to be ridiculous, but will the savings entice the trucking firms to give it consideration?  They’ll be keeping a close eye on it.

Production starts in 2019, no news on when it might make it to Australia.

 

Recent Posts

  • Tech

The new Apple MacBook Pro 14 with M5 is the one you get if its your first time going Pro

It's hard to review a new laptop model when the previous generation and even generations…

9 hours ago
  • Tech

Using the new Apple Vision Pro – the M5 Upgrade keeps the dream alive

The second generation Apple Vision Pro might be the same thing with more power and…

10 hours ago
  • Tech

Hands on with Apple’s updated iPad Pro with M5 Processor

Same Same but different, that's how you'd describe the brand new iPad Pro with Apple's…

14 hours ago
  • Tech

Review: Dell Pro 13 Premium — a complete productivity workhorse without the bells and whistles

Earlier this year Dell announced the new naming platform for their laptops with the Dell…

1 day ago
  • Tech

Review: Sennheiser HDB 630 Bluetooth headphones — audiophile quality sound without pesky cables

Just a few days ago, Sennheiser announced its foray into the wireless audiophile headphone market…

1 day ago
  • Lifestyle

Get a BritBox annual subscription for 46% off from Monday 20th October for two weeks

Let's face it, the quality of TV shows coming from the UK is often far…

4 days ago