Tesla Semi Truck: Everything We Know So Far

Tesla will unveil their Semi-Truck in November of 2017 but will it be successful? // Get $1,000 Discount + Free Supercharging on a Tesla (S or X) Until Oct 31st, 2017 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9QapXri9iY The Tesla Semi is rumored to get between 200-300 miles per charge and drive like a race car. At this range, it technically falls into the “long haul” category of trucking but just barely. First, we have a spy shot taken which appears to match the teaser image Tesla released earlier this year. // Tesla Semi Spy Shot - https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-semi-truck-spy-shot-photo-first-look/ And recently we have a video of a Test Mule which is rumored to be the Tesla Semi w/ a fake facia covering it to avoid suspicion. The reason people think this is the Tesla Semi is due to the lack of a loud Diesel engine, no visible exhaust, and the speed at which it takes off. // Tesla Test Mule Video - http://bgr.com/2017/10/10/tesla-semi-truck-leaked-video/ Then we have these renderings, which are probably my favorite. // Tesla Semi Rendering - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trx4Fhb02VY The major challenge Tesla will face relates to the economics of the trucks themselves. A typical Diesel Cab costs around $120K before you factor in fuel, maintenance, and the driver cost. If Tesla wants to compete in this industry, they’ll need to sell their cabs for no more than 225K according to a report on Teslarati. The report here cites the benefits of reduced fuel and maintenance costs resulting in a ROI after about 5 years time. // Tesla Semi Report on Economics - https://www.teslarati.com/solving-tesla-semi-truck-conundrum-heres-might-take/ This is in contrast to what Adam Jonas, a Morgan Stanely Analyst said when he estimated it would be around $100K and 70% cheaper to operate. Jonas and a few others believe that Tesla will sell the cab separate from the batteries. // Adam Jonas on Tesla Semi - https://futurism.com/analyst-tesla-semi-biggest-catalyst-trucking-decades/ This is similar to drafting in auto racing where, if you’re close enough, you can increase efficiency due to reduced drag. If they pull this off, it really would be a game changer for the industry. It could be a little scary too. But why would Tesla go this route in the first place? It seems strange to go from making consumer automobiles to commercial. In short, there’s tons of money on the table here. In 2016 the Trucking industry brought in almost 680B dollars in revenue, half of which is due to the short-haul or regional routes that Tesla wants. // Trucking Industry Data - http://www.trucking.org/News_and_Information_Reports_Industry_Data.aspx So if we believe these estimates the Tesla Semi could prove to be game changer for them and for the trucking industry itself One major problem with this whole plan is the manufacturing of the Semi itself. So far the Fremont plant is bursting at the seams and wouldn’t be an excellent candidate to make the trucks so they’ll likely need to expand or open a new facility somewhere. The batteries themselves also pose a problem since each truck could require up to 600 kWh or more, about the same as 6 p100d Model S's. While they do have the gigafactory pumping out batteries, it’s not complete, yet so there’s a big question mark as to how fast they could make the battery packs. The next problem Tesla will likely face is adoption. Even if they’re fortunate in producing the Semi trucks, the trucking industry is slow to change, and there are hundreds of thousands of regional operators. Maybe in 5 to 7 years, this will be a prominent disruption to the trucking industry, but for now, there are lots of hurdles for Tesla to clear before it makes an impact. I’d love to know what you think! Will Tesla win here or are the headwinds too powerful for them to overcome? Leave me a comment down below // New here? Check out more Most Recent Video - https://goo.gl/k3pWlt Most Popular Video - https://goo.gl/jydACR Subscribe - https://goo.gl/tPDO7v // Want to Support the Show? Join us on Patreon! https://teslanomics.co/patreon // Shoot me a msg online fb https://fb.com/teslanomics tw https://twitter.com/teslanomicsco // My Gear Books https://kit.co/teslanomicsco/books-i-ve-actually-read Tech https://kit.co/teslanomicsco/tech-gear Camera - https://kit.co/teslanomicsco/camera-gear Wild Flower by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music provided by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AQWSIi1QU-o Road Trip by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud Music provided by Audio Library https://youtu.be/vpssnpH_H4c That Day by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music provided by Audio Library https://youtu.be/YDT00lBAG2g