Tesla thinks larger, wants to electrify big trucks
After more than a decade of making cars and sport utility vehicle — and, more recently, solar panels — Tesla wants to electrify a new type of vehicle: big trucks.
The company unveiled its electric semi tractor-trailer Thursday night near its design center in Hawthorne (Los Angeles County).
CEO Elon Musk said the semi is capable of traveling 500 miles on an electric
charge and will cost less than a diesel semi considering fuel savings, lower maintenance and other factors. Musk said customers can put down a $5,000 deposit for the semi now and production will begin in 2019.
“We’re confident that this is a product that’s better in every way from a feature standpoint,” Musk told a crowd of Tesla fans gathered for the unveiling.
The move fits with Musk’s stated goal for the company of accelerating the shift to sustainable transportation. Trucks account for nearly a quarter of transportationrelated greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according to government statistics. Tesla also could equip its trucks with the semiautonomous driving features found in its cars, such as automatic braking and lane changing.
Musk said Tesla plans a worldwide network of solar-powered “megachargers” that could get the trucks back up to 400 miles of range after only 30 minutes.
But the semi also piles on the chaos at the Palo Alto company. It’s way behind on production of the Model 3, a new lowercost sedan. It’s also increasing production of solar panels after buying San Mateo’s Solar City last year. Musk has said that Tesla is also working on a pickup truck and a lowercost SUV and negotiating a new factory in China. Meanwhile, the company posted a record loss of $619 million in its most recent quarter.
Musk, too, is being pulled in many directions. He leads rocket maker SpaceX and is dabbling in other projects, including high-speed transit, artificial intelligence research and a new company that’s digging tunnels beneath Los Angeles to alleviate traffic congestion.
“He’s got so much on his plate right now. This could present another distraction from really just making sure that the Model 3 is moved along effectively,” said Bruce Clark, a senior vice president and automotive analyst at Moody’s.
Tesla is venturing into an uncertain market. Demand for electric trucks is expected to grow over the next decade as the United States, Europe and China all tighten their emissions regulations. Electric truck sales totaled 4,100 in 2016, but are expected to grow to more than 70,000 in 2026, according to Navigant Research.
But most of that growth is expected to be for smaller, medium-duty haulers like garbage trucks or delivery vans. Those trucks can have a more limited range of 100 miles or less, which requires fewer expensive batteries. They can also be charged overnight.
Long-haul semitrucks, on the other hand, would be expected to go greater distances, and that would be challenging. Right now, there’s little charging infrastructure on global highways. And charging even a midsize truck would likely require a two-hour stop, cutting into companies’ efficiency and profits, said Brian Irwin, managing director of the North American industrial group for consulting firm Accenture.
Irwin said that truck companies will have to watch the market carefully, because tougher regulations on diesels or an improvement in charging infrastructure could make electric trucks more viable very quickly. Falling battery costs also will help make electric trucks more appealing compared with diesels.