United Parcel Service said Tuesday it will purchase 125 Tesla Semis, the largest order for the all-electric truck to date. UPS has also provided Tesla with real-world UPS trucking lane information as part of the company’s evaluation of the vehicle’s expected performance for the UPS duty cycle, according to a release. UPS frequently partners with... READ FULL ARTICLE
125 isn't the largest. Loblaw in Canada has 285 on order. Canada to Promote Adoption of the Tesla Semi with a $75,000 Rebate
Initial interest is clearly good. But these companies do a _lot_ of evaluation. The tough job will be translating evaluation into acceptance.
Correction coming? Apparently thedrive.com misinterpreted a rueters article https://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKBN1E82DN-OCABS That said
I doubt very much acceptance will be an issue in 2019 (more likely 2020/21) if the specs Tesla gave are legit. 2-3-4 years is more than enough time. By then, there won't be any resistance to EVs and ICE vehicles will be viewed as dinosaurs by a good many people, not just us Tesla enthusiasts.
My son is a package driver for UPS. I hope he will be able to see those nice semis at the hub in the mornings in a few years when he gets to work. Currently his location has about six totally electric package trucks. They charge overnight on a J1772. He drives one occasionally, and he says the range is generally less than 125 miles. UPS needs better all-electric package trucks too!
They also say "Canada" when it is only one province in Canada. And to top it off, the party in Ontario which approved the rebate will probably lose elections next Summer. The conservative party that is leading in the polls has vowed to eliminate all green initiatives.