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I feel you are missing the point. That means that with full load that it will do normal acceleration without the cargo (pallets) being affected (vs loaded down yaris acceleration).I’m always dumbfounded by folks who talk about the trucks quick acceleration capabilities as if it’s something useful
Completely forgetting that most of the time there’s cargo in the trailer that you don’t want flying around everywhere
Our current fleet of Volvo’s have enough torque to accelerate reasonably without shifting the cargo or holding up trafficI feel you are missing the point. That means that with full load that it will do normal acceleration without the cargo (pallets) being affected (vs loaded down yaris acceleration).
Our current fleet of Volvo’s have enough torque to accelerate reasonably without shifting the cargo or holding up traffic
Obviously much slower than cars but again you can’t just go as fast as you want you must consider the cargo
So again this whole “acceleration” thing is impressive only to people not in the trucking industry.
And unfortunately for tesla, those people aren’t buying the semi.
I agree on the hill part, it would definitely be faster. But and I’m only speaking from my experience at our company, we make appointments for deliveries. We don’t send a truck out hoping it makes it there in time. We send it out knowing it’ll get there and will be empty at a certain time. That’s why we can have an entire day planned out for driversActually, faster acceleration means faster deliveries. Long ago, I followed some fleets using singles rather than duals. Because of the lower rolling resistance the run was completed fifteen minutes faster. What made this important was that they got to the destination before closing so that they could unload the same day rather than having to wait overnight to unload. Now this is just one example and obviously not applicable to all. Not having to slow down on hills is how the extra acceleration would be used. In hilly areas that could save a lot of time. Also we're not talking 0-60 in 2.5 seconds either.
My thought about why the general trucking industry isn't purchasing them now is that there aren't enough charging places and the trucks aren't actually shipping yet. Most shipping companies that I have worked with are pretty conservative (they can't afford to purchase equipment that hasn't been tested in real-life applications). It took a long time just to convince them that radial tires really did save them money--and tires are a lot less expensive than trucks. No one is expecting to change the industry overnight.
The thing is that you can spend rolling resistance on extra speed, but of course the fuel use is the same as before.I agree on the hill part, it would definitely be faster. But and I’m only speaking from my experience at our company, we make appointments for deliveries. We don’t send a truck out hoping it makes it there in time. We send it out knowing it’ll get there and will be empty at a certain time. That’s why we can have an entire day planned out for drivers
Also I’m not sure how rolling resistance affected arrival times, if the trucks are traveling at the same speed. That’s interesting
I might not be smart enough to understand what you mean in regards to rolling resistance affecting time of arrival when both trucks drive the same speed.The thing is that you can spend rolling resistance on extra speed, but of course the fuel use is the same as before.
The thing was that particular route couldn't be made from the time of departure (which was fixed) to before the destination closed. Because the truck couldn't be unloaded, it had to wait overnight until the next morning's opening to unload and return. No amount of scheduling could fix that. Sure, it's an edge case, but it was an unexpected result.
Ah. Both trucks don't drive the same speed. Given an engine that produces X amount of power, there are some drive train losses, and tire rolling resistance losses which don't change much as speed increases. There is also aerodynamic loss which increases as speed increases. If the drivetrain and/or tire losses can be reduced, there is more power available to push air, so the truck can go a bit faster.I might not be smart enough to understand what you mean in regards to rolling resistance affecting time of arrival when both trucks drive the same speed.
This is the kind of operation I thought battery swapping would be ideal for. I have no clue if Tesla built that possibility into the semi the way they did in the S.Unfortunately those trucks run nearly non stop between 3 shifts and aren’t sitting idle long enough to charge.
Ah. Both trucks don't drive the same speed. Given an engine that produces X amount of power, there are some drive train losses, and tire rolling resistance losses which don't change much as speed increases. There is also aerodynamic loss which increases as speed increases. If the drivetrain and/or tire losses can be reduced, there is more power available to push air, so the truck can go a bit faster.
If both trucks drove the same speed, there would be some fuel savings, but no difference in arrival time.
Correct, but if the route is in mountainous terrain, a few minutes could still be picked up because it doesn't matter whether you're talking aerodynamic resistance or elevation gain. Power not used to push the tires would be shifted to either. For the example I used in the original post, we're talking about 15 minutes during a day's drive with less powerful trucks (I said long ago . As I recall, the trucks went 73 mph rather than 70 mph.Most modern over-the-road trucks only drive wide-open when climbing a grade. There is usually a significant power reserve when traveling steady-state on the highway, so reducing drivetrain losses would only improve fuel economy.
I'm curious how long it takes to load or unload a truck. Is it possible that in the future Tesla trucks will charge during that time? Obviously that means charging at the docks and an investment.I tried convincing my brother (company owner) to purchase the tesla trucks to replace the local trucks since they’re only driving around a 100 mile radius.
Unfortunately those trucks run nearly non stop between 3 shifts and aren’t sitting idle long enough to charge.
As the fleet manager I’m still going to figure out a way to purchase atleast 1 or 2 of them. The amount of diesel we use really makes the gasoline savings of my tesla seem insignificant. I’d love to reduce that usage while at the same time not impacting our daily operations.
At our terminal the trailers are pre loaded.I'm curious how long it takes to load or unload a truck. Is it possible that in the future Tesla trucks will charge during that time? Obviously that means charging at the docks and an investment.
It just depends. If they are preloaded trailers like AMPd says, then the time is a few minutes because it's just sign, uncouple, and drive away, perhaps picking up the empty trailer that was previously unloaded. If it's palletized goods, likely 10-20 minutes, depending on how far away the fork lift has to travel to stack the pallets, and if there is more than one fork lift doing the unloading. If it's loose objects, such as tires, then it depends on how many people are unloading and palletizing. Might take as long as two hours depending upon the size of the tires. It's really a "how long is a piece of string" question. There are very few unloading situations that would be long enough for a complete charge.I'm curious how long it takes to load or unload a truck. Is it possible that in the future Tesla trucks will charge during that time? Obviously that means charging at the docks and an investment.
I’m always dumbfounded by folks who talk about the trucks quick acceleration capabilities as if it’s something useful
Completely forgetting that most of the time there’s cargo in the trailer that you don’t want flying around everywhere
I tried convincing my brother (company owner) to purchase the tesla trucks to replace the local trucks since they’re only driving around a 100 mile radius.
Unfortunately those trucks run nearly non stop between 3 shifts and aren’t sitting idle long enough to charge.
As the fleet manager I’m still going to figure out a way to purchase atleast 1 or 2 of them. The amount of diesel we use really makes the gasoline savings of my tesla seem insignificant. I’d love to reduce that usage while at the same time not impacting our daily operations.
You can’t always strap every piece down, especially in a van trailer where you’re unable to get inside once it’s loaded, it’s just impossible.As a person who has been behind a semi on an on-ramp, I say "strap down your load and buy a Tesla". Besides, the loading forces are already worse in cornering and braking, if the load is not secured, even bumps can displace it.
Merging is useful. Not backing up traffic at every red light is useful. Regeratuve braking is useful (out of scope comment). Getting away with not securing your load because your truck is slowis just lazy. Edit: May be standard practice, but seems wrong.
Edit: I see your fleet is well powered to begin with, thank you!
(Not that cargo would "fly around" anyway, it would slide on the floor)