Tesla Semi's "thermonuclear explosion-proof glass (according to EM)" - ALON® Transparent Ceramic aka Transparent Aluminum

[TSemi]

Not mentioned yet is the glass(windshield/windscreen and windows) in the Tesla Semi.

A big advantage of ALON® is there will never be any chipped or broken windshields from rocks or some other debris.
Elon said that on average truck windshields are replaced about once a year(I'm guessing from chips and cracks from rocks mostly)

The company that makes ALON® is SURMET: Surmet - Global leader in Transparent Ceramics Manufacturing | ALON® - Aluminum Oxynitride | Magnesium Aluminate Spinel | Lightweight Transparent Armor | Infrared Optics

"Best known for its ALON® Transparent Ceramic (also known as Transparent Aluminum), Surmet is a pioneer in other advanced technologies including IR Optics Materials, Optical Coatings, Precision Optics Fabrication, Lightweight Transparent Armor design and solutions, and other related products."

 

[thesmokingman]

They need to get that glass on SEXY cars asap.

 

[ThomasD]

That is some expensive glass.
How much does ALON glass cost?


$10 to $15 per square inch

How Much Does Transparent Aluminum Cost? Commercial aluminum glass costs somewhere in the range of $10 to $15 per square inch. So, a 1-square-foot panel would cost between $1,440 and $2,160.

 

[TSemi]

That is some expensive glass.
How much does ALON glass cost?


$10 to $15 per square inch

How Much Does Transparent Aluminum Cost? Commercial aluminum glass costs somewhere in the range of $10 to $15 per square inch. So, a 1-square-foot panel would cost between $1,440 and $2,160.

It's not cheap that's for sure. Tesla will get a discount from the premium price but will still cost more than typical auto/truck glass. How much more is anyones guess.

It is bullet proof

Oh and you can't get ALON® as an option on Kenworth or Peterbilt or Volvo or Freightliner tractors!
It might catch on in the future. Tesla is always years ahead of everyone else Just ask Sandy Munro.

 

[ThomasD]

Are you able to reach those side mirrors from the inside of the cab to clean them? Even standing on the running board of the truck they look very hard to reach. In the pictures and videos those mirrors look like they stick out quiet a ways. Is it just an optical illusion?

 

[ElectricIAC]

Has Franz tested this yet?

 

[scottf200]

Are you able to reach those side mirrors from the inside of the cab to clean them? Even standing on the running board of the truck they look very hard to reach. In the pictures and videos those mirrors look like they stick out quiet a ways. Is it just an optical illusion?

One of a truckers complaints actually.

Truck driver exposes major problems in new long-haul electric Tesla Semi

TESLA has delivered the first examples of its new electric Semi truck to Frito-Lay on December 1st. And one trucker went on Twitter to highlight everything he believes is wrong …

www.the-sun.com

This door placement forces a trucker to enter before walking a few steps forward to get behind the wheel.
Oryński wrote: “You [Tesla] are wasting cab space for a corridor basically.”
If Semi drivers want to exit their right-side door, they have to awkwardly cross over a passenger seat interlocking with the driver’s seat.
... This professional trucker’s final critique of the Semi’s design had to do with the vehicle’s long extended side mirrors.
Oryński said: “You can’t reach them [the Semi’s side mirrors] from inside, and you can’t reach them from outside as they are too high.
“I can go on. Bottom line is that this vehicle is a rich boy’s toy, not a practical, working vehicle because its designers have no clue about the realities of transport.”

 

[ThomasD]

When you work for a company you don't have much of a choice in the vehicle they make you drive

 

[thesmokingman]

One of a truckers complaints actually.

Truck driver exposes major problems in new long-haul electric Tesla Semi

TESLA has delivered the first examples of its new electric Semi truck to Frito-Lay on December 1st. And one trucker went on Twitter to highlight everything he believes is wrong …

www.the-sun.com

That's like the same complaints on any Tesla. Where are my dials and knobs? I want to touch my mirrors! It's kind of funny...

 

[scottf200]

That's like the same complaints on any Tesla. Where are my dials and knobs? I want to touch my mirrors! It's kind of funny...

Truckers do things daily for their safety and ours in their professional jobs. They know what others in their jobs do on a regular basis.
It seems ignorant to disregard their knowledge. If they feel it is a regular thing to clean their mirrors and windshield when they refuel or take breaks, then why would we pretend we know more than they do about how their industry works.

I've heard the same several complaints as this trucker has as I've read at other sites and forums from professional truckers.

 

[thesmokingman]

Truckers do things daily for their safety and ours in their professional jobs. They know what others in their jobs do on a regular basis.
It seems ignorant to disregard their knowledge. If they feel it is a regular thing to clean their mirrors and windshield when they refuel or take breaks, then why would we pretend we know more than they do about how their industry works.

I've heard the same several complaints as this trucker has as I've read at other sites and forums from professional truckers.

The mirrors are powered. And safety? You talk of safety what about the regen downhill saving brakes, the traction control preventing jack knifes? They are choosing to things to look down on it and not the improvements to actual safety. This type of criticism is par for the course when it comes to Teslas imo.

 

[scottf200]

The mirrors are powered. And safety? You talk of safety what about the regen downhill saving brakes, the traction control preventing jack knifes? They are choosing to things to look down on it and not the improvements to actual safety. This type of criticism is par for the course when it comes to Teslas imo.

We all have experience driving passenger cars. My point is to listen to professionals that drive other vehicles for a living and not mock their opinions.

The side mirrors are powered and lower so they be cleaned?

I was only talking about this:
Oryński said: “You can’t reach them [the Semi’s side mirrors] from inside, and you can’t reach them from outside as they are too high.

Obviously, likely all electric semi-trucks the regen will be an amazing benefit to them and other drivers.

 

[TSemi]

Are you able to reach those side mirrors from the inside of the cab to clean them? Even standing on the running board of the truck they look very hard to reach. In the pictures and videos those mirrors look like they stick out quiet a ways. Is it just an optical illusion?

There are also cameras on both mirrors. The cameras view are on the monitors(driver sees both cameras on the left and right monitors). Watch video starting at 22:20

June 26, 2019 CARandDRIVER:

Why Car Designers Are Waging War against Side Mirrors

Although U.S. regulations won't allow camera mirrors yet, this could eventually be designers' second victory after winning the war to put absurdly large wheels on every car on the face of earth.

www.caranddriver.com

"The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which is an alliance of automobile manufacturers, and Tesla petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as far back as 2014 to allow cameras to replace mirrors. In its petition, the carmakers noted that side mirrors increase a vehicle's overall aerodynamic drag by 2 to 7 percent. And a 10 percent reduction in drag, said the automakers, would improve fuel economy by an estimated 3.2 percent." "And the wheels of bureaucracy move slowly and rarely in a consistent direction. So five years after the petition, still no side cameras for you."

If NHTSA ever gets around to approving cameras in lieu of side mirrors Tesla will ditch the mirrors for efficiency.

M-B trucks in Europe have had cameras for about 3 years now.

 

[TSemi]

Truckers do things daily for their safety and ours in their professional jobs. They know what others in their jobs do on a regular basis.
It seems ignorant to disregard their knowledge. If they feel it is a regular thing to clean their mirrors and windshield when they refuel or take breaks, then why would we pretend we know more than they do about how their industry works.

I've heard the same several complaints as this trucker has as I've read at other sites and forums from professional truckers.

Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life, published on September 8, 1998, is a bestselling seminal work and motivational business fable by Spencer Johnson. Wikipedia
Originally published: September 8, 1998
Author: Spencer Johnson

 

[Just a Reader]

One of a truckers complaints actually.

Truck driver exposes major problems in new long-haul electric Tesla Semi

TESLA has delivered the first examples of its new electric Semi truck to Frito-Lay on December 1st. And one trucker went on Twitter to highlight everything he believes is wrong …

www.the-sun.com

I posted a special thread on that yesterday. Didn't get any replies.

 

[Just a Reader]

The mirrors are powered. And safety? You talk of safety what about the regen downhill saving brakes, the traction control preventing jack knifes? They are choosing to things to look down on it and not the improvements to actual safety. This type of criticism is par for the course when it comes to Teslas imo.

Heavy trucks and busses haven't used conventional brakes for downhill braking for decades. They use what's called "retarders". Even I as someone who doesn't drive semis knows that.
Modern trucks also have sophisticated braking systems to avoid jackknifing.
That's the reason why this sub-forum would benefit from the input from some people who are actually driving such vehicles professionally.

 

[TSemi]

Correction:
Tesla uses their own patent (Tesla Armor Glass)instead of Aluminum Oxynitride.

Tesla Armor Glass patent reveals 'bulletproof' secret to Cybertruck durability

Tesla rolled out several new patents related to the Cybertruck today, one of them being the “bulletproof” Armor Glass that CEO Elon Musk talked about on several occasions. The Cybertruck’s durability has been one of the vehicle’s most notorious features. The patent describes the multi-layered...

www.teslarati.com

 

[Operator64]

Heavy trucks and busses haven't used conventional brakes for downhill braking for decades. They use what's called "retarders". Even I as someone who doesn't drive semis knows that.
Modern trucks also have sophisticated braking systems to avoid jackknifing.
That's the reason why this sub-forum would benefit from the input from some people who are actually driving such vehicles professionally.

But when people who ACTUALLY drive and OWN semis Try to,provide input you get branded as a “fanboy” when it isn’t what other people want to hear.

 

[Operator64]

Heavy trucks and busses haven't used conventional brakes for downhill braking for decades. They use what's called "retarders". Even I as someone who doesn't drive semis knows that.
Modern trucks also have sophisticated braking systems to avoid jackknifing.
That's the reason why this sub-forum would benefit from the input from some people who are actually driving such vehicles professionally.

more bad information. From someone who admittedly knows northing about trucks. “Retarders” or “jake” brakes are a SUPPLEMENTAL system to ASSIST in slowing down a truck without using 100% of the service brakes. Research ”stab braking”.

 

[Just a Reader]

more bad information. From someone who admittedly knows northing about trucks. “Retarders” or “jake” brakes are a SUPPLEMENTAL system to ASSIST in slowing down a truck without using 100% of the service brakes. Research ”stab braking”.

So what's the supposedly bad information? I didn't claim that retarders are used to bring the semi to a full stop. Yet do you want to claim that semis aren't mostly slowed down by retarders when going downhill, instead of using conventional braking systems? BTW, aren't there different kinds of retarder systems?