
Tesla Semi truck unveil set for September - vvanders
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/852580027178696704
======
shaftway
I don't understand why people keep expecting them to look like modern trucks.
I think in terms of visuals, the movie Logan did a really good job of
imagining what a driverless truck could/would/should look like: basically a
sled with a container on top.

The movie used them as part of a dystopian future, with an accident caused by
one of the trucks' negligence, so let's try not to do that. And I hope we'd be
better at clustering them into container "trains" for efficiency instead of
seeing them all separated. But in terms of design I see no reason why you'd
have a faux cab on the front.

This also answers the battery issue. Why swap batteries when you could just
swap sleds. Each sled could carry a container ~100 miles from one charge
station to the next. When it gets to a station just park behind the next sled
and slide the load from one to the other. New sled can keep going, old sled
can recharge while it waits for the next load.

~~~
Veratyr
They're not releasing a driverless truck unless I'm missing something big? So
they'll still need a cab and still look like modern trucks.

~~~
shaftway
But they're also not claiming it isn't. ;-)

~~~
chc
They're strongly implying that they plan to sell the trucks sometime in the
next few years, which entails that they aren't self-driving trucks.

------
Animats
Tesla is trying to compete with the announced Nikolai 1.[1] That's hydrogen-
powered, a fuel cell/battery system.

[1] [https://nikolamotor.com/one](https://nikolamotor.com/one)

~~~
jobu
Interesting. When Nikola announced that truck last year it was a Hybrid with a
turbine generator and a battery pack.
[http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103987_nikola-
one-2000-...](http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103987_nikola-one-2000-hp-
natural-gas-electric-semi-truck-announced)

Anyone know when and why they changed their plans?

~~~
Animats
Probably when they found out how much gas turbines cost.

Turbine engines don't seem to get any cheaper below bizjet size, where they
cost a quarter million or so. That's why light aircraft are still running on
pistons. Ford built a turbine-powered semitrailer truck prototype in 1964.[1]
Worked fine, but cost too much.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tODsl0-oW0Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tODsl0-oW0Q)

~~~
sbierwagen
Don't forget the famous Chrysler turbine car: unit cost across the 55 unit
production run estimated to be $386,000 per, in 2016 dollars.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Turbine_Car](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Turbine_Car)

------
FreedomToCreate
Does this guy not have enough he already has his company working on. I'm
really looking forward to see how they solved the weight to energy density
issue for this.

~~~
csours
A natural gas fuel cell would probably be the best solution.

~~~
mtgx
It seems highly unlikely Elon Musk would've gone for such a solution. I think
he would've preferred not to go into semi-trucks at all if it meant he had to
make a natural gas hybrid, and he would've just waited until batteries were
good enough for semis.

I doubt he'd even combine it with hydrogen, as Nikola says it will,
considering how much Musk has been criticizing hydrogen as impractical.

~~~
germinalphrase
Can anyone speak to the hydrogen issue?

I have no background in the topic, but battery tech does seem to be a long-
term limitation.

~~~
jobu
Hydrogen atoms are very small and hard to contain. The atoms tend to diffuse
into the structure of whatever is containing them and can cause blistering or
embrittlement -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_embrittlement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_embrittlement)

------
olivermarks
[http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/12/tesla-stock-may-be-soaring-
bu...](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/12/tesla-stock-may-be-soaring-but-elon-
musks-business-model-is-doomed-says-former-gm-vice-chairman-lutz.html)

 _Ducks and awaits massive drop in HN karma_

~~~
bigtimeidiot
Not sure the CEO of the competition is a great source, especially on these
boards. With all the smack Musk has talked about ICEs over the years, I don't
expect compliments from GM.

~~~
olivermarks
Lutz is a brilliant automotive businessman IMO and fought hard to make GM
innovative before he retired. He's not some empty suit beancounter

~~~
bigtimeidiot
> _He 's not some empty suit beancounter_

I agree with you. But there's a _pretty_ heavy burden of proof on any
denigration of Tesla around here. That and I think some of the old guard of
auto manufacturing would love to stick it to Musk.

------
chollida1
also mentioned by Elon

[https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/852581046625345536](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/852581046625345536)

The next gen roadster is going to be a convertible.

> Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will unveil its semi-truck in
> September.

> The company will also unveil a pick-up truck in 18 to 24 months, Musk said.

I can't imagine they are creating a new frame for a semi truck or pick up
truck. I've got to imagine they are going to partner with someone like they
did with lotus for their first roadster.

~~~
pythonaut_16
I think I remember reading somewhere that the pick-up truck would be based on
one of their existing frames.

I would imagine that the new roadster will also share a frame with the Model 3
(assuming it's a different frame from the Model S)

~~~
freehunter
I would be very surprised if this was a pick-up truck ala a Chevy Silverado
and not a pick-up truck ala the Honda Ridgeline. As in, it will be a cab with
a bed, but will be built with a unibody chassis instead of body-on-frame.
Independent suspension all around instead of a solid rear axle.

I really can't imagine Telsa trying to compete against the F-150.

\--edit changed "won't be a cab with a bed" to "will be a cab with a bed"

~~~
cwyers
He said semi-truck, not pickup truck. Very, very different.

~~~
freehunter
You must have missed the part where we're talking about a Tesla pickup truck.
Because we're talking about a Tesla pickup truck right now.

------
bigtimeidiot
How heavy would one of these suckers be with a battery? Can our infrastructure
handle that? Transports do enough damage to the roads as is.

------
olivermarks
96 Leaf modules in an 'eota' that Manzanita Power Systems are building
[https://www.facebook.com/106095429411883/photos/a.1759851290...](https://www.facebook.com/106095429411883/photos/a.175985129089579.36381.106095429411883/1295550293799718/?type=3&theater)

------
64zoolane
investors will probably wish Elon could just stick to one thing and finish it

~~~
bigtimeidiot
> _investors will probably wish Elon could just stick to one thing and finish
> it_

Have you read these threads? There are people _here_ who claim to have
invested all their savings into TSLA, and yet seem fairly clueless about the
industry in which Tesla competes. The more things that get announced, the more
they want in.

Tesla haven't yet proven that they can reliably build a cheap, profitable
vehicle at scale, but still people talk about the next one and the next one...

Meanwhile, the Bolt is out, reviews are positive, and HN doesn't talk much
about it. Not Elon, I guess.

[http://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrolet/bolt-
ev/2017/2017-c...](http://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrolet/bolt-
ev/2017/2017-chevrolet-bolt-ev-vs-2016-tesla-model-s-60/)

~~~
jlund
I am in the perfect demographic for the Bolt: I am a previous Chevy owner
(with a car that ran well for over fourteen years!), I want an electric car,
and I'm not afraid of being an early adopter.

I can't buy one.

Chevy doesn't appear to be manufacturing them beyond a handful of review units
for magazines like Motor Trend and a small number of end-user sales in states
where they need the ZEV Credits. People are unenthusiastic about the Bolt
because they're matching Chevy's apparent level of enthusiasm.

The rhetoric around the Bolt ("Chevy did it! They were first at scale with a
$35k car!") is arguably even more disconnected from reality than anything
people are saying about Tesla. The Model 3 isn't a compliance car that is
masquerading as a serious effort. Tesla is planning on selling it nationwide.
They didn't restrict pre-orders to California and Oregon. Setting aside the
actual cars, these are big differences.

At Chevy's current roll-out pace, my Model 3 pre-order will arrive long before
any local Chevy dealerships are willing to sell me a Bolt (while passive-
aggressively pushing me towards an internal combustion vehicle the entire
time).

