‘So to Speak’ with Dhiyanesh Ravichandran – The curious case of Tesla Semi

Tesla is fairly ahead of global automakers in fashioning path-breaking electric vehicles. It is only a matter of time before the company pioneers electric trucks as well.

When Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk shared a picture of Tesla Semi hooked with a car carrying trailer full of Tesla Model 3 electric cars recently, the automotive world woke up to a sudden wisdom. “That’s the sustainable future in one picture frame” folks re-tweeted, realising that this is nothing but a glimpse of an imminent future – an automotive and logistics ecosystem that is all powered by zero-emission vehicles and renewable energy. Even personally to me, it’s definitely exciting to imagine such a convincing future, something that seemed way far-off, but actually not that far!

Because, the revelation is amusing on two counts. Firstly, we are lot more convinced without too many reservations that the currently known battery technology is fairly reliable, practical, and cost-effective for passenger vehicles, especially private cars, motorcycles, and even city buses to an extent. But commercial trucking is a different ball game altogether, and the viability of electrification meeting the future needs and priorities of commercial hauling is always brought into question, not just in terms of costs, but essentially the technology in itself.

Back when Tesla revealed its electric truck in 2017, its specs and performance promises simply blew our minds and crushed all our suspicions. More than its innovative design that helps achieve an unprecedented drag coefficient of 0.36 for a truck, the Tesla Semi promises an insane torque for 0-60 mph acceleration in just 20 seconds and a speed of 65 mph going up a 5 per cent grade – all with a container full of load, with battery-pack configurations for 300 and 500 miles on a single charge, a ‘mega charger’ adding 400 miles driving range in just 30 minutes, and enhanced ‘Autopilot’ features!

The claimed driving range and charging duration almost rises to a stage of technological breakthrough. Certain secondary data points from transporters who participated in Tesla Semi test programs do corroborate that most of the specs are real, which brings to my second point as to why this electric truck makes me ridiculously curious. Tesla is neoteric in every sense, to the extent that some even find it unconvincing as a full-fledged automaker. Yet, it appears more capable and determined to take the lead in electrified trucking, which is startling to note. It hints to me that the ‘electrified’ future can also be shocking in ways we can’t even imagine now!

Time-honoured truck makers like Volvo, Daimler and Paccar are also developing battery-electric semi concepts, but do note the operative word here – ‘concept’. It is only in the light truck and rigid-axle categories that these OEMs have made considerable progress towards production-ready models. The weight and cost of available battery cells post serious practicality challenges for them to achieve Tesla Semi’s promise, as Daimler’s Head of Trucks Martin Daum rightly commented that Tesla Semi defies laws of physics and is passing them by if true.

Undeniably, we still have a great deal of scepticism regarding Tesla Semi, especially with regard to its battery pack, as some significant incremental advancements in Li-ion battery or a breakthrough with new type of batteries would be required to keep up its performance claims. The company has also delayed the e-truck’s production to next year, and has not even confirmed a production location yet. It’s financial health and wavering priorities are also often questioned.

It’s reasonably hard to believe that Tesla would surpass the arising EV technology and specs of some of the established truck makers of the world. Nevertheless, we must remember that a similar state of things happened with Model S plug-in electric car, which shook the EV industry in an unprecedented way. It is not impossible for the company to replicate the same for trucks.

I’d love to know what you think; email your views to dhiyanesh@motorindiaonline.in