Elon Musk on why Tesla Semi is so efficient and uses so much less energy than a diesel truck:
“An electric semi-truck is much more energy efficient than a diesel truck”
A diesel burns fuel climbing up, then has to get rid of that gravitational energy on the descent through braking
“You have to actually spend a lot of money on expensive brakes going down the other side so you don’t run out of control”
Tesla Semi does the opposite
“An electric semi-truck is able to recapture the gravitational potential energy”
Regenerative braking sends that energy straight back into the battery pack instead of wasting it as heat
“It does not overheat brakes, and in fact puts the energy back in the pack”
That’s the fundamental advantage
The Semi recovers energy that diesel trucks simply throw away
This is one of the biggest reasons electric semis can crush diesel on real-world operating costs
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