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Tesla's plan to charge electric semis relies on its customers
Customers have been lining up to order some of Tesla's electric big rigs since the Semi debuted in November, but there is one big question: where will they get charged? According to Reuters, at first the rollout will rely on customers like Pepsi and UPS to build on-site "megachargers" and trucks will be restricted to going back and forth on routes that keep them near home base. Representatives for the companies confirmed they're working with Tesla to build in-house charging locations, however, the plan for a Supercharger-like network that could juice up trucks on the road is a bit fuzzier.
Elon Musk vows to build Tesla pickup truck 'right after' Model Y
Tesla has been hyping up the prospect of an electric pickup truck for a long time (you're looking at an artist's rendering above), but when can you expect to see it? You might have a clearer idea. As part of a call for feedback, Elon Musk has promised that the pickup will be made "right after" the Model Y crossover arrives between 2019 and 2020. We'd take that commitment with a grain of salt (remember how Tesla expected widescale Model 3 deliveries to start in 2017?), but it at least gives you an idea of what the EV maker is shooting for.
One of Tesla's first Semi truck buyers is a Canadian grocery chain
Tesla only just unveiled its Semi electric truck, but it's already lining up honest-to-goodness customers -- and we don't just mean for testing, either. Canadian grocery chain Loblaws has pre-ordered 25 of the giant EVs to haul food to its stores across the country. That's a larger purchase than Walmart (which ordered 15 for its test), and no small commitment when Tesla hasn't even revealed the (likely high) price. It may seem odd for Tesla to score one of its most important orders beyond the US, but it makes more sense knowing Loblaws' strategy.
Tesla's massive Supercharger rest stops come online in California
While we're all waiting for the reveal of Tesla's electric semi this evening, the company's new charging stations are ready for prime time. Well, two of them are at least. According to a report at Electrek, Tesla has two new stations active in California, one between LA and San Francisco in Kettleman City and the other in Baker (between LA and Las Vegas). As shown in pictures published by Electrek, the newly online travel stations look a lot like, well, a gas station without the gas.
Ford made a trucker hat that might save drivers' lives
Truck driving is an exhausting job that requires constant attention to the road. Falling asleep during long stretches is an occasional -- and sometimes lethal -- concern. That's why Ford helped develop the SafeCap, a hat that senses head movements associated with sleepiness and wakes the driver up with sound, light and vibration.
Tesla's electric big rig spotted in the wild
Who said you had to wait until October 26th to see Tesla's electric big rig? A succession of Reddit users have posted and reposted a photo that appears to show Tesla's semi truck sitting on a flatbed. And to no one's surprise, this isn't the Smokey and the Bandit-style truck of yore -- it's all swooping curves, complete with an expansive cockpit window. You can also see the vehicle's detached fairing off to the left.
Tesla's electric truck will be revealed October 26th
We can finally put all the rumors to rest next month because that is when Tesla will show off its electric big rig. Elon Musk tweeted that the reveal event and test rides will occur October 26th in Hawthorne, CA, promising that it's "unreal." Last year as part of his Master Plan, Part Deux Musk said the truck will "deliver a substantial reduction in the cost of cargo transport, while increasing safety and making it really fun to operate." Of course, the event is occurring a month later than previously mentioned, but we'll let that slide -- as long as our invite is in the mail
Cummins unveils an electric big rig weeks before Tesla
Sorry, Tesla, but someone just stole the thunder from the electric big rig you were planning to unveil this fall. The engine giant Cummins has unveiled a concept semi truck, the AEOS, that runs entirely on the power of an electric motor and a 140kWh battery pack. It's roughly as powerful as a 12-liter fossil fuel engine and could haul 44,000 pounds of cargo, just without the emissions or rampant fuel costs of a conventional truck. There's speedy 1-hour charging, and Cummins is even looking at solar panels on the trailer to extend range. It's a promising offering, although Elon Musk and crew might not lose too much sleep knowing the limitations.
Self-driving truck that’s built to crash comes to Colorado
Tech and automotive companies have quietly been trialing autonomous trucks since 2015. Thus far, these tests (from the likes of Daimler and Uber) have been inconspicuous enough to go unnoticed by other drivers. But, a new kind of driverless truck is designed to stick out like a sore thumb. And, if by chance it ends up serving its purpose, it could make an almighty racket. While you read this, an autonomous impact protection vehicle is making its way around Colorado. You know the type: They're big, yellow, and tend to be deployed behind road workers to prevent you from crashing into them. One more thing we should mention: They're designed to take the full brunt of a collision. They do this via a massive metal bumper on the back.
Tesla considers 'platoons' of self-driving electric semis
In April, Elon Musk revealed a project Tesla had been working on since 2016: Electric semi-trucks. Turns out he had more in store for the big rigs. Much like his company's work building self-driving consumer cars, a report alleges that Musk wants his electric semis to travel autonomously in 'platoons' led by a single lead vehicle.
Uber shows off its upgraded fleet of autonomous trucks
Uber's interest in self-driving vehicles doesn't begin or end at taxis, which is why it's developing a platform for autonomous trucks, too. A year on from the company's, er, controversial purchase of Otto, and Uber has unveiled its second-generation big rig with a wholly upgraded set of sensors. Including an entirely new, 64-channel LIDAR array that, according to TechCrunch, was purchased off the shelf, from Velodyne.
Toyota is testing a hydrogen fuel-cell powered semi
Toyota built a larger sibling for the hydrogen fuel cell powered Mirai, a semi truck. The automaker is testing a water-expelling big rig at the Port of Los Angeles that it hopes will yield data to help build a fleet of zero-emission trucks.
Komatsu's self-driving dump truck doesn't even have a cab
Despite the dream of the self-driving car, most autonomous vehicles still have a steering wheel, giving passengers the option to take control at a moments notice. Komatsu's latest dump truck is a bit different -- it doesn't even have a cab for a human operator to sit in. The company calls it the Komatsu Innovative Autonomous Haulage Vehicle. It's a 2,700 horsepower autonomous truck designed to increase productivity by taking drivers out of the equation. Specifically, the company is trying to eliminate the three-point turn by developing a vehicle that doesn't need to see where it's going.
This giant clock was made by driving 14 trucks in circles
When you're in the business of selling long-distance trucks, it makes a lot of sense to show off how far your vehicles can drive and demonstrate how reliable they can be. Instead of relying on real-world road tests and throwing a bunch of metrics in a specification sheet, Swedish automotive company Scania decided build a 750,000 square foot clock entirely made by 14 of its trucks. The end result is pretty impressive.
US mulls speed-limiting devices for buses and big rigs
Large vehicles like buses and big rig trucks are just as much of a safety concern as everyday cars, and US regulators think technology might be the key to saving lives. The NHTSA and FMCS have proposed installing speed-limiting devices on big commercial vehicles (those with a weight rating over 26,000lbs) to both reduce the chances of a crash and minimize damage when an accident happens. It could help with fuel efficiency and durability, too, by discouraging lead-footed drivers.
Tesla Master Plan pt. 2 explains how everyone gets an electric car
Back in 2006 Elon Musk casually revealed the plans for what Tesla Motors has mostly accomplished in the decade since, and now (after some teasing) he's back with part two. While the original "Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan" explained how the company's vision extended beyond its Roadster to cars that would become the Model S and Model 3, what's next is even bigger. Besides adding a compact SUV and pickup truck to its model line, don't expect to see any Tesla's coming out that are cheaper than the Model 3. Instead, as Musk envisions, the rollout of fully self-driving automobiles will allow owners to put their car to work when they're not using it, and make ownership economically viable for anyone (of course, it's worth noting that car companies like Ford and GM are working on similar plans of their own).
Watch a 4-year-old drive a dump truck by remote control
To prove the toughness of its latest FMX truck, Volvo turned it into an RC racer and handed the "keys" to the luckiest 4-year-old ever. The results were what you'd expect: Pure chaos. To be fair, young Sophie probably guided the vehicle better than we would have at that age (or even now). However, steering a multi-ton rig from afar ain't easy, so she managed to hit obstacles, roll the vehicle into a pit and (safely) crash through a house. At the end of her trip, the vehicle emerged relatively unscathed and was still driveable.
Daimler tests a self-driving, mass-produced truck on real roads
Daimler's dreams of self-driving big rig trucks just took one step closer to reality. The automaker has conducted the first-ever test of its semi-autonomous Highway Pilot system in a production truck on a public road, driving an augmented Mercedes-Benz Actros down Germany's Autobahn 8. While the vehicle needed a crew to keep watch, it could steer itself down the highway using a combination of radar, a stereo camera array and off-the-shelf systems like adaptive cruise control. The dry run shows that the technology can work on just about any vehicle in the real world, not just one-off concepts.
California wants pollution-free freight vehicles
California is determined to make dramatic greenhouse gas cuts by 2030, and that could have some major ramifications for the state's big rigs and cargo ships. Governor Jerry Brown has ordered several agencies to draft plans for cleaner freight transportation, with a plan to eventually move to emissions-free ports, trains and trucks. Officials have until July 2016 to detail what they're doing, although they'll likely take considerably longer than that to implement their changes.
The 2016 Toyota Tacoma has a GoPro mount as a standard feature
Considering a new truck for your next off-road excursion? Well, if you also fancy chronicling your adventures with a GoPro camera, Toyota is hoping a new feature on its 2016 Tacoma will help entice you to buy one. The automaker is including a mount for GoPro's line of action cameras as a standard feature, so if you spend tens of thousands on a new truck, you can pocket the $40 you'd spend on an extra accessory. "We're not in the business of selling cameras, and we're not in the business of dictating to our customers what they have to use," Tacoma chief engineer Michael Sweers told Bloomberg. "It just made sense to try to team up with GoPro because that's what our customer base is using." Of course, the new Tacoma won't arrive with a camera already in the cab, but surely more than a few dealers will offer one as an extra if you buy a new truck. [Image credit: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images]
