Future Unity
Every electric vehicle released by Tesla has been category leading! Its Roadster
showed the world electric vehicles could pack a punch while its Model 3 took the electric
vehicle world by storm! Tesla, however, is far from ready to stop as it is jumping into yet
another category! How will the Tesla Semi 2021 repeat the success of Tesla’s previous
electric vehicles?
This is the video of the new Tesla Semi 2021 that is finally here and how it changes
everything!
Tesla’s desire is to have a battery powered vehicle in as many categories as possible.
Some of its products include the Roadster with high performance, which will get a
refresh soon, and a Model S for people looking for a powerful sedan. It also has the
Model 3 with its mass market appeal due to its more affordable cost.
Tesla is working the Cybertruck for the electric pickup segment, while there have been
rumors about a cheaper 25,000 dollar electric car that is coming from China to address
the budget segment.
One category of electric vehicle that does not get much attention is the truck, especially
the Class 8 truck. But that doesn’t mean Tesla is not paying attention to it.
Due to the nature of their operation, Class 8 trucks are not easy to make. For example,
an electric truck requires a huge battery pack to have a practical range. According to
some estimates, minus loading and unloading, a driver can be on the road for eight
hours a day, which will result in about 500 miles traveled in a day.
A battery that can provide that range for a loaded class 8 truck will be heavy, which in
turn adds to the truck’s weight and cuts down on the range.
In fact, early critics of the Semi would not be practical due to the weight limitation of
heavy-duty trucks. On average, the weight limit for Class 8 trucks is 80,000 pounds,
including the truck’s weight and payload.
Here was their calculation: the experts believed that for the Semi to last between 300
and 500 miles on a single charge, it would have to pack between 600 and 1000 kWh. A
standard 100 kWh Tesla battery weighs 1,300 pounds, meaning the battery needed by
the Semi would weigh around 8,000 pounds.
You can bet Tesla has fixed this problem, or else there won’t be a Semi truck! But how
has Tesla solved this battery weight problem?
The answer lies in the new 4680 battery Tesla has been developing. This is the battery
that powers the Semi truck, just as it powers the Cybertruck and future versions of Tesla
cars, starting with the Model Y that will be made in Germany.
What about this new battery solves the weight problem? Two things.
The new 4680 weighs less due to the elimination of some battery components. This
means the same weight of the 2740 battery used in current Tesla cars in the 4680
battery will offer more energy storage capacity.
The second aspect of the new battery is the energy density, which is significantly
improved over the 2740 battery. This upgrade is due in part to the new cell arrangement
in the battery pack.
With the two factors mentioned above combined, Tesla has been able to reduce the
weight of the Semi truck, giving it more range.
However, the battery is not the only component helping the Semi truck to attain a
reasonable range. The truck itself has been designed to be aerodynamic as possible,
achieving a drag coefficient of 0.36, meaning it will need less energy to overcome wind
resistance on the road. With less resistance, the rate it uses the battery decreases.
Away from the truck design, Tesla is getting help from another source to make its
battery powered truck practical. This comes from regulation, which has evolved since
2017 when Tesla debuted the Semi truck. The changes are necessary if the transition to
electric mobility is to affect heavy-duty vehicles and the logistics sector in general.
As noted by Tesla in its 2020 impact report, the Semi truck will benefit from allowances
in weight limits for electric trucks, as approved by the US and the EU. In the US, electric
trucks are given an allocation of 2,000 pounds which means they can weigh 2,000
pounds more than their ICE counterparts. The allowance is even more in the EU, where
electric trucks can legally add about 4,400 pounds.
So combining the efforts of Tesla with relaxed regulations, the Semi truck will not pose a
challenge to fleet operators looking to switch.
In fact, fleet managers will jump at the Semi because of its performance, which leads to
considerable cost savings in operation, and you are going to see why. Tesla has
revealed the
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