Tesla semi truck announced
zdnet.com
zdnet.com
Typical semis carry 300 gallons of diesel and have a 2000 mile range. You would probably need to a 4 to 5 megawatt-hour battery to equal that. At today's price your looking at a million+ dollar battery that weighs 50,000 lbs and would take 40 hours to recharge on a super charger. Just makes no sense.
Lets say by "long haul" they mean 500 miles, still at least a megawatt hour battery that cost 300k, weighs 10k and takes 10 hours to charge. What trucker would buy that?
Perhaps it will be targeted at urban delivery with a even smaller battery.
The Powerwall 2 has a capacity of 200 kWh, costs $5,500 and weighs ~3,500 pounds. So we're looking at 17,500 pounds and $27,500 for that 1 MWh of batteries.
That's about half the minimum gross weight of the truck at a fairly reasonable price compared to the vehicle cost as a whole.
I'm sure there would some significant weight savings using a electric drive versus the large diesel engine + drivetrain. How much savings? I have no idea, but it should significantly cut into the battery weight penalty.
Edit: Looks like a typical heavy duty engine (Cummings ISX15) is only about 3,000 pounds, dry weight. The Model S electric motors are only 70 pounds, so let's say at least one Powerwall is "free" weight-wise.
Also, the ISX15 looks to be >$20,000 for rebuilt engine, so the battery costs look approximately comparable to a traditional engine price.
Musk wants $100/kwh cost from the Gigafactory, but market is currently above $300.
Semi tractors only weigh 15-20k lbs your talking a battery that weighs as much as the tractor. 300 gallons of diesel is 2000 lbs and the engine and transmission is about 3000 lbs. it would be at least 10k heavier which reduce carrying capacity since gross is capped at 88,000 lbs total not to mention space.
That definitely changes the cost/weight/power equations.