and a truck that likely weighs significantly more than a traditional semi due to the batteries.….
less freight being transported
Charging….to be done where? Loves, Pilot, QT….let’s be generous and say that the charging takes an hour. Anyone ever been to a truck stop? You could be waiting hours to get a charger.
DOT reg’s allow 11hrs of driving in a 14hr day, with a mandatory 30min break after 8hrs. No telling how long it’ll take to get stuff delivered.
And no telling what the cost of the charging equipment will cost.
One downside, Semis pay highway taxes based on weight.
At least for now, these Tesla trucks are not intended for long haul use.
They're intended for fleet use on local/regional runs between established warehouses and/or factories, where recharging facilities will be purpose built by the truck owners.
The first batch of Tesla Semis are going to Pepsico who intend to use them for runs between bottling plants and local distribution warehouses.
“less freight being transported”
First sentence says MORE freight transported.
—”Charging….to be done where?”
Guessing the trucks will be on a typical fixed daily route and the many, many rules about driving hours by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration...
Charge them at the fixed endpoints.
Also the unions like anything that slows down operations, necessitating
more workers.
DOT reg’s allow 11hrs of driving in a 14hr day, with a mandatory 30min break after 8hrs. No telling how long it’ll take to get stuff delivered.
= = =
Try to get the charging stations, and the time to charge, in sync with that. Good Luck.
How much charging capacity will be needed. An estimate can come from how much fuel they pump per day, converted to KW or some such.
More Good Luck.