[VKumar]

So we have got a truck which can do 0-100 in 5 seonds.

Let me repeat:
A truck doing 0-100 in 5 seconds

Imagine you sitting in your Skoda vRS on a signal with this truck silently standing parallel to you, lights go green and boom; he overtakes your darling whose engine is revving like hell with auto tranny in S mode.

More humiliation needed? The driver will smile too and say "puny creatures". Remember this man, anyone?

Youtube will soon get flooded with trucks doing such acts on the highways:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbOABnnODyo

Video from which the pic is taken:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LTL9c4FRwE

[aaychat]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

Tesla is the new Apple.Their Semi truck will rule 700 billion $ industry!
What an amazing product.

Though a big fan of Musk and his companies, I would not be so sure about this. No doubt that the launch was an example in showmanship (much like Apple Keynotes were) and that it is a revolutionary product. It will also find a market but Tesla seems to be stretching it's hands and legs far and wide without being able to set solid ground to verticals they have already dipped their fingers into.



Case in point is the Model 3. Most of the 500,000+ people who paid $1000 up-front for the Model 3 still don't have a definitive delivery date for their vehicles due to an increasing list of problems like steel welding (Model 3 is made of steel as it's cheaper unlike the aluminum Model S) being faced by the Assembly Line in Fremont, CA and the Battery Gigafactory in Nevada.

Musk himself said "We're going to go through at least six months of production hell".



They have produced just 260 units in the last quarter compared to a 1,500 target for September alone with plans to ramp up to 20,000 a month by the year's end.



The problem it seems is the fact that they skipped a few essential assembly line prototyping steps that other manufacturers usually undertake leading to unforeseen problems during actual production.

They announced that the truck would begin production in 2019 and would be seen on the roads in 2020 but given how things are going, I would not count on that as a sure thing.

That aside, unlike in the case of the Model S, X and 3 which were truly unlike anything anyone was making, the Semi-truck is more like their Roadster i.e, there is competition.

The competition comes from established players as well as startups. Many have showcased their products before Tesla did and some even have them plying on the roads already. Some are conventional compared to Tesla's showcase whereas others like the Einride will truly 'blow your mind'. :P

Not all of them are makers of electric trucks though. Some are self-driving truck software companies, some are promoting hydrogen fuel-cell powered trucks that won't need refueling for 1million miles whereas others are just making electric drive trains for other manufacturers. All of them can be considered a direct or indirect competition to Tesla's product specially if them team up to explore synergies.

Without going into much detail, I will list the ones I am aware of and provide links for further exploration.

Of the established players, we have:

1. Daimler Fuso E-Canter

Daimler, the parent for BharatBenz claims that it was the first fully electric light truck in the world. It should be noted, that it has a stated range of just 100km which isn't a bad start given that it is on sale in 2017 and is meant for the city. It is also a lot more conventional than the Tesla truck and also has a transmission that powers the wheels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4GozBbfl2U

2. Cummins AEOS

The engine maker Cummins also demonstrated a Semi dubbed Aeos that will go into production in 2019 with an extended range (300 miles) version that will come in a year later.
What is interesting is that Cummins will not actually be making a truck but will provide the battery electronics systems to others which helps to level the playing field for smaller players.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2SGUGMlNAU

3. Volkswagen E-Delivery


Desperate to shake off the negative image that it earned itself following the Dieselgate scandal, VAG is betting $1.7bn on it's e-products and is looking to expedite programs.
They have partnered with Navistar International (The Mahindra buddies) to launch a medium-duty all electric Semi in the US market around 2019 as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x1FkEPC-ts

Then there are startups:


1. Nikola One

These guys are gunning for a totally different technology. Hydrogen. It is slated to have an 800-1200 mile range and zero emissions. Fill up time is 15 mins. On paper, that's much better than what the Tesla truck offers. What's more is that they are offering free fuel for 1 million miles!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLidTCqAAtY

2. Embark

These guys have a laser focus on developing self-driving technologies for trucking at a time when most of the companies are focussed on self-driving car technology.
They have clients like Electrolux and Ryder who are already using their trucks to move things around the US.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIbf17-KRDM

3. Einride T-Pod

By far, the most revolutionary of the lot, Einride pitches it as the next generation's self-driving, electric propulsion disruptive transport solution. The most distinctive feature is the fact that these 'Pods' are completely driverless! They have apparently already built their first prototype and are testing it with plans to launch it on Swedish highways by 2018 where they aren't technically illegal.




These are the ones I know of. I am sure there are many more I don't know of. All said and done, Tesla will probably be a dominant player but will not be without competition which is a great thing!

[aim120]

Tesla is already have some big customers for this semi, It's been reported that Wall Mart will begin pilot testing them.

[Highh5]

Tesla unveiled their All Electric Semi Truck and Roadster EV and left the world flabbergasted again.
All Electric Semi Truck has a Range of 500 Miles with full load on Highway speeds.Truck can attain the speed of 96 Kmph in 5 seconds which is quite fast keeping in mind the GVW.It consists of four independent Drive Trains powering the bringing the front and rear wheels in motion. It can charge upto 80% within half an hour with the new Hyper Charge Technology.
Just when everybody thought that the event is going to wrap up Tesla showcased their first ever Roadster EV which is a four seater. It's roof is detachable and has a storage space too.With a claimed top speed of over 402kph and a driving range of 1,000km on a single charge from the 200kW battery pack, the Roadster is driven by three motors sending power to all-four-wheels. It can attain speed of 96Kmph(60 Miles) in 1.9 seconds.
Well, I feel happy to have witnessed this kind of revolution in automobile Industry. I believe autonomous cars and EV cars will completely change the way we move all together in this upcoming decade.Two to Three decades back, people have questions on even the production of electric cars on a large scale, being successful is a different question altogether. And now everything is unfolding and taking place at such a pace, it's unbelievable sometimes.
Tesla according to me has changed the game altogether, waiting for them to arrive in India though recently they have chosen China over India for their EV production plant which will further delay their entry on Indian subcontinent.

Unveiling Video Link

[ACM]

Good Move.

Next a set of 2 SUVs would be great to have. The world is not going to give up on the SUV trend so if electric cars have to be for the masses, we need to have mid to large size SUV's to be fully electric powered.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by aaychat

Though a big fan of Musk and his companies, I would not be so sure about this. No doubt that the launch was an example in showmanship (much like Apple Keynotes were) and that it is a revolutionary product. It will also find a market but Tesla seems to be stretching it's hands and legs far and wide without being able to set solid ground to verticals they have already dipped their fingers into.

Case in point is the Model 3. Most of the 500,000+ people who paid $1000 up-front for the Model 3 still don't have a definitive delivery date for their vehicles due to an increasing list of problems like steel welding (Model 3 is made of steel as it's cheaper unlike the aluminum Model S) being faced by the Assembly Line in Fremont, CA and the Battery Gigafactory in Nevada.

Musk himself said "We're going to go through at least six months of production hell".



They have produced just 260 units in the last quarter compared to a 1,500 target for September alone with plans to ramp up to 20,000 a month by the year's end.

I have been following Tesla for the last 3 years almost everyday. Regarding the Model 3 being delayed is only half true. When they revealed it first time last year, it was supposed to go into production late 2017. But this year Elon revised those estimates and tweeted saying it will be into volume production by year end. But the issues in production line pushed it back to original plan.

But still that delay wont be a big problem as there are no mass market high range electric cars at the moment in the market. The nearest one is Chevy bolt but that has limited production from the beginning (around 2 to 3K per month) and costs more than base Model 3. All other companies have only announcements till now and most of them wont be out for another 2-3 years.

Regarding trucks, none of the trucks you mentioned come close to the Semi's range and performance and all those will take at least 1-2 years to go into production. About startup truck companies like Nikola, they will end up like Faraday future, lucid motors because they don't have moneys to make into production.

[BLACKBLADE]

Posting a few pictures of the Tesla's electric semi-truck, taken from Techcrunch, for your viewing pleasure.

Here is the link to Team-BHP news article.

[BeantownThinker]

The semi sure does look futuristic. I wonder how much of the design elements will make it to the road version.

In the above pictures I noticed that the driver's seat is placed at the centre. If the semi were to make its way to India (looks unlikely in the near future), is a centre placed driver's seat allowed as per RTO regulations?

[volkman10]

Tesla’s new electric semi truck is already finding buyers. Walmart, along with several other companies, confirmed having ordered Tesla Semi trucks following the unveiling yesterday.

Walmart being a perfect buyer for Tesla’s new electric truck and sure enough, the company jumped on the opportunity and announced that it ordered 15 new Tesla trucks

They say that they will use 5 of those trucks in the US and 10 more in Canada.

Freight company J.B. Hunt also confirmed plan to buy Tesla Semi trucks today

Canada’s grocery giant Loblaws confirmed an order of 25 Tesla Semi trucks. More are coming too.

LINK

[sgiitk]

Wow. They are going places and are set to dominate all segments of the EV market. Makes sense to spread into all areas. After all they are related. I look forward to Tesla in India.

Why not get some of them in the form of buses in Delhi. Delhi has hundreds of crores in the environment cess sitting in its coffers. Remember EVs have a lower maintenance overhead (good for us, and bad for the Babus & netas).

[sushantr5]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

The semi sure does look futuristic. I wonder how much of the design elements will make it to the road version.

In the above pictures I noticed that the driver's seat is placed at the centre. If the semi were to make its way to India (looks unlikely in the near future), is a centre placed driver's seat allowed as per RTO regulations?

It is not a concept. It is actual prototype. It may get some small changes but final version will look exactly similar.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Why not get some of them in the form of buses in Delhi. Delhi has hundreds of crores in the environment cess sitting in its coffers. Remember EVs have a lower maintenance overhead (good for us, and bad for the Babus & netas).

Acutally, there is already another company called Proterra making long range all-electric buses. Their buses have electric ranges from 68 miles to 426 miles. These buses are already being deployed by many transport authorities in USA.

https://www.proterra.com/

Twitter link:
https://twitter.com/Proterra_Inc

[sri_tesla]

Tesla truck was pre-ordered by some of the largest companies. Many of them are ordering to test it seems. Based on results there will definitely more in future.

Loblaw (Canada's largest supermarket chain): 25
Walmart: 15
JB Hunt (USA's 3rd largest truck operator): number unknown
Meijir (US retail chain): 4

Loblaw announced earlier this month that they will move their entire cargo fleet to electric by 2030.

[sgiitk]

Mr sri_tesla all very fine, but what about 'mera bharat mahan'. I guess our sarkar's are still to find their cuts.

[V.Narayan]

Very heartening to see that Elon Musk is the disrupter needed for the automotive industry. Disrupters are bad news for entrenched players and great news for customers. Disrupters change the way we buy and use products and services; they change the way we even think of the product - AirBnB, Lyft, Uber; Google and Facebook from the last decade; Amazon from the 1990s and even our humble M800, in its own way, from the 1980s. In the next several years, unless they change, innovate and get a whole lot leaner I would not be surprised if some marquee names such as General Motors, Chrysler-Fiat might disappear before 2035. Not so long ago names like Pan Am, Woolworths, Hindustan Motors, Nokia, Compaq, Morris were everyday business names - but no longer.