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FedEx just ordered 20 Semi's. Not as big a commitment/test as UPS, but you can't afford to get behind the power curve on what may be the next big thing.
Interesting development with a Tesla Semi "rival", Nikola. I say "rival" because Tesla seems to be concentrating on the 500 miles and below trip segment and Nikola with it's fuel cell technology was focusing on long range trips.
They've refunded all deposits (which were only $1,000) and now you can reserve with no deposit. For a truck that has never been seen on the road that I know of, this sounds like a bad development.
Interesting development with a Tesla Semi "rival", Nikola. I say "rival" because Tesla seems to be concentrating on the 500 miles and below trip segment and Nikola with it's fuel cell technology was focusing on long range trips.
They've refunded all deposits (which were only $1,000) and now you can reserve with no deposit. For a truck that has never been seen on the road that I know of, this sounds like a bad development.
I'm personally pulling for Nikola. Semis are the perfect application for hydrogen. Tesla's "megachargers" on the other hand would require the power of 4000 homes https://www.energylivenews.com/2017/...s-to-recharge/
Its as if nobody up to this point realized we have all this cheap excessive power capability we didn't know what to do with. Sure I know...just add more solar panels and huge banks of batteries. It'll all work out!
I'm rooting for Nikola also. But I'm skeptical. Fuel Cells might work for long distance if they can get the costs reasonable. To me it seems like there is a clear delineation happening in the market.
Tier 1 - Local deliveries/usage (100 miles and under). This is happening as we speak. It's just going to keep coming faster/faster. Multiple companies already producing vehicles.
Tier 2 - Medium Range (100-500 miles with emphasis on 250 and above) - Nobody is doing this now. Tesla seems to be the leader, as they talk about it starting in 2019 (which might mean 2020), but they do at least have prototypes on the road.
Tier 3 - Long Range - No one is doing this now. This is where Nikola is aiming. But no prototypes on the road, no longer accepting cash for reservations. If Nikola doesn't come thru, or a replacement for Nikola doesn't show up, then Tesla has chance to be a player here also, depending on what they do with mega chargers.
And you mock it but batteries will probably make the difference. There is a lot of excess energy being produced at night, and charging trucks and batteries can absorb it. And the batteries can spit it out during the daytime.
Tesla will be as much an energy company as a car/truck company eventually.
I'm rooting for Nikola also. But I'm skeptical. Fuel Cells might work for long distance if they can get the costs reasonable. To me it seems like there is a clear delineation happening in the market.
Tier 1 - Local deliveries/usage (100 miles and under). This is happening as we speak. It's just going to keep coming faster/faster. Multiple companies already producing vehicles.
Tier 2 - Medium Range (100-500 miles with emphasis on 250 and above) - Nobody is doing this now. Tesla seems to be the leader, as they talk about it starting in 2019 (which might mean 2020), but they do at least have prototypes on the road.
Tier 3 - Long Range - No one is doing this now. This is where Nikola is aiming. But no prototypes on the road, no longer accepting cash for reservations. If Nikola doesn't come thru, or a replacement for Nikola doesn't show up, then Tesla has chance to be a player here also, depending on what they do with mega chargers.
And you mock it but batteries will probably make the difference. There is a lot of excess energy being produced at night, and charging trucks and batteries can absorb it. And the batteries can spit it out during the daytime.
Tesla will be as much an energy company as a car/truck company eventually.
Tesla has been saying that but their energy portion of the business isn’t doing so well.
That excess nighttime energy won’t be excess of every truck is sucking up the power of 4000 homes.
Well, turns out my skepticism of Nikola Motors was well founded. It appears they don't actually have a product at all, they are just patent trolls.
Suing Tesla for patent violations that have confused the public and cost them sales. Now the incredibly high reservations with no names attached makes sense. And the decision to allow reservations with zero deposit allows them to claim that billions were lost.
Well, turns out my skepticism of Nikola Motors was well founded. It appears they don't actually have a product at all, they are just patent trolls.
Suing Tesla for patent violations that have confused the public and cost them sales. Now the incredibly high reservations with no names attached makes sense. And the decision to allow reservations with zero deposit allows them to claim that billions were lost.
So....no long range Fuel Cell truck. It was a scam.
Nikola clearly has a case. Their design was around long before Tesla’s and low and behold, Tesla’s semi looks very similiar.
Otherwise it’s the pot calling the kettle black.
If you read Electrek, you'll find "prior art" that precedes all the Tesla and Nikola trucks that employ the exact same design elements....
That said there was some interesting news as Anheuser Busch announced they had ordered "up to 800" of the Nikola trucks. And said some very nice things about them.
I did not realize that Nikola was not planning on selling the vehicles, but instead lease them on .90c per mile basis. That is supposedly cost equivalent to diesel but without the emisions.
Skeptically, I will point out that up to 800 could be 1 or 2, and that since they no longer have a deposit required, this green publicity costs AB nothing. No financial commitment at this point.
Their orders for 40 Tesla trucks cost $800,000. (realizing that $800K for AB is like me stopping to pick up a nickel)
Again, I would like to see all the diesels replaced by electric and/or hydrogen vehicles, so best of luck to Nikola except in their lawsuit.
And in other developments, there was not much said about the Semi in the earnings report about the semi. Musk did say orders were about 2,000 but they were just organic orders, Tesla is not trying to sell the truck yet.
He did think the mileage might end but closer to 600 miles per charge than 500.
Skeptics think that some mysterious breakthrough in either battery price or battery efficiency/density must occur in order for the truck's pricing to make sense. Nothing was forthcoming in those regards.
And in other developments, there was not much said about the Semi in the earnings report about the semi. Musk did say orders were about 2,000 but they were just organic orders, Tesla is not trying to sell the truck yet.
He did think the mileage might end but closer to 600 miles per charge than 500.
Skeptics think that some mysterious breakthrough in either battery price or battery efficiency/density must occur in order for the truck's pricing to make sense. Nothing was forthcoming in those regards.
At this point I think most people would take anything Tesla says with a grain of salt.
Model 3 production is not panning out in any way like Elon thought it would. I don't see how a company hemorrhaging money to mass produce an entry level car that is not turning a profit and has grim looking margins after scrapping the fully automated production line, at the same time promised but is not delivering solar roofs, and promised a Model Y, and a Semi that performs to theoretical specs at obscenely low prices that has a terrible credit rating, loses top executives like most people lose socks, is planning on following through with anything from here on out.
Nikola on the other hand is fairly far fetched but is theoretically in much better shape than Tesla. It's goals are far more realistic and technology is more appropriately applied.
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