
Tesla Semi Truck Unveiling - bluedino
https://www.tesla.com/semi
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alexanderstears
I hope to be proven wrong, but a battery-only truck seems incomplete.

Trains use diesel engines to power the electric motors that spin the wheels.
Electric motors rock compared to internal engines, but the batteries have
terrible energy density compared to fossil fuels.

It'd be nice if they offered a truck with a smaller battery and a turbine that
generated electricity. It'd be super efficient compared to diesel trucks, and
it could go battery only in urban areas and avoid pollution while retaining
the electrification advantages of acceleration and torque control. But it
would give the trucks flexibility to cross Nebraska and Iowa without charging
a few times.

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ZeroGravitas
I agree trucks like that are useful (and appear to be coming to market now~ish
from other brands) but I think Tesla should stick to battery only.

There's enough short haul routes through stop-go traffic in pollution hotspots
to keep Tesla busy for a while, and as they gain experience and reduce prices
the range can expand.

The best thing about Tesla is that they're starting with battery only vehicles
and throwing intelligence towards solving within that constraint.

Slow moving convoys of autonomous trucks that travel by night is one
interesting possibility I'd like to see them explore.

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dokument
Battery packs could be swapped out and charged out of the vehicle. This would
make a lot of sense.

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alexanderstears
It would make a lot of sense, but Tesla already floated the idea and decided
not to pursue it [0]. That seems like a lot of work just to make a bad
technology 'good enough'. Swapping bad batteries for more charged bad
batteries doesn't change the fact that batteries are a bad technology.

[0]: [https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-
prog...](https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-shuts-down-battery-swap-program-for-
superchargers/)

~~~
ortusdux
Personally, I would put most of the batteries on the flatbed. Have beds at
either end that are charging while they are loaded/unloaded, and one truck
autonomously juggling a 3rd bed between both locations.

