Tesla Plays the Long Game with Semi Truck

    Tesla Inc. is going beyond the electric car. They are releasing the electric semi truck 2019 and unveiled it this week. Tesla is promoting that the truck will travel 500 miles on a single charge with it's aerodynamic body.  Elon Musk says that it will only take $1.26 per mile to operate and 7 cents per kilowatt at power station to recharge. He also assures that the "megachargers" will be built worldwide  providing the electric trucks 400 miles in 30 minutes of charging. It is said that the truck will also have a 0-60 speed in 20 seconds and a autonomous system to provide safety to it's drivers. Tesla's electric truck will have 4 motors in the rear wheels in order to eliminate jackknife as well. Tesla states that it will have a small $200,000 production, being it's fastest production of all time.

      Tesla is promising superior performance for it's new truck, but a lot of motor companies and potential buyers are skeptical of the performance that the truck will produce on electric energy. Walmart is willing to give Tesla a try and has already purchased 15 trucks in order to test drive it and see the quality themselves. Yet, not everybody is on board on giving them a chance. A lot of the potential buyers are worries that the costs will be too high, the reliability will be low, and the availability of service will be low as well. One of these companies is Cummins Inc., who are worried that Tesla's truck will not be able to perform it's hauling job like the gas/diesel heavy duty trucks according to Tom Linebarger, chief executive of engine maker Cummins Inc. The lithium ion batteries are also a concern due to their weight. They are a lot heavier then a diesel trucks engine, therefor less carrying capacity.

       In the future years, Tesla is expected to have a lot of competition due to other companies working on their electric trucks.   As of now, they have the diesel truck as competition due to their 800-1,000 between refills. Cummins Inc. is even starting to plan the building of their own electric powertrains, fork lifts, etc. for the future. Tesla will definitely have to stand out in the competition in order for them to prosper with the truck of the future.