Take A Look At This New $2 Billion Tesla Semi Truck Factory
Tesla's aggressive entry into the transportation market with the semi-truck should not come as a surprise at this point. In his efforts to improve industries, Elon Musk intends to leave no stone unturned.
He does it not only by creating more advanced and energy-efficient automobiles for the future, but also by constructing factories to create those vehicles. A factory equivalent to 138 football fields combined in size. A boardwalk with a hiking and biking path.
There are birds in the trees, butterflies, and fish in the stream in this ecological wonderland. The tractor-trailer is unlike anything the industry has ever seen. Moreover, this is not even the most intriguing aspect. Why? In a moment, we will provide you with all the pertinent information. Let's immediately get started.
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The Tesla Semi is an all-electric, battery-powered Class 8 semi-truck in development by Tesla Inc. In November of 2017, two concept automobiles were presented, with production scheduled to commence in 2023.
On a full charge, the truck would have a range of 500 miles (805 kilometres), and with its enhanced batteries, it would be able to go 400 miles (640 kilometres) after an 80 percent charge in 30 minutes using a solar-powered "Tesla Megacharger" charging station.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, announced that the Semi will include Tesla Autopilot, which enables semi-autonomous highway driving, as standard equipment. At the November 2017 press conference, Musk announced that the company would be creating a global network of solar-powered "Megachargers" capable of recharging a truck's batteries in 30 minutes to a range of 400 miles, or 640 kilometres.
The Semi was initially mentioned in the Tesla 2016 Master Plan. Tesla stated at the time that they possessed a functional prototype that utilised "a slew" of Model 3 electric motors. Since April 2017, Jerome Guillen has been in charge of Tesla Semi development.
Guillen was once in charge of Freightliner's Cascadia Diesel-engine Class 8 semi before joining Tesla to configure the Model S manufacturing line. He departed the Semi programme a year later to manage one of the Model 3 general assembly lines, and he was elected Tesla's automotive president in September 2018.
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Tesla, Inc. has been constructing Gigafactory Texas, also known as Tesla Gigafactory 5 or Giga Texas, south of Austin, Texas since July 2020.
Tesla expects to begin mass production by the end of 2021 and attain full production capacity by 2022. Throughout 2019 and 2020, Tesla was exploring locations in eight central U.S. states.
Several community groups and government agencies in the United States have expressed interest in hosting the proposed massive manufacturing complex Tesla Gigafactory.
Some have expressed an interest in simplifying land purchase, removing administrative obstacles, and considering tax incentives. Some used social media marketing to reach Elon Musk directly. By May 2020, Tesla was in the midst of a selection process.
Austin, Nashville (Tennessee), and Tulsa were finalists for a relocation to Oklahoma. By mid-May, Tesla had visited two locations in the Tulsa region. In July of 2020, Tesla selected Austin as the location.
The plant will be the major production location for Tesla Cybertrucks and Tesla Semis in the eastern United States, and it will also produce Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
On July 26, Tesla posted four images of the massive vehicle plant it is constructing just east of Austin in connection with the presentation of its financial results for the second quarter.
The photographs illustrate the interior and exterior of the so-called Gigafactory Texas, as well as an aerial view of the construction site with dozens of workers. The construction of the factory began in July of last year and appears to be nearing completion.
Initially described in a letter to the Texas state government, Tesla's plans for 280 acres of the 2,100-acre site it purchased for $97 million last July were outlined in a study for 280 acres. The project included the construction of a huge, elongated manufacturing facility immediately east of Texas Highway 130, extending from near the Colorado River to around Harold Green Road.
The footprint of the complex, including parking lots, is 7.9 million square feet, or 138 football fields. It is unknown what Tesla will do with the remaining 1,800 acres of the site because neither Tesla officials nor Elon Musk have addressed the matter.
According to Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives, Tesla was expected to perform a substantial amount of additional work at the site, but he cautioned that the company has a reputation for keeping its plans under wraps. Ives remarked, "I see them ultimately transforming this into much more than standard manufacturing." "It's about more than simply the factory."
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According to various reports, it appears that the extra acreage was reserved for free-range testing of their massive semi-trucks. According to Ives, Tesla will also require a test-driving facility. Beyond the initial 280 acres, he said, "there is a great deal more forest to clear" for future development.
In the meantime, the site design submitted to the city does not appear to display any of the public facilities that Tesla CEO Elon Musk highlighted when announcing plans to build the factory here in July, so these may be depicted in subsequent phases.
Musk stated at the time, "We are going to create a factory that will be breathtaking." It is situated directly on the Colorado River. Thus, we will truly construct a boardwalk with a hiking and biking track.
It will essentially be an ecological paradise, complete with birds in the trees, butterflies, and fish in the stream. And it will also be open to the public, so it will not be exclusive to Tesla. " This is how he described the said public facilities.
Tax credits worth a minimum of $60 million were provided by Travis County and the Del Valle school district to assist in attracting the firm. The firm did not get any financial incentives from the state for the development of the facility, which will employ 5,000 people.
Currently, approximately 70% of Tesla vehicles are manufactured in Fremont, California, with the remaining 30% manufactured in a factory in China that Tesla opened late last year.In addition to the anticipated Austin factory, a Tesla assembly facility is now being constructed in Germany.
Let's evaluate what we know about the Tesla Semi vehicle itself, given what we know about the factory. Midway through 2017, researchers from the Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering did a theoretical examination of electric semi-trucks, presumably in reaction to Musk's April 2017 speech description of Tesla's work on a "heavy-duty, long-range semi-truck."
The study evaluated the electric vehicle's weight and range based on then-current battery technology and released its findings in June 2017.
According to the calculations, an electric semi might be used for short-or medium-distance transport but not for long-distance transport, as the weight of the requisite batteries would exceed the legal limit.
One estimate has the weight of the battery at 11,800 kilogrammes, which would account for one-third of the payload and increase the truck's capital cost to roughly double that of a diesel-powered alternative.
Others have questioned the cargo capacity of the production-spec Class-8 heavy truck. According to the Impact Report 2020, however, a semi's payload capacity would improve as a result of the higher weight permitted for electric semi-trucks in the United States and the European Union.
In the European Union, electric semi-trucks can already transport 2 tonnes more than their diesel equivalents. In the United States, electric semi-trucks have a payload capacity that is 0.9 tonnes greater than diesel semi-trucks.
According to the article, as both the United States and the European Union have approved increased weight limits for electric heavy-duty vehicles, we expect the payload to be at least comparable to that of a diesel truck.
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Tesla claims to have made considerable breakthroughs in battery technology over the past many years. This will also help increase the Tesla Semi's payload capacity. The manufacturer of electric vehicles asserts that its 4,680 battery cells are far more advanced than those used in 2017.
These battery cells are compact and lightweight, yet their energy density is impressive. The new 4680 battery pack reduces the weight of the electric vehicle, allowing it to carry more freight. Additionally, it delivers a longer range per charge.
The 2020 Tesla Impact Report estimates that the semi-truck will be able to travel over 804 kilometres on a single charge. Due to its aerodynamics and powerful electric powertrain, the Tesla semi-truck will reach an efficiency of over 0.80 km per kWh, according to the company.
We should take a step back and carefully evaluate the reality that Tesla is placing a sizable risk on a facility that will mostly make electric trucks, a type of vehicle whose market viability has not been shown. Would you spend $2.4 billion on a factory of this magnitude by a newcomer to the automobile industry?
It is unprecedented. Nonetheless, the future of the Semi appears promising, and it is evident why Tesla recognised value in the initiative. Permitting the critical trucking industry to go emission-free will be viewed as a monumental technological achievement and a victory for environmental campaigners, who will view Tesla more favourably.
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