Tesla is announcing the EV truck is targeting a cruising range of 320 km to 480 km with one charge

ByBill Dickinson

In addition to the passenger car type EV, Tesla is expected to announce EV trucks in September 2017 that can run entirely with electricity without using fossil fuels. In the case of a truck carrying a lot of luggage by pulling it, the travelable distance becomes more important than the passenger car, but among the stakeholders the Tesla EV truck can run from 320 km to 480 km with one charge It is predicted that it aims for "long-haul".

Exclusive: Tesla's 'long-haul' electric truck aims for 200 to 300 miles on a charge
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-trucking-exclusive-idUSKCN1B42GC

This information was told Reuters by Scott Perry of a shipping management company based in Miami "Ryder System Inc". Mr. Perry is a person who is a technical director at the company and is also one of the people who informed Tesla who is researching the truck industry as an expert.

According to Mr. Perry, Tesla that is currently the most focus, that of it's track of the type referred to as capable of traveling 300 miles to 200 miles (about 320km ~ 480km) "Day Cab". "Cab" is a term that refers to the cab of the truck, it means that the head portion of the trailer pulled by connecting the loading platform. Day Cab is not equipped with a bed for nap, it is classified as a medium-sized type track which carries medium to long distance transportation.


Mr. Perry tells Reuters about the strategy that Tesla will take, "I will not deny the possibility that Tesla will take even longer distance trucks, but it is not bad as a starting point."

Even with current technology, it is said that it is already possible to build EV version trucks, but the most important vehicle as a transportation industry is the cruising distance when loading and the operation cost I will. In order to carry heavy luggage, it is necessary to mount a powerful motor as much, and furthermore, it is necessary to load a large capacity battery enough to drive the motor, but if too much battery is loaded, It is said that it is a weak point of the EV track that falls into the dilemma that the loading capacity of cargo will decrease. It is expected that this problem will be solved or alleviated in future by improving the energy density of the lithium-ion battery, but there is also a view that it can not be said that the situation is still optimistic at the moment And that.

There is also a concern that vehicle prices jump up by installing a large amount of batteries. A price of about 120,000 dollars (about 13 million yen) is a price of general Day Cab in the United States, but the price of the battery necessary to realize the cruising distance which Tesla is aiming for is realized There is also an estimation that only the amount of the conventional truck will be exceeded. However, in the case of EV traveling with an electric motor, the mechanism is simpler than conventional diesel engines and so on, and there is also a view that the maintenance cost can be reduced. In addition, because it is considered that EV is cheaper to raise the fuel cost necessary for traveling, that is, the cost of traveling at the same distance, in view of the total cost including vehicle price and operation cost, the EV truck There are experts that there is also a winning number.

ByNick Ares

In addition, the EV truck seems to be advantageous also in terms of high affinity with automatic driving technology Tesla is already introducing. Automatic driving technology is considered to bring significant benefits to trucks that run through the highway all the time, so it may be possible to take advantage of the strength of the EV truck here as well.

Perry said, "When this technology is realized a big change may come, we all hope to understand how realistic it can be expected." Tesla is also sticking to the needs of the truck industry and should be aware of what needs to be done and what can be done. Many people are interested in what kind of vehicles will appear at the time of EV truck announcement scheduled for September 2017.