Tesla

December sales in Germany plunged nearly 80%, wiping out all gains for the year in the span of one disastrous month, and demand in the U.K. was little better.

I bought a Model S 3 months ago and today I was the recipient of some random hillbilly telling me to “Stop R wording children, you Brandon cck sucking environmental loser. You and that liberal bstard Elon need to unalive yourself.” Like….. what? I’ve heard of this happening but is it always this dumb?

There are some serious problems for Elon and company regarding the semi-truck charger. I have figured out why the price of the truck and the charging data have been very much avoided by Tesla as a whole. Here are the issues:

Issue #1:  The .07 cents per kWh claim.

What Elon did here was take the medium general service rates from Pacific Power, and other regional utilities and averaged them out together.  Under medium general service, the power rate is in fact .07 cents per kWh.  However, what he is leaving out are the electrical demand charges, and how they are billed, but that depends on the setup you have to charge, that being grid power only, or with the Tesla "charger pack", which is conveniently avoided in the math.  In fact, the entire infrastructure of power and charging questions are being avoided.  Electrek EV News went to the Tesla Semi-Truck event on December 3, 2022 (a private invite only event) with two simple questions:  What is the cost of the semi-truck, and what is the payload capacity?  He never got an answer on either question and for good reason:  These questions, if answered honestly, would wreck the math/cost model that Elon has given to the public and investors. 

Issue # 2:  The "charging pack" costs, and grid connect costs with demand charges.

Only very recently has the cost of the semi-truck been announced.  Tesla claims that it will be between $150,000 and $180,000, probably depending on the battery pack.  From what I understand, there is a 300-mile truck, and a 500-mile truck battery.  This might explain the difference of the two costs.  Still, questions on the charging infrastructure are not answered.  I did find a YouTuber that has an EV channel, and he went to the Baker, CA charging site where the first semi-truck charger was installed. 

He learned from boots on the ground there that Tesla initially tried to connect the charger direct to the grid power, and Pacific Power said, "no way".   Tesla then came back with the "charging pack", which is a massive battery bank and only then would Pacific Power allow the charger to be installed.  The "charging pack" battery bank is about the size of a large shipping container.  Based on my research, and what I know about battery costs, the "charging pack" would be around $500,000 and would be able to charge two trucks at the same time.  This is a process called "load shedding", and the only way you could possibly avoid electrical demand charges from Pacific Power, and the only way Pacific Power could handle it. 

So, Tesla semi-truck buyers are about to find out what's inside the fortune cookies that Tesla is handing out:  You buy the massive "charging pack" battery (Tesla is way behind building batteries, and is currently purchasing them from Panasonic) or, you go straight grid connect and get hit with mind boggling demand charges, if the utility will allow it.  This is where the $15,500 per month number comes from in demand costs from Pacific Power.  There is another option to "trickle charge" the semi-truck, but that would take 20 hours to do that.  20-hour charging does not work on any profitable trucking business model whatsoever.  

Issue #3:  The Tesla semi-truck mileage range, and charging does not match current trucking framework.

I have personally spoken with many truck drivers and asked them what they thought of the Tesla semi-truck.  Just about every response has been identical.  It's a laugh, shaking of the head and a comment starting out like "... it's completely ridiculous."  

Out of 24 hours in the day or night, OTR truckers are allowed to drive for 11 hours, if they take a 30 min break somewhere within the 11 hours.  Most drivers go 5 hours, stop and get fuel and eat, then hit the road for the next 6 hours.  A trucker who keeps up on the interstate at 70 mph, might cover 700 miles in one day.  That pays really well.  Under the Tesla semi model, this wrecks the trucker's income because of the range issues.  Tesla's claims of 30 min charging come from them researching the trucker driving model, not the reality of actually charging.  They are dishing out the doctored math, so it makes sense to truckers. 

The problem is a 30 min charge can only happen under a mega-watt of power consumption.  There is no charging infrastructure for the truckers right now, so none of them would be onboard. 

Additionally, what truck stop is going to take on the $15k per month demand and hope that Tesla semis come to charge?  And what will the charging cost the truckers?  That number is completely unknown.  How many of you prefer "unknown costs" when trying to build a business model? 

What are the costs to build out the "charging pack" system? No answers from Tesla whatsoever.

Car & Driver did a review of the semi-truck and conveniently avoided the costs of charging.

Hmmm. Who paid them to do the review? Show me any vehicle, plane, boat company that builds something and doesn't share the fuel costs/per mile/per whatever.

Issue #4:  Battery degradation, and the deceptions of Tesla's unsustainable "charging packs":

I have researched battery degradation, and it looks bad for Tesla.  Mega-watt charging is really hard on rechargeable batteries, and it shortens the life of them significantly.  Here I have a graph from a NREL source on the degradation:

As anyone can see, the degradation is severe even at two charges per and over 1.5 years, and just like how the A-B-C trucking model requires.  Truckers will want to use the :30 min break to recharge but will require a mega-watt charger.  This model is not sustainable replacing a $500k "charger pack" battery bank every two years.  Not to mention the truck battery itself. 

I believe the real cost of the Tesla semi-truck is around $800,000 in any model grid connected or "charging pack" connected.  The monthly break down could be around $30,000 per month to own the Tesla semi for just one year if you grid connected the mega-watt charger.  

Please explain how the Tesla model makes any sense. And I get it that the A-B-A trucking model is what they started out with (day cab trucks), but they are already pushing this "convoy" idea on to investors and the public. None of this is realistic.

Moreover, Elon is now claiming that the trucks can be charged with "solar". This is totally insane.

A mega-watt of solar is at the peak of the day, full sun given 100 watt/meter square is:

130,680 meter squared. (about 3 acres)

With ground installs starting at $2.33-$2.88 per watt, the solar costs alone are around $2.5 million.

Then add the "charging pack", also add the electrical infrastructure.

Who is paying for this?

In 15,000 years of history, fraud and stupidity have never worked out. Thanks, Elon, for another mass deception. The investors and SEC will rip your eyes out of your head over this one.

I predict that Panasonic in the end will leave a dirty condom hanging out of your ass as well.

The Cyber Truck is an equally charging disaster.

More on that later.

Hey Tesla enthusiasts! I want to share my latest Tesla referral code with you, offering some fantastic perks:

💨 3 MONTHS OF FREE FULL SELF-DRIVING (FSD)! 💨 💵 UP TO $1000 DISCOUNT!

Click this link:

Buonasera, abbiamo di recente ricevuto una Model Y LR nuova. Il Sales advisor mi dice che non ci sono tagliandi regolari, e finché non ci sono problemi sarò libera di continuare a guidare.

Io, abituata a dover fare almeno un giro all'anno in officina, sono sorpresa. Chi ha Tesla mi conferma che è davvero così, e soprattutto che la garanzia si conserva nonostante l'assenza di tagliandi?

Grazie

If you are looking for new tesla and want to get few more discounts and promotions

Place your order with

And save

Dm me with any questions!