TESLA Electric Truck?

[zing]

When the batts wear out he says they're $8k to replace - about 10 years they tell him. So $800/year.

Interesting note about the battery replacement thing is that the battery in an EV is replaced when it lowers past a certain threshhold, like its 500 mile range per change may have decreased to 350 miles after ten years of usage. In a car that 350 mile range is no longer acceptable so it needs a new battery pack, but in a stationary location where the space/weight ratio is not as critical, that is still a very useful battery. This means that the car battery that is being swapped out because it is only at 60-70% recharge capacity, is still a great power bank for a household solar setup or at a charging station where you can take on electricity at nighttime rates, and save it for the daytime charging of your vehicle or even running your household appliances instead of running from the grid at prime time electric rates.

In other words, an EV battery pack that is being replaced can move on to a second life that can last for another decade or more. This might seem like a rare thing today, but in five years from now these used EV batteries are going to be much more common and uses for them will become more and more a plug and play setup. I also expect the resale value of the old battery will go a fair way toward the cost of the new battery for the car.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Maybe not so easy. These are high voltage packs. Also (I just learned) with sensors and heating/cooling lines running through them. They even use the AC to cool the batteries for turbo charge (stupid name) the cells. This aint your mommas golf cart!

 

[prof fate]

The 1/2 ton truck is the number one selling vehicle - not because people tow campers every week either. They are used as CARS.
The payload capacity can show you that - my 04 ford windstar minivan had a higher payload capacity than my 13 silverado 4 door 4x4 - by 25% no less!

I have an F350 now - I might spend 10% of the miles towing, if that. At 9.5MPG I don't drive it a lot, it's a second vehicle and when I need to tow I need a truck - my outback only does 1000lbs satisfactorily (theortically it can do 4k...).

As others have stated, teh tesla truck will be a car most of the time. it will take the boat to the river, the mower to grandmas, the lumber home from home depot.

That is the Big white elephant in the room with these electric trucks,



All Of Them.



Many people use their trucks to tow and the watt hour usage goes through the roof when towing a laden trailer .
TFL did a couple tests with a model X and was burning through a whole charge in around 100 miles.

The reserve charge for towing a substantial weight is going to take some time to overcome.

I think electric cars already are past the tipping point.

Trucks No not Yet.

Hybrid trucks make more sense for now. Or I guess if a person has the money an electric truck can work for towing short distances like under 80 mile round trip, anything farther not so much- better keep the gas or diesel burner for the longer runs with a load.

 

[Oaktree]

Those Tesla cars are extremely complicated and they keep anything to do with them a secret and proprietary. I'm sure, they won't be loosing any money over conventional technology. Apparently, you can't even have body work done on them by another shop. I heard that anyway.

That's something Tesla will need to address before their vehicles ever become something other than a rich man's toy/status symbol. The whole "car has a problem, call them, they'll pick it up and bring it to some repair depot far away, work their magic and bring it back" model is barely good enough when you have a niche product, totally unacceptable for a mainstream vehicle.

The tesla is (according to my friend that owns one) - alum body on a titanium frame. Will last for ever.

OK, you wanns take a trip? Use the Tesla's GPS and it will factor in range, locate 'super chargers' and route you accordingly, you'll recharge (fully in 2 hours) only long enough to get to the next charger. I need a break every 4 hours..the range of a fully charged batt on the hiway, give or take, so no big deal really.

And when was the last time you wore out an electric motor? I got through more transmissions than I do starter motors, blower motors, wiper motors or window motors in my cars.
Audi says 1/2 their cars will be elec by what, 2025? Maybe sooner.

Aluminum may not rust, but it does corrode from road de-icing chemicals.

Yeah, right. Let's plan a road trip around charging stations, not where I want to go. Sorry, no-go.

Yes, I've had electric motors fail, and those weren't ones that put thousands of miles a year on them either. I've replaced way more window or wiper motors than I have transmissions (only one in 55 years of driving).

So Audi is jumping on the EV bandwagon, big whoop. Not exactly an everyman's car. And this is assuming they sell in the numbers projected.

Don't get me wrong, electric propulsion may very well be the way of the future, I just don't see the current battery-based model as anything other than an interim.

I'm not sure what you have against the Avalanche. I wouldn't own one because it wouldn't suit my needs; yet it was good choice for some. (many, apparently, with over 1/2 million sold).

I've always thought that it was a "Wannabe Ridgeline", but that's just one man's opinion. It's not something I would want yet they still sold over a half million units...

Didn't the Avalanche come first? Given the poor sales the Ridgeline has had it makes no sense that anyone would try to copy it.
A friend of mine had one. He loved it. When it came time to replace it he would have gotten another one, but the dealer wouldn't budge on the price, ended up getting a Silverado for $5k less.

I understand not all have yet grasped the paradigm shifts in the worlds of auto and space thanks to the driving forces of Musk and others like him. Few dream dreams of a better future for people and the few that do often struggle to sell the masses on their dreams and get them to buy in like Elon Musk is doing today.

No argument that Musk is a visionary, maybe history will be kind to him, maybe not.
Not sure what you mean by "paradigm shifts", I don't see EVs coming along because of consumer demand, more that they're being imposed upon us by (giving benefit of the doubt here) well meaning but clueless politicians.
Sorry, but this "truck" is a joke...(apparently) designed by someone who has never used a truck for what it was designed to do in their life.

 

[cqaigy2]

Maybe not so easy. These are high voltage packs. Also (I just learned) with sensors and heating/cooling lines running through them. They even use the AC to cool the batteries for turbo charge (stupid name) the cells. This aint your mommas golf cart!

Just design the system to us the sensors and cooling/heating lines.

 

[Jstpssng]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Musk got out of the auto manufacturing business, and concentrated on parts and support (I.E. charging stations )for other manufacturer's EVs.

 

[5030]

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Musk got out of the auto manufacturing business, and concentrated on parts and support (I.E. charging stations )for other manufacturer's EVs.

Whatever Musk does, you can rest assured it will be bankrolled with taxpayer funding. How he rolls.

 

[jjp8182]

yep, had issues with electric motors too .... in fact, other than some quality control issues most of the unscheduled maintenance I've had to do on my truck has been due to electrical components that have failed or are failing. Granted I'm probably an oddity as I've also had light switches fail in a house that's less than 40yrs old. I thought it was the bulb until I put a new bulb in at it didn't work, replaced the switch with a different one and everything worked.

Bottom line is everything fails sooner or later .... and while electric cars might be mechanically simple, I doubt they are simple on software - or safety mechanisms on the battery. Or at least I'd hope there's some decent interlocks on the battery system as I've seen what smaller lithium batteries are capable of when something goes astray or is otherwise mishandled. Starting fires, vaporizing/debonding metal wrenches into dust being a couple of examples.

Don't get me wrong I'm all for using the most efficient method of energy storage/usage possible, and I think electric vehicles have a place/use ...but large batteries and the hazards associated with them seem to be treated as no differently than a battery that a person can easily carry. While I can't say that I've ever heard of a building being evacuated because a filled fuel tank was punctured, I can say I've heard of multiple instances of buildings being evacuated due various types of lithium batteries being punctured (with some of those batteries not being much more than 10-ish pounds in total weight).

I've also seen that more parts isn't always a bad thing - or at least if it's done to reduce the total cost of the inevitable repairs.

As always just my :2cents: ...which may or may not be worth that much.

 

[5030]

Being as good as I am about 'finding the smoke in electric motors' (I can and have found the smoke in many including good name brands like Metabo and Mikata), I wonder what finding 'the smoke' in a Tesla drive motor would be like....

Maybe like a good burnout with rubber tires but instead of rubber smoke, it would be smoking windings....

Bet that would really stink.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Why Teslas Are Bad At Towing (Today) - YouTube

For those interested in the math.