Tesla continues to get orders for its electric rigs since the company announced the Semi back in November. Many trucking industry watchers have been eagerly waiting to see how the market would respond. So far, companies like Walmart and UPS have pre-ordered many of Tesla’s Semi-trucks already.
While Tesla is offering a great Semi-truck, the big question to ask is: where will these trucks charge? Will they be charging at Tesla’s public charging stations? According to Reuters, first rollout of charger will rely on customers like UPS and Pepsi to build on-site “megachargers” and trucks will be restricted to going back and forth on routes that will keep them near their home base so they can re-charge.
Several representatives from companies said that they’re working directly with Tesla to build in-house charging locations at this time. However, the plan for Supercharger-like network that could provide on-the-go juice to the electric Semi-trucks is a bit hazy at this time.
The Jolt Journal’s Take
While it’s interesting to see that Tesla is working directly with companies to have their own in-house megachargers, this brings up the issue of how the Semi-trucks will become more viable long-distance.
Right now, Tesla is building its own Supercharging stations all over the US and world that let Tesla car owners stop to charge their cars while traveling. That can’t be said for the trucking industry. Having a Supercharger-like network for the trucking industry will drastically help Tesla expand its trucking offerings for the industry. At this time, it’s pretty clear that Tesla’s Semi-truck is crippled in a way, and is limited to close range travels.
