{"id":37391,"date":"2022-12-02T06:22:33","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T11:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=37391"},"modified":"2022-12-02T06:22:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T11:22:33","slug":"watch-tesla-semi-500-mile-trip-bill-gates-said-wasnt-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=37391","title":{"rendered":"Watch Tesla Semi do something Bill Gates said wasn’t possible"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\"Tesla
\n\t<\/figure>\n

Tesla has released a timelapse video of its Tesla Semi electric truck completing a 500-mile trip with a full load on a single charge \u2013 something Bill Gates and Daimler said wasn\u2019t possible just a few years ago.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When Tesla unveiled the original Tesla Semi prototype back in 2017, it changed the paradigm for what an electric truck could be: a battery-electric class 8 long-haul truck.<\/p>\n

However, not everyone was convinced.<\/p>\n

In 2020, three years after the prototype was originally unveiled, and around the time Tesla first said the vehicle would come to production, Bill Gates made some comments that threw cold water on the Tesla Semi project.<\/p>\n

At the time, Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, two of the richest men on earth, were in a dispute as the latter believed the former was shorting Tesla\u2019s stock<\/a>, which basically means financially betting against the company.<\/p>\n

In a blog post, Gates argued that all-electric semi-trucks like the Tesla Semi would \u201cprobably never\u201d work<\/a> because batteries would be too heavy:<\/p>\n

\n

The problem is that batteries are big and heavy. The more weight you\u2019re trying to move, the more batteries you need to power the vehicle. But the more batteries you use, the more weight you add\u2014and the more power you need. Even with big breakthroughs in battery technology, electric vehicles will probably never be a practical solution for things like 18-wheelers, cargo ships, and passenger jets. Electricity works when you need to cover short distances, but we need a different solution for heavy, long-haul vehicles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The billionaire founder of Microsoft couldn\u2019t see class 8 battery-electric semi-trucks achieve a useful range while being able to carry a load.<\/p>\n

Gates wasn\u2019t the only one with doubts about Tesla Semi back then. We also reported on comments made by Daimler\u2019s head of trucks, Martin Daum, who said that Tesla\u2019s 500-mile range broke the laws of physics<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

If Tesla really\u00a0delivers\u00a0on this promise, we\u2019ll obviously buy two trucks \u2014 one to take apart and one to test because if that happens, something has passed us by. But for now, the same laws of physics apply in Germany and in California.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Daimler has since brought to market several of its own battery-electric trucks, but none of them has a range close to 500 miles.<\/p>\n

But earlier this week, Tesla proved them wrong and announced that it completed a 500-mile trip with the Tesla Semi <\/a>carrying a full load. At the Tesla Semi Delivery Event<\/a>, Tesla shared some proof of the trip.<\/p>\n

Tesla has now shared a full video timelapse of the entire 500-mile drive from Fremont to San Diego with a full load at almost 82,000 lb.:<\/p>\n

\n

\n