Just now, the most “heaviest” beast model in Tesla’s history was delivered! The 37-ton “performance beast” is as easy to drive as the Model 3 | Near future

Last Saturday, Musk released the wind, saying that the electric semi-trailer Semi has completed a test of 805 kilometers and a load of 37 tons.

On December 1, US time, Semi, who had skipped tickets for three years, finally waited for the moment when "it was a mule or a horse brought out for a walk". Musk said that it will be delivered this year-and sure enough, in the last month, Semi showed up on a dead line.

The first 15 electric Class 8 trucks at Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory will be part of PepsiCo's European fleet. 15 sounds like a small number, but Tesla's goal is ambitious: by 2024, annual production will reach 50,000. At that point, Tesla will be one of the largest manufacturers of Class 8 trucks in the world.

Medium and large trucks are the most important tool in global logistics and transportation, and they are also "big polluters" with high energy consumption and high emissions. The Paris Agreement and national net-zero emissions targets require big companies to take the lead in “decarbonising their operations.” Switching the fleet of diesel trucks to the camp of zero-emission electric trucks is a highly visible link for large companies to demonstrate their "green credentials".

Trucks are "graded" by total weight, and vehicle manufacturers Daimler, Volvo, and Renault are all "changing to electricity" from short distances and small classes. Tesla did the opposite, starting with the most difficult "Level 8" in the middle class. It is no wonder that the industry is paying attention and "watching the show" coldly.

Semi is a beast

The most striking aspect of the Semi is its performance.

Earlier, Musk said that the Semi has a battery capacity of 500kWh and a maximum cruising range of more than 1,000 kilometers. Equipped with the latest 4680 full tab battery, the energy density has increased by 500% compared with the original 18650 battery, and the output power has increased by 600%, which requires good heat dissipation conditions.

In the live broadcast of the delivery ceremony at the Nevada Gigafactory, the battery was not mentioned.

The electric motor is the same as the Model S Plaid, a three-motor system with a carbon fiber sleeve on the rotor. This configuration mainly solves the problem of extreme speed of the vehicle. When an electric car runs, whether it can increase its speed depends entirely on the speed of the motor. The motor will fall apart if it turns too fast. Tesla's method is to wrap the motor rotor with a layer of carbon fiber to avoid deformation; at the same time, it will not affect the magnetic field between the rotor and the stator.

The three motors are located one in front and two in the rear, one is an energy efficiency unit, and the other two are torque acceleration units. Model S Plaid thus has 1020 horsepower and an output of about 760kW.

Like the Model S Plaid, the Semi's combined system power exceeds 1,000 horsepower. When fully loaded with 40 tons of cargo, the acceleration time from 0-100km/h is 20 seconds, while traditional trucks need more than 45 seconds. In the empty state, it can break through a hundred in 5 seconds, while it takes more than 15 seconds for a traditional truck. On a 5 percent uphill section, the Semi can sustain a speed of 65 mph, compared to 45 mph for conventional trucks.

Its self-weight is 36.7 tons, and its head adopts a "bullet" design. The drag coefficient is only 0.36, which can better reduce power consumption. Its super charger has a 1MW+ DC fast charging capability and can charge 70% of the total capacity in 30 minutes. Road energy consumption per kilometer driven is less than 1.25 kWh/mile.

Semi uses a 1000V high-voltage platform, which deserves attention. The U.S. Department of Energy has studied the charging current relationship corresponding to different voltage platforms at different charging powers. 400V should be the voltage level of most electric vehicles on the market at present. After >100kW, the charging current increases very quickly, which poses great challenges to the thermal management and life of the battery and the cooling of the charging facilities.

Semi's current positioning is to "beat to death" the "old" master of the fuel truck. Judging from various data indicators, fuel trucks are indeed cost-effective.

According to statistics, fuel prices have been rising in recent years, and it costs more than US$894 (about 6,400 yuan) to fill up a tank of 800 liters of diesel. More than half of these oils are "white burn". The American truck company Cummins once calculated the fuel efficiency of diesel trucks, and the engine loss of fuel trucks was 58%.

In contrast, the charging cost of Semi is much cheaper than that of diesel, which can save up to 200,000 US dollars (about 1.42 million yuan) in fuel costs within three years. With remote diagnostics, OTA over-the-air software updates, and fewer moving parts to maintain, the money and time spent on repairs and maintenance will be further reduced.

In fact, fuel trucks are already a thing of the past, and under the current background of carbon reduction, the future is bleak. Semi should be more targeted at the "new master" – fuel electric trucks.

According to the operation data of fuel cells and lithium batteries of logistics vehicles in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the average daily mileage of fuel cells is nearly twice that of lithium batteries. Under the same battery life, the load of a fuel cell vehicle is slightly 5% higher than that of a lithium battery vehicle.

In the largest semi-trailer trucks, the use of fuel cells will lag behind battery electric trucks by as much as 10 years, said Greg Genette, senior research analyst at U.S. commercial vehicle group IHS Markit. By 2030, battery electric trucks will account for about 14% of new truck sales in the US, compared with just 1% for fuel cell vehicles.

Semi "Hanging" Competitors

The launch of the Semi also comes with a bundled marketing component – the first vehicles will be delivered to PepsiCo.

In early October, Musk had already received a wave of taunts from Coca-Cola and Renault Trucks. Renault Trucks' official Twitter account said: "Some people keep their promises, some people keep skipping tickets".

Coca-Cola has teamed up with Renault to convert one-fifth of the former's delivery fleet from diesel trucks to electric trucks. Coca-Cola's delivery trucks travel 200 kilometers a day, accounting for more than 40% of the world's beverage manufacturers' delivery journeys. According to Renault Trucks, Coca-Cola's carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by three-quarters after the "electricity change".

The Semi's delivery was enough to give Coca-Cola's old rival Pepsi a sigh of relief.

There are two models of Renault trucks that deliver to Coca-Cola. E-Tech D electric model, single motor, maximum power of 250 horsepower, maximum torque of 425 Nm, gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 16 tons, designed for urban cargo distribution. Battery capacities range from 200 to 400kWh. The vehicle is suitable for traditional logistics and distribution, and can be equipped with a series of different functions of the body.

Renault Trucks E-Tech D wide-body electric version, dual motors, maximum power of 500 horsepower, torque of 850 N m, gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 19 to 26 tons, capable of rough work – responsible for the transportation of goods in suburban areas and waste collection. Its payload is comparable to that of a diesel truck and its battery has a capacity of 265kWh.

Tesla's Semi is a Class 8 truck. Just looking at the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR), it is not in the same "class" as the two Renault trucks mentioned above.

In the United States, commercial truck classification is based on the vehicle's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). There are eight grades in total, among which grades 1-3 are light trucks with a GVWR of 0~6.4 tons; grades 4-8 are medium trucks with a GVWR of 6.4~11.8 tons; grades 7-8 are large trucks with a GVWR of 8 The GVWR of the class is above 15 tons.

Although both are Class 8 trucks, the GVWR of the Semi reaches 37 tons, which is far beyond the maximum weight class of the Renault Trucks E-Tech D wide-body electric version.

In terms of battery capacity and cruising range, the advantages of Semi are also very obvious.

I haven't seen the actual "running" effect yet. Based on paper data alone, Tesla has won this game.

Plus, Pepsi isn't the only beverage company planning electric trucks. Budweiser has also ordered electric trucks from BYD and hydrogen fuel cell heavy truck company Nikola, and paid a deposit to Tesla to purchase Semi electric trucks.

At present, electric trucks are divided into two factions. One is the lithium battery electric truck that Tesla, Daimler, Volkswagen and Volvo are vigorously developing, and the other is the fuel cell truck that Toyota, Hyundai and Nikola are betting on. Although the efficiency and cost of hydrogen as a fuel are not very ideal, there is still a lot of room for layout in which "faction" long-distance trucks choose.

Difficult to charge, replace the water pipe with the fire hose

The Semi's competitors are less panicked than the charging stations on the highway.

According to a study, by 2030, an average highway charging station will have to be able to power at least one professional stadium. By 2035, charging stations for large electric trucks will need as much electricity as a small American town.

Semi and Renault electric trucks are only counted as the last ones, not the first ones. Before they came out, the electric heavy trucks of Daimler and Volvo had already rushed to all parts of the world.

Class 8 electric trucks hit the road one after another, catching grid agencies in most countries by surprise. It will take eight years and tens of millions of dollars to build a charging station with a capacity of 5 megawatts, which is equivalent to the power consumption of a professional stadium.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that the total amount of electricity consumed by electric vehicles is high. Even if the production of all fuel vehicles is stopped with a click in 2030, the increase in world electricity consumption will not exceed 15% by 2040.

The main thing that makes people nervous is charging multiple "electric tigers" in a single, fixed location. Someone made this analogy, thinking of electricity as water flowing through a pipe. If you have months to spare, you can slowly fill a standard swimming pool with a hose from your backyard spigot.

If you're going to fill the pool in a few hours, I'm afraid you'll have to use a fire hose, the small hoses just aren't enough.

In the world of electric trucks, a Class 8 is a swimming pool, a charging station on a highway, and probably three or four or more parked at the same time. But the power transmission capacity of the current charging station is like a small water pipe in the garden.

The electric vehicle industry, whether passenger cars or trucks, has subsidy bonuses. This year, U.S. President Biden passed the "Reducing Inflation Act." The "carbon reduction" part in it is to provide a subsidy of 40,000 US dollars for each heavy-duty electric truck sales. Last year, Biden also set aside $7.5 billion to fund upgrades to the nation's electrical grid system.

Chinese vehicle manufacturer with extensive experience in electric bus and battery production. Previously, the government strongly supported the entire electric vehicle industry, and electric trucks will also see more rapid development in the next few years.

It is conceivable that in the next few years, the competition for electric vehicles and electric trucks will become increasingly fierce, and most charging stations will strive to reach the 5 megawatt scale.

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