Tesla Semi Truck

[lorenfb]

More competition? And from an oil company:

Tesla's latest competition in making efficient truck to crisscross country: Big Oil
• Shell's energy-efficient AirFlow Starship begins its cross-country trek May 18.
• The aerodynamic truck, equipped with solar panels, aims to break the record for trucking fuel efficiency.
• Tesla is working on an electric truck, but the need for power and infrequent stopping make long-haul trucks difficult.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/11/shell-h ... truck.html

The AirFlow Starship's 5,000-watt solar panels provide energy for electrical components such as lights and wipers. Other than the aerodynamic design, the hybrid electric axle system and custom automatic tire inflation make the truck more fuel efficient. Open-grill shutters allow air to cool the engine, and they automatically close to reduce drag when cooling isn't needed. The boat tail design on the back also reduces drag.

[EVDRIVER]

The solar panel thing is funny, consider the cost benefit based on todays panel prices and technology and the reliability of them on a truck trailer with all the vibration and exposure.

[GRA]

Is the Tesla Semi really dead?
Or just a misreading of the tea-leaves?
https://seekingalpha.com/article/417215 ... -dead?dr=1

Or, just FUD. The most important quote from the article:

Disclosure: I am/we are short TSLA.

While useful info, are we to automatically infer from this that anyone who is short or long on Tesla is so biased that they're incapable of arriving at rational conclusions? Or should we instead evaluate the strength of their arguments, while taking into account that their financial interest may (or may not) be affecting their opinions?

[lorenfb]

Or should we instead evaluate the strength of their arguments, while taking into account that their financial interest may (or may not) be affecting their opinions?

Couldn't be stated more logically. You'd think most would.

Disclosure: I am neither long nor short TSLA.

[lorenfb]

The solar panel thing is funny, consider the cost benefit based on todays panel prices and technology and the reliability of them on a truck trailer with all the vibration and exposure.

1. The implementation most likely is just a proof-of-concept and whether a certain mileage could be achieved.
2. Just like with the SEMI, that product's viability and cost projections are based on future technology/costs.
3. I doubt it's much of a Tesla threat, i.e. just that others are "thinking" too.

Hey, a future design of that truck might use Tesla PV tiles, right?

[EVDRIVER]

Yes it proved you can put solar panels on a truck, but I think we knew that when solar panels were made and we know it makes no sense. The mileage that is quoted is also very ambiguous as it is talking about more than one vehicle and it’s not validated and it’s on flat ground unden who knows why conditions. But it’s great for oil company PR. We already know trucks can be more aerodynamic and if the economics make sense they implement the changes. Not exactly a Tesla truck competitor.

[AndyH]

The Shell truck's a joke of a publicity stunt.

Luigi Colani's been doing aero semis since the 1970s. I bet his 80s designs without hybridization would give Shell a run, and his 2007 designs would probably beat Shell's truck in fuel efficiency.

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-th ... eeler1.htm

He also got under the hood to tinker with the engine. He improved upon a 2005 Mercedes-Benz semi by adding a direct-injection, turbo-charged diesel engine to the vehicle. The result? It had almost 150 more horsepower than the original engine and consumed 30 percent less fuel [source: Discovery].

Still, he remained unsatisfied. In 2007, Colani and Siemens collaborated on a new truck. This semi is perhaps more appropriately referred to as a cockpit: The enclosed space is raised above the semi's frame and holds one person. What's more, the truck lacks a steering wheel -- it's driven entirely with a single joystick. The whole semi resembles the head and beak of a predatory bird in flight. With this incarnation, Colani's design managed to reduce fuel consumption by 50 percent [source: Discovery]. That reduction comes exclusively from exterior aerodynamic changes, without any modifications to the engine.