Tesla eyes Nevada for Semi electric truck plant, battery factory Tesla's original gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada is getting a $3.6 billion makeover that will add two fresh facilities and thousands of additional jobs, the electric automaker has confirmed. The electric car maker didn't provide a timeline for the expansion, but said one of the new factories will be the first high-volume Tesla …
Devils advocate here - see icon
I suppose equipment manufacturers publish a MTBF in figures that would be impossible to reach as the item has not been in service that long and is really just calculated and/or estimated. I’m not saying this is right or wrong either.
Example, section 5.4
https://www.netapp.com/media/19675-tr-3838.pdf
" equipment manufacturers publish a MTBF "
They do and then you divide them with each other and get the actual MTBF. Or, actually calculate probability of not breaking in 1 year for each component, deduce that from one and multiply them.
If you're lucky, you get something very close to 1. Typically you don't, but it doesn't matter as these things are designed so that 1% to 5% break in first year anyway.
Also, manufacturers give absurd MTBF -numbers, so it's all fantasy from the start anyway.
What genius decided that that was a good idea ?
Is that a pitiful stab at trying to avoid the cost and hassle of switching the steering to the right side for UK routes ? It's an electric vehicle, don't tell me that you have to redesign the drive shaft.
You're making an EV, not redesiging how people drive.
I was thinking Joe 90, although their's was more of a country lane runabout[1] than heavy haulage.
[1] at least until they reached takeoff speed; at least Musk hasn't gone down the flying car route yet, preferring the opposite direction entirely.
> Theremin as the primary control interface.
That would help with the whole issue of EVs needing to make noises to avoid creeping up on pedestrians. But what would you play to get the thing started? "Good Vibrations"? "Please Go Home" to initiate auto-park?
It’s not just the UK & Ireland.
Add Japan, India, Australia, Indonesia as big hitters …. and much of of SE Asia and most of Southern Africa to the list of countries that drive on the correct side of the road.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-_and_right-hand_traffic
Some pillock who has no concept of the real world. Remember that their goal is "self driving (ha ha)" so the "driver" is just asleep in the seat to be a scapegoat when the computer make an inappropriate decision.
These is pretty much nothing a driver is going to be able to do if an HGV driven by shonky software does something stupid.
> Is that a pitiful stab at trying to avoid the cost and hassle of switching the steering to the right side for UK routes ?
Not much chance of it ever being allowed on UK roads since we have automotive standards that are very specific about things like where the driver's seat can go. It would never get UK (or EU) type approval unless someone changes the standards for them. So they've got less than two years to get it through the tory-backhander route before Labour gets in.
Suicide doors and a central driving position? Nobody who has ever hooked up a trailer is going to like that. Also the likely weight is not ideal in the UK, we could use it as a lot of our trucking is under max weight, but its a real big deal in the US where their max weight is way lower.
I'm also curious about other aspects of it being built around the driver. They've only shown the day cab version, but given there's both mandatory and recharging downtime, a bunk or better driver rest area would've been a good idea. But the how they'll fit that into the current design. I'm partly convinced that the ergonomics have been handled by someone who's only experience is from playing Truck Simulator. Like me. Which is strangely addictive, and lead to me learning more about the life of truckers. A lot of which seems to involve passing documents out of windows, or trying to contact humans on intercoms. That seems challenging with a centre seat.
Ignoring practicalites such as speed limits, and that fact that pointless acceleration costs energy.
China has a bunch of electric truck manufacturers and a lot of usage. Musk could do a lot worse than see what they are up to, since things like battery changes are tried and tested for a few years.
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