Tesla, as everyone knows, may be very tight lipped about something having to do with the efficiency or specs of its coming automobiles. What we do know (or suppose we all know) is that it has delivered 36 Tesla Semi Class 8 tractors to PepsiCo and Frito-Lay in California. 21 of them are in use on the Pepsi distribution heart in Sacramento and the opposite 15 are servicing the Frito-Lay distribution heart in Modesto.
Not too long ago, the North American Council For Freight Effectivity visited Pepsi’s Sacramento location, the place it spoke with drivers, managers, and representatives of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to be taught extra about how the Tesla Semi performs in real-world driving. They put collectively a 12-minute-long video that solutions a number of the questions individuals have concerning the Semi.
PepsiCo makes use of 18 of the 21 Tesla Semis for deliveries inside a 100 mile (160 km) radius of its distribution heart. The vehicles function in two shifts with a number of stops that may require drivers to cease as many as 12 to fifteen instances alongside the route.
In line with Amanda DeVoe, the director of transformation and technique for PepsiCo, utilizing electrical automobiles for these brief journeys between the corporate’s bottling warehouse in Sacramento and supply places is especially helpful. Dejan Antunovic, the top of electrification, stated the remaining three models will certainly be used for lengthy distances of 250 to 450 miles (400 to 725 km). Tesla formally says the electrical truck has a variety of 500 miles (over 800 km) when totally loaded.
Picture courtesy of Tesla
The Tesla Semi is a Class 8 tractor, which suggests it could have a gross weight of 80,000 kilos, together with the trailer. Sharp-eyed readers will word that vehicles within the video carry a gross weight score of 82,000. That’s as a result of federal laws permit them to be 2,000 kilos heavier to account for the additional weight of the batteries.
So, how a lot does a Tesla Semi weigh? Nobody is aware of and Tesla isn’t saying. In line with Onsite, a trucking business web site, a Class 8 tractor can weigh wherever from 10,000 kilos to 25,000 kilos relying on its meant use. We will assume the Semi is on the heavier finish of that scale. We nonetheless don’t have any details about costs, dimension of the battery pack, or effectivity.
Nevertheless, Antunovic says the Tesla Semi can recapture sufficient power from its regenerative braking system rolling downhill from the Donner Cross within the Sierra Nevada mountains to just about equal the power wanted to climb up that grade. He says PepsiCo achieves a median effectivity of 1.7 kWh per mile (1.1 kWh per km) with the Tesla Semi totally loaded. The Tesla web site claims an effectivity of “lower than 2 kWh per mile,” in order that half is nearly spot on.
PepsiCo has 4 750 kW chargers at its depot in Sacramento, though Tesla says the Semi can settle for as much as 1000 kW of charging energy. The 4 chargers required SMUD to put in a brand new provide trunk and substation to satisfy the wants of the Tesla Semi fleet. Regardless that the chargers should not as highly effective because the vehicles can deal with, they nonetheless permit them to be recharged and again on the street in below 45 minutes.
The Semi has three electrical motors, with one optimized for acceleration and the opposite two optimized for environment friendly cruising. You’ll discover within the video how far ahead the driving force sits, which affords a panoramic view of the street forward.
We will surmise that the vehicles already in service are offering loads of suggestions to Tesla and the teachings realized will probably be utilized to enhancing the vehicles when the time comes to start quantity manufacturing.
PepsiCo is totally dedicated to utilizing electrical automobiles at its Sacramento distribution heart. It makes use of battery-powered yard tractors to shuttle semi trailers round within the yard and has a fleet of Ford e-Transit vans for servicing its fleet of vehicles. It additionally makes use of battery-powered forklifts to maneuver pallets round inside its warehouse and to load the trailers that will probably be pulled by its Tesla Semi tractors.
Tesla Mannequin S & Mannequin X Commonplace Vary Introduced
In a shock transfer, Tesla introduced this week it’s now providing so-called “customary vary” variations of the Mannequin S and Mannequin X. Each are priced $10,000 lower than the long-range variations of these automobiles. In every case, the battery pack is similar to the one fitted to the common automobiles however is software program restricted to cut back out there capability.
In line with a Sawyer Merritt publish on social media, the Mannequin S Commonplace Vary begins at $78,490 and has 320 miles of vary, whereas the Commonplace Vary Mannequin X begins at $88,490 and has a 269-mile vary. Tesla up to now has provided some Mannequin S sedans with software-limited batteries that might be unlocked later to get again to full capability — for a charge, after all — however Merritt says “Tesla doesn’t plan to supply firmware upgrades to unlock extra vary or efficiency sooner or later.”
The Mannequin S and X made up solely 3.4% of Tesla’s H1 deliveries however are thought-about vital for its revenue margins. The beginning worth of the Mannequin S has now dropped by $26,500 because the starting of 2023, whereas the Mannequin X has come down by $32,500, based on an e mail acquired on the CleanTechnica world communications heart from Inside Enterprise.
Tesla makes use of LFP batteries for the usual vary variations of the Mannequin 3 and Mannequin Y, however Merritt claims that isn’t the case for the Mannequin S and Mannequin X automobiles. The battery packs are the identical as these used for the Lengthy Vary fashions and each automobiles nonetheless have dual-motor powertrains. What they don’t have is similar efficiency.
In line with the Tesla web site, peak energy is 493 kW (670 hp) for the Lengthy Vary variations of each automobiles however solely 381 kW (491 hp) for the Commonplace Vary automobiles. Acceleration to 60 mph takes 3.7 seconds for the Mannequin S Commonplace Vary and 4.0 seconds for the Mannequin X Commonplace Vary. The highest velocity is 155 mph for each variations of the Mannequin X and 149 mph for each variations of the Mannequin S. Each variants can cost with as much as 250 kW of energy at Supercharger places.
In line with Tesla’s US web site, deliveries will begin as early as September. The brand new Commonplace Vary variations should not but listed within the configurator in Europe.
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