{"id":52951,"date":"2017-11-17T07:21:40","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T07:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=52951"},"modified":"2017-11-17T07:21:40","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T07:21:40","slug":"tesla-unveils-electric-big-rig-truck-sporty-roadster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/business\/tesla-unveils-electric-big-rig-truck-sporty-roadster.html","title":{"rendered":"Tesla unveils electric big rig truck sporty Roadster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tesla unveils electric big rig truck sporty Roadster<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Tesla unveils electric big rig truck sporty Roadster: Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) on Thursday unveiled a prototype electric big-rig truck that it will start producing in 2019, throwing itself into a new market even as it struggles to roll out an affordable sedan on which the company\u2019s future depends.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chief Executive Elon Musk unveiled the big rig, dubbed the Tesla Semi, by riding the truck into an airport hangar near Los Angeles in front of a crowd of Tesla car owners and potential buyers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later the semi truck opened its trailer, and a new Roadster drove out. The car is an updated version of Tesla\u2019s first production vehicle. It can seat four and travel 620 miles (1,000 km) on a single charge, a new record for an electric vehicle, Musk said. It can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour (100 km per hour) in 1.9 seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Musk has described electric trucks as Tesla\u2019s next effort to move the economy away from fossil fuels through projects including electric cars, solar roofs and power storage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some analysts fear the truck will be an expensive distraction for Tesla, which is burning cash, has never posted an annual profit, and is in self-described \u201cmanufacturing hell\u201d starting up production of the $35,000 Model 3 sedan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Musk did not give a price for the truck.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tesla also has to convince the trucking community that it can build an affordable electric big rig with the range and cargo capacity to compete with relatively low-cost, time-tested diesel trucks. The heavy batteries eat into the weight of cargo an electric truck can haul.<\/span><\/p>\n

The truck can go up to 500 miles (800 km) at maximum weight at highway speed, Musk said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diesel trucks are capable of traveling up to 1,000 miles (1,600 km) on a single tank of fuel. Musk said diesel trucks were 20 percent more expensive per mile to operate than his electric truck.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Tesla Semi can also go from 0 to 60 mph in five seconds without cargo or reach 60 mph in 20 seconds at the maximum weight allowed on U.S. highways of 80,000 pounds (36,300 kg).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can drive this thing and I have no idea how to drive a semi,\u201d Musk joked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ahead of the unveiling, Tesla executives showed off the Class 8 truck to journalists, describing it as \u201ctrailer agnostic,\u201d or capable of hauling any type of freight. Class 8 is the heaviest weight classification on trucks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The day cab – which is not a sleeper – has a less prominent nose than on a classic truck, and the battery is built into the chassis. It has four motors, one for each rear wheel. Tesla designed the cab with a roomy feel and a center seat for better visibility, executives said. Two touch screens flank the driver.<\/span><\/p>\n

The truck has Tesla\u2019s latest semi-autonomous driving system, designed to keep a vehicle in its lane without drifting, change lanes on command, and transition from one freeway to another with no human intervention. Reuters reported in August that Tesla was discussing self-driving trucks with regulators in Nevada and California, but the company did not mention full autonomy in a release on the new vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tesla will guarantee the truck\u2019s drivetrain, which delivers power to the wheels, for 1 million miles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc (ODFL.O), the fourth-largest U.S. less-than-truckload carrier, which consolidates smaller freight loads onto a single truck, said it would not use the Tesla truck.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe met with Tesla and at this time we do not see a fit with their product and our fleet,\u201d Dave Bates, senior vice president of operations, said in an email, without elaborating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this week Musk tweeted that the truck would \u201cblow your mind clear out of your skull,\u201d joking, \u201cIt can transform into a robot, fight aliens and make one hell of a latte.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tesla faces a much more crowded field for electric trucks than it did when it introduced its electric cars.<\/span><\/p>\n

Manufacturers such as Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE), Navistar International Corp (NAV.N) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) are joining a host of start-ups racing to overcome the challenges of substituting batteries for diesel engines as regulators crack down on carbon dioxide and soot pollution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, manufacturers are mostly focused on medium-duty trucks, not the heavy big rig market Tesla is after.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tesla would need to invest substantially to create a factory for those trucks. The company is currently spending about $1 billion per quarter, largely to set up the Model 3 factory, and is contemplating a factory in China to build cars.<\/span><\/p>\n

Charging and maintaining electric trucks that crisscross the country could be expensive and complex.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tesla said the truck can charge 30 minutes and then travel 400 miles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shares of Tesla have risen 46 percent this year to make the company the No. 2 U.S. automaker by market value.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-tesla-truck\/tesla-unveils-electric-big-rig-truck-sporty-roadster-idUSKBN1DG1LW<\/span><\/p>\n

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