Tesla Pickup Truck is Here

[SolarPoweredRV]

Yesterday, the Tesla Pickup Truck was revealed. As a fan of Tesla, I was underwhelmed by the design of the Pickup. However, after having viewed a few videos of the truck in motion, I have decided that the truck looks better in motion than parked.

I really liked the hardened Aluminum body panels and the almost "unbreakable" glass they used for the windshield and side windows (almost unbreakable being the key phrase here).

While I might not like the design of the truck, I would Love, Love, Love, to see a Tesla Pickup towing an Airstream someday !!!

As far as towing goes, we 5th wheelers are out of luck, the design of the Tesla "Cyber Truck" precludes 5th wheel use. However, the Tesla truck can tow 14,000 lbs and has a 500 mile range. While you won't get 500 miles when towing, you will save money by going Electric. DHL has stated that operating their Electric Fleet reduces their operating expenses by 60%.

I believe that Tesla will eventually make a more Standardized Pickup Truck and FORD and GM will produce Electric Pickups that can haul our beloved 5th wheels.

Electric Pickups will eventually become the norm and I personally can't wait for this to happen.

[D2Reid]

I got an ad for the announcement also, looked at it. Three motor version around $70k with a 15k towing capacity. I will definitely be looking at E-trucks after my towing days are over. But I think it would take a Heavy Duty Truck version to pull my Momentum around the mountains.

[TheLexx]

I don’t see how you’ll get the claimed range when towing. Folks on the Tesla forums who tow relatively light with the Model X, report greatly reduced range.

And what about braking? Without an exhaust brake how is this thing going to maintain speed on a long steep downhill?

[SolarPoweredRV]

I don’t see how you’ll get the claimed range when towing. Folks on the Tesla forums who tow relatively light with the Model X, report greatly reduced range.

And what about braking? Without an exhaust brake how is this thing going to maintain speed on a long steep downhill?

Good Questions...

Even our Fossil Fuel vehicles get reduced range when towing, so, that is not anything new. I believe that the percentage of reduced range will be smaller with the Tesla Pickup, than it is with the Model X, simply because the Model X gets a large portion of it's range from it's aerodynamics and lightness, additionally, the Model X is designed for highway travel and efficiency. I think the Pickup will have heavier duty motors (the 500 mile pickup will have 3 motors) and will be able to pull a trailer without loosing as much range as the model X (relatively speaking). It's like the difference between Diesel and Gas pickups, the advantage for Diesel is that they get better fuel mileage when towing than Gas pickups, if not, everybody would buy gas pickups.

As far as downhill travel is concerned, downhills are great for Electric Vehicles because they can use "Regenerative Braking" and actually put electricity back into the batteries during the descent. This is the same thing as an engine brake, in that, the drive motors are providing resistance while they are generating electricity that goes back into the batteries, consequently, you wind up with more miles of range at the bottom of the hill than you do at the top of the hill.

In case you are concerned that the Electric Motors will not provide enough resistance to control a heavy trailer on a long downhill run, Diesel Locomotives use their Electric Motors to stop all the time, however, they are not able to recapture the electricity energy, they simply express the energy as dissipated heat at the top of the locomotive.

[backtrack2015]

Are we ramping up electricity production and distribution systems sufficiently to support the onslaught of battery-electric vehicles coming in the next five years? I know Texas is better off than most because we have excess capacity overnight when our AC units get some rest.

I’m a bit nervous we’re all in for some steep $/kWh increases or worse if battery-electric surges in popularity (which will happen as they get cheaper). Battery-electric is nice but we have a lot of work to do to support wide-spread adoption.

[DaveMatthewsBand]

I wonder if anyone from the Delorean design team worked on that project.

I would love to have an electric truck but man that thing is Fugly!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bill G]

I must have seen a different truck.

[TheLexx]

Good Questions...

Even our Fossil Fuel vehicles get reduced range when towing, so, that is not anything new. I believe that the percentage of reduced range will be smaller with the Tesla Pickup, than it is with the Model X, simply because the Model X gets a large portion of it's range from it's aerodynamics and lightness, additionally, the Model X is designed for highway travel and efficiency. I think the Pickup will have heavier duty motors (the 500 mile pickup will have 3 motors) and will be able to pull a trailer without loosing as much range as the model X (relatively speaking). It's like the difference between Diesel and Gas pickups, the advantage for Diesel is that they get better fuel mileage when towing than Gas pickups, if not, everybody would buy gas pickups.

As far as downhill travel is concerned, downhills are great for Electric Vehicles because they can use "Regenerative Braking" and actually put electricity back into the batteries during the descent. This is the same thing as an engine brake, in that, the drive motors are providing resistance while they are generating electricity that goes back into the batteries, consequently, you wind up with more miles of range at the bottom of the hill than you do at the top of the hill.

In case you are concerned that the Electric Motors will not provide enough resistance to control a heavy trailer on a long downhill run, Diesel Locomotives use their Electric Motors to stop all the time, however, they are not able to recapture the electricity energy, they simply express the energy as dissipated heat at the top of the locomotive.

I guess we'll know more once we get some specs on the electric motors the new truck is using.

Another issue would be having to disconnect the trailer from the truck when you need to charge at the Supercharger. Those are usually small spaces meant for a car. It would be a royal PITA to have to disconnect every time you need a charge.

How does heat play into regenerative braking? On an ICE vehicle, if you ride the brakes down an 8 mi long 8.5% grade, you'll overheat the brakes in no time. How will this thing be able to use the regenerative braking without overheating them on those long steep downhills when you've got over 10k pushing you downhill?

[SolarPoweredRV]

I guess we'll know more once we get some specs on the electric motors the new truck is using.

Another issue would be having to disconnect the trailer from the truck when you need to charge at the Supercharger. Those are usually small spaces meant for a car. It would be a royal PITA to have to disconnect every time you need a charge.

How does heat play into regenerative braking? On an ICE vehicle, if you ride the brakes down an 8 mi long 8.5% grade, you'll overheat the brakes in no time. How will this thing be able to use the regenerative braking without overheating them on those long steep downhills when you've got over 10k pushing you downhill?

Regenerative braking does not use the actual brakes, it uses the motors as a generator which puts electrons back into the battery. The more you need to slow down the more electrons that can be generated. Basically, the motor operates in reverse which causes electrons to flow into the battery instead of out of the battery.

Regenerative braking (using the motors to stop) is the reason brake pads last 100k plus miles on Electric Vehicles, the brake pads seldom get used.

There are some Super Charger stations that are designed to be pull through expressly for pulling trailers. In the future, I believe more pull-thru stations will be built, additionally, I think the Super Charger stations along the highways will be more accommodating for those of us who are pulling a trailer.

[DaveMatthewsBand]

Get the solar roof option for that extra 15 miles of driving range!

This seems like an extremely low number to me for such a massive area.
That's a lot of PV cells.

https://electrek.co/2019/11/22/tesla...ion-add-range/