One problem these companies could be facing, is that because of low margins, they have put high emphasis on outsourcing parts, if it means saving on cost. Thus, the vertical integration is lacking, and the supply chain is complicated. It’s hard to redesign a whole component, if its pieces are made by different subcontractors, who aren’t sitting in the same building. And I think EVs present an opportunity to redesign the car from the ground up.
I think battery supply is one limitation, and the other limitation is the growth tempo. OK, we have seen a “miss” in 2022 delivery growth, but 40% is still a big number. But I agree that we should see a cheaper model soon if Tesla doesn’t want to keep losing market share.
One thing they might find surprising is how PepsiCo is using them. According to a recent Reuters interview, the food giant will have different use-case scenarios for the trucks carrying soda bottles and cans for Pepsi as opposed to those hauling chips for Frito-Lay. It somehow makes sense because the chips are less heavy than soda. Nevertheless, the difference is staggering, with the soda-carrying truck only taking 100-mile (161-km) drives for now. On the other hand, the Frito-Lay trucks go on longer 425-mile (684 km) assignments.
This is my 2015 Volvo 730. It has two 150 gallon fuel tanks and averages around 6.5 mpg fully loaded at highway speeds of 65 to 75 mph. I routinely go 1,000 to 1,400 miles between fill ups, and it generally takes 15 minutes or less to top off the tanks. That means on a hard week of running, I might spend a total of 45 minutes putting sufficient fuel in the rig to go 4,000+ miles. Tesla claims their semi will go 500 miles on a full charge. Then it will need an absolute minimum of 30 minutes on the most powerful Supercharger around to recharge to 80% … at which point it’ll only be good for another 400 miles, right? And there’s the rub. In many states a trucker can legally and easily drive 700 miles per day. Most OTR truckers won’t even contemplate an EV rig until the range is a guaranteed 800+ miles under full load, at average highway speeds of 65 to 75 mph, across any terrain and at any temperature, from 125 to -40 Fahrenheit. That way we could drive our 700 miles per day and charge the rig while we take our 10 hour break. So in order to go 4,000 miles per week, you’re looking at spending well over 300 minutes sitting at a charging station - that’s AT LEAST 5 hours the driver won’t get paid for, vs. the 45 minutes for a diesel rig. You see, the vast majority of OTR drivers are paid by the mile. We don’t actually get paid for fueling - or charging the batteries. Raise your hand if you’re willing to work at least five extra hours per week without compensation… And of course, that’s assuming you can find a semi charging station - I haven’t seen a single one yet.
Eg looking at VW they have a standard platform they designed for EV that they reuse across brand, sharing the development cost. This way they’re able to regularly release new cars (and also work on the next gen platform in parallel)
I think Tesla aging lineup is it’s biggest risk, people are not going to buy a new car if it looks “old”, so when the competition releases a dozen new car a year across all ranges of the market it’s going to be tough.
(Afaik the only new one coming up from Tesla is the Cybertruck, which if it’s not a joke is definitely not suitable to European market which requires a good amount of compact cars).
That’s not what it says. It says they will first use it on 100 mile trips. In the next paragraph it says:
It is unclear why Pepsi limits the trips for the Semi to such a short distance. Nevertheless, this is only temporary, as PepsiCo’s vice president said the soda truck would move to 400 to 500-mile trips soon. This might indicate that PepsiCo is still unsure of the Semi’s capabilities. Once it gets more data, it will start making the trucks’ jobs harder.
And here you have an analysis of the semi demo ride from the physics perspective. The truck seems to be capable of doing 500 miles with a full load, with the caveat of going at only 52 mph (83 km/h).
I’m not holding TSLA and not planning to do so, but I’m curious: Are there any specific reasons why TSLA’s - of all stocks - gained so much attention here?
PS: Do believe that this also somehow encapsulates the appeal of the company:
Rockstar marketing for an underdog (company) that almost single-handedly takes on an entire army (industry) of “legacy” incumbents - while still appealing to the geeks and environmentally-conscious.
Also, honestly, you have to give props to the guy for taking centre stage with that speech impediment.
not gonna happen, especially with the recession knocking on the door, and EV’s being too expensive already now. I guess small-engine diesel and petrol cars are here to stay easily for the next 5 years at least until reaching 50:50.
This might not be an issue. The Model 3 is a good enough sedan that does not look dated yet. The Model Y is huge enough to beat most competition on size, efficiency, prices, availability or charging (or all of this). The Model S of 2013 still doesn’t look dated, although it’s 9 yrs old now.
Manufacturing cars is super capital intensive, so the less Tesla changes, the cheaper it’ll be (for them). They opt to change mostly in software, which is a free upgrade.
I wonder what the user studies say. At least personally I’ve seen the same teslas on the road for years, it’s pretty boring. I tend to notice more the new cars that look different, at the moment it’s the mercedes and vw for me mostly. (note: not a car driver, anecdotal )
people generally don’t upgrade cars to get the latest look, they upgrade to get the latest tech. So in this perspective Tesla is still okay as the SW is always the latest within the metal can.
The VWs and the Mercs are popping into your eyes as they are not on the road for the last 3 years
Really? I would’ve said complete opposite, those that upgrade in the car’s first 5 years do it primarily for the latest look (show that neighbour/friend/colleague who can afford the latest fanciest looking car). If one goes back 10 years I’d even say “what car-tech?”, as it’s so hidden and slow-developing (latest new evolutionary engine technology, some new safety feature).
Disclaimer: I hate cars, and don’t have one, so my opinion could be totally wrong.
I used to drive trucks for a short time. From a practical perspective I see the following questions (apart from range and max weight):
sitting in the middle: how give I Paperwork through the window? How do I speak through the intercom on a gate?
passenger seat in the second row. Truck driver is a lonely job. You like to take somebody with you from time to time
dimensions: for the european market I pretty sure a redesign would be necessary, due to the max lenght of the whole truck beeing only 18.75m. Otherwise you will lose volume on the trailer. European trucks are for this reason „Kurzhauber“
Maybe these points are already investigated on the content in the links posted above.
Googled „TLC“ but dont understand why you think a passenger seat is needed for it.
What I liked to point out: Tesla truck changes the consumer journey way more than the cars did. At least in europe we are short of truck drivers. Logistic companies do everything to buy/lease trucks which are wished by the drivers. In fact many driver is choosing his employer based on if the company has MAN, DAF, Scania etc in their fleet.
Thats why for Tesla it will be important to have acceptance from the drivers
…and they (their director of Autopilot software at) now officially admitted that their videos are (at least sometimes) showing things that their system can’t actually do - or in other words: fiction. And Musk misleadingly boasted about it on Twitter.
Side note: Even I could have guessed and roughly explained the concept of operational design domain - and I’m not even a computer scientist or engineer. (Well, maybe I wouldn’t in testifying to court. Then again, I’m not being paid millions professionally for this stuff)
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Do believe that this also somehow encapsulates the appeal of the company:
