so after the incident where a semi CAU on fire leading to a 16-hour Highway closure the initial cause was identified as the driver falling asleep resulting in a significant impact on the Tesla truck's 900 kwatt hour battery package it's clear this was not Tesla's fault and we hope you understand that after the incident Tesla's rolled out numerous updates for the semi Elon still ramping up production of electric trucks to meet demand as evidenced by the many sightings of new Tesla semis at G Nevada we'll also be talking some of the new design changes and potential battery modifications in the upcoming version of the semi TR which seems necessary after an incident that has got all of us talking all right let's get into more right now one Tesla semi is growing and new batteries elon's goal of producing 50,000 Tesla semis a year is becoming increasingly feasible as Tesla ramps up efforts on both fronts at the gig of AD Factory although currently focused on producing a limited number of semis for internal use and customer deliveries is steadily boosting output at the same time construction of the semif factory is accelerating with the expectation that the first electric trucks could come off the production line next year one notable point is that although not officially announced yet there are signs of Tesla semi Gen 2 that might be coming soon Dan Priestley revealed Tesla plans to introduce a new electric truck model with a sleeper cabin which would allow drivers to make Long Haul deliveries a lot more comfortably however the release of this version still depends on the progress of the new new Factor's construction and the deployment of mega chargers it's expected that this higher-end model will be produced at the new Factory as gig Nevada currently only has the capacity to produce the Prototype version of the semi currently the gigafactory Nevada is producing an average of 10 to 20 semis a week estimates suggest that Tesla could add at least 500 and nearly a thousand of these electric trucks this year some leaks are indicating that around 23 new semis have been spotted near the factory based on footage from Tesla's semi Advocate and Giga Nevada drone a right now the semi still uses the 2170 with 900 KW capacity but soon going to switch to a new battery type and this is a necessary step especially after that fire accident that happened on the highway with the Tesla semi clearly after the semi fire incident that lasted 12 plus hours on the highway many of us are hoping that Tesla uses lfp batteries for the semi due to the safety features however this signing seems unlikely to happen we don't deny that lfp batteries are safer because of their chemical properties being less prone to over heating or exploding nevertheless we firmly believe lfps are too weak to provide the performance and range needed for a semi and they'd also make it a lot heavier due to the larger battery pack instead the new 4680 is the intended replacement for the 2170 cells that are being currently used in the big rig maybe you don't know about the expansion of the plant Nevada that's ramped up as reported two new production facilities are going to be part of this expansion one for battery cells of the 4680 format with a capacity of 100 gwatt hours a year and another for serious production of the Tesla semi- El electric truck it's pretty hard to believe that the semi wouldn't use cells produced in the same Factory especially since Tesla gains significant cost benefits from this furthermore the semi's been delayed for a long time waiting for the 4680 cells so the shortage of the 46s over an extended period is likely the reason why the number of electric trucks has only hit around 100 units from 2022 to 23 according to Tesla the T of the 4680 batteries is now higher and that could be good news for electric trucks now don't get us wrong we are suggesting that the Tesla semi is soon going to switch to 4680 batteries but not immediately the units currently being made at gig Nevada still use the 217s and if our assumptions are correct it's going to be when the semi Factory is completed and the new semi Gen 2 is produced that the electric trucks will finally feature the 4680 batteries can't wait the 4680 batteries are a lot more suitable for semi trucks than the 217s not only because of their higher performance but also just because of the safety advant ages they offer with an improved design the 4680 battery features Superior thermal management and that helps dissipate the heat more effectively and reduces the risk of thermal runaway a condition that can lead to fires or even explosions when the battery overheats the tablet design of the 4680 not only Cuts internal resistance but also enhances temperature control making the 4680 safer when operating at a high performance its larger size allows the 4680 to be integrated into the vehicle structure improving durability and crash protection this is particularly crucial for trucks like the semi where safety and performance are key factors with a 4680 battery the semi not only achieves a greater range but also provides added Peace of Mind regarding safety ready to meet the demanding requirements of future Freight transport however it's clear the battery safety is not the only factor for the electric truck safety driver Behavior plays a big role as well the fact is even the least safe lithium ion battery PCS would not cause a fire explosion without a collision in the recent fire incident although it's unclear whether the driver actually fell asleep or lost control or both it's evident that the semi is missing something and that's precisely the full self-driving system good news Tesla is indeed preparing to integrate full self-driving into the semi as shown in recent footage two Tesla semi will soon have FSD truck accidents caused by fatigue are becoming a big issue that's quite hard to ignore it's not surprising given the intense pressure put on drivers to cover long distances without enough rest and that leads to mental exhaustion according to Consumer Shield data over 73,000 truck accidents happen in the us alone this year a staggering figure that shocks all of us from the get-go since the semi was first introduced in 2017 many have seen it not just as a regular electric truck but as a revolutionary advancement for the transportation industry elon's confident that the semile not only help companies cut costs but also provide safety on challenging roads especially those steep incl lines you may not know this but according to Elon the semi is about 26 Cents cheaper per mile compared to a diesel truck with an energy consumption of 1. 7 kwatt hours a mile a 500 mile trip cost just 213 bucks that's assuming that the electricity price of a 25 cent per kilowatt hour on the other hand driving a diesel truck would require close to 77 gallons of gas at 490 a gallon potentially cting over $370 370 versus 2113 mind boy just lowering the fuel cost alone can disrupt the whole industry in addition to cost efficiency many former drivers have openly shared that if the semi had gotten lest earlier their careers might have been extended so beyond the upgrade to include a sleeper cab for the next version It's particularly exciting for us to hear that semi is set to come with a full self-driving system this news has left many including us astounded the combination is truly essential and could be key to preventing tragic accidents on the highway and that's a critical need in the transportation industry right now specifically a semi was spotted undergoing a testing near the gigafactory in Nevada leading many online to speculate whether the vehicle might be testing its autopilot and full self-driving capabilities footage captured by Henrik Zayn also shows the semi- equip with data collection devices appear to be related to FSD testing while Tesla's electric semis feature Hardware capable of using both autopilot and FSD the system is being configured for the semi and these tests could be part of that development some of the users in the thread said that the hardware could also include lar likely to test the system against tela's camera based Vision on which autopilot and FSD supervised or based looking closely here at this semi it's not hard to see the large array of sensors and Equipment of visible just above the front windshield we think that there may be cameras built into it as well and you might not know this but a semi- prototype was spotted back in 2018 and determined that there were 26 exterior cameras on the rig other Tesla models have just eight exterior cameras for autopilot Sentry parking our guess is that Tesla might be testing the autopilot FSD capabilities of the semi on highways and that makes sense as electric trucks they're going to spend most their time on highways and testing self-driving software in this environment is definitely going to help out our drivers with better handling Long Haul scenarios although Priestley and Elon have not yet disclosed whether the semi is going to feature FSD technology it's hard to see the development team overlooking this opportunity to integrate such advanced technology especially after that recent high-profile Collision what are your thoughts on the implementation of FSD in a semi Could This truly be a breakthrough and offer significant benefits for truck drivers in July semi was spotted delivering five more trucks to PepsiCo Costco and Walmart who also got the semi- truck shortly after now semi- tru's latest comper NFI has also taken delivery of the truck and they've detailed how the all electric truck improves their efficiency the semi's already giving NFI a lot to be thankful for including more than acceptable range performance and great greater efficiency which has been proven over the first 6,000 Mi of travel it said more than 60% of those miles were traveled at speeds of 50 m an hour or higher and efficiency was demonstrated at 1. 64 kilowatt hours a mile in fact NFI announced back in 2017 that they plan to expand their North American Fleet with the semi this truck represents a step forward in many companies efforts to make their fleets more sustainable and NFI shares that Vision earlier this year the company took steps by partnering with Southern California Edison and Electrify America to develop a charging station they also added Volvo's vnr and freight liner ecascadia electric trucks to their Fleet marking their first step in commitment to building a more sustainable Fleet now with a semi officially joining the team the company debuted their truck and their Fleet at Patterson California during the first quarter earnings call Elon stated that the first large trucks would be sold to external customers in 2026 meaning Tesa might actually delivered the entire batch of semis to companies that have placed their orders by next year for years we've been in the dark about the price of these big trucks whether it's 150 180 or $250,000 but until Tesla confirms that all these price points are just our best guess because semi has not been static over the years it's going to continue to be updated regularly like all the other Tesla models three Tesla semi is going to get produced in Giga Berlin we still remember that during a trip to Giga Berlin in early March this year Elon announced to the workers at the European factor that Giga Berlin was the ideal plant for making the semi must said I think it makes sense to produce the semi- TR in Europe at Giga Berlin it seems like this would be a story for many more years as the new Factory in Nevada has achieved rapid production speeds and the electric truck production line began to expand in Berlin however it appears that the semi may hit the production line at the European Factory sooner than we thought specifically last week Tesla shipped two semis to Giga Factory in Berlin therefore class8 electric trucks were spotted in footage captured by a local observer's drone at the factory the two semi- trucks were seen being unloaded from large trailers at Giga Berlin these trucks are likely to be transported to Tesla's model y production facility in Germany from the port the sighting of the semis at the Giga Berlin car plant has certainly surprised many the unexpected appearance of these electric trucks in Europe raises questions in the minds of those interested in Logistics in the region basically there are two reasons why Tesla brought its two semi trcks to Giga Berlin first Dan Priestley Tesla's senior manager for the semi program will be flying to Germany next month to give a keynote addressed at the IAA Transportation event in Handover Germany Dan Priestley scheduled to speak about the Tesla semi at the event on September 17th and on the following day September 18th he will share a case study about PepsiCo which currently operates a small Fleet of Tesla semis for product delivery in the United States the second reason is the approval and testing of Tesla semi in Europe before it's fully integrated into the production line of Giga Berlin in 2021 Tesla announced that the company plans to build a mega charging Network in both the United States and Europe specifically for the Tesla semi this is why we believe that this electric truck will soon be available in the European market however unlike in the US class eight trucks produced for the European market face size restrictions meaning the length of the tractor must be as short as possible for this reason if Elon Musk does not bring this semi to Europe the Tesla semi may need to be redesigned to meet operational standards specifically the market requires a maximum height restriction of 18.
75 M for trucks with a maximum weight of 40 tons typically standard trucks in the US are 21. 9 M long 2. 6 M wide and 4.
1 M high with electric trucks possibly having a total weight of up to 37 tons plus an additional .
