Last night, Elon Musk unveiled the Tesla Semi, and One More Thing.
Oh, what a ride(s).
Musk spent the days before Twitter-teasing the event:
Tesla Semi Truck unveil to be webcast live on Thursday at 8pm! This will blow your mind clear out of your skull and into an alternate dimension. Just need to find my portal gun …
It can transform into a robot, fight aliens and make one hell of a latte
This appears to be a game-changer for what is widely believed to a resistant-to-change industry. However, WalMart and JB Hunt have announced plans to buy some of Tesla’s Semis, so there are some forward-thinking individuals in the industry.
Tesla Semi Basics:
- 0-60, no trailer or empty trailer: 5 seconds
- 0-60, 80,000 pound load: 20 seconds
- 65mph on a 5% grade versus 45mph (earning 50% more per mile than a diesel truck
- 500 mile range
- Lower drag coefficient than a Bugatti Chiron (.36 versus .38)
- Completely flat bottom
- 4 independent motors on rear wheels
- No gear changing (no gears to change!)
- Center seating for complete visibility
- 400 miles of range in 30 minutes
- Charge at Origin or Destination
- Guaranteed $.07 electricity rate to refuel
- Megachargers worldwide
- Safety for everyone: (Enhanced Autopilot, Automatic Lane Keeping, Forward Collision Warning)
- Jack-knifes are totally eliminated
- 1,000,000 mile warranty against breakdown
- Brakepads last forever.
- Thermonuclear explosion-proof glass (apparently glass-breakage is a major downtime for semi rigs)
- Phone app provides service, diagnostics, predictive maintenance notifications, comm. with dispatch
It turns out these is some cargo in the truck…
You Gotta Watch This! Plaid Speed with the Upcoming Roadster:
Tesla Roadster Basics (BASE Model):
- 0-60: 1.9 seconds fastest ever
- 0-100: 4.2 seconds Fastest ever
- 1/4 mile: 8.9 seconds fastest ever
- 250+ MPH top speed
- 200KWh battery
- 3 motors
- 620 mile range (LA to San Francisco and back on a single charge; “a smackdown to gas cars”; driving a gasoline sports car is gonna feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche” )
- 10,000 nm Torque (“if you don’t know what that means… it’s just stupid!”)
- 4 seats (Hopefully the rears seats are better than a Jaguar XKS)
Internal Combustion Engine: Ask not for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for thee.
Cummins stock is down 5% today.
More to come, especially on the New Tom Kirkham Show tomorrow at 10am Central.
More coverage from The Verge.
@Elon – why wasn’t I invited?