Tesla

Some want to believe Tesla will succeed. Others believe Tesla will fail. Based on recent updates, you decide.

An Uber self-driving SUV struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, the first known time a pedestrian has been killed by an autonomous vehicle.

Volkswagen invests $25B in EVs; Tesla exposed to neodymium supply shocks; FedEx to announce earnings today; Union Pacific plans $127M capex in Arkansas; Maersk says Canadian container trade growth will outpace U.S. in 2018.

The Tesla is not a zero-emission vehicle as it produces a tremendous amount of CO2 during its production and largely utilizes electricity which is drawn from non-renewable resources.

The Tesla Semi has finally hit the road. Tesla founder Elon Musk posted a picture of two Tesla Semi’s leaving the company’s Gigafactory in the Nevada mountains for a trip to California.

It’s estimated that Tesla produces battery packs at a cost of $157/kwh, and the company has stopped claiming that it can dramatically reduce their cost. This puts the 1 mw Tesla Semi battery at $157k.

It is a curse to have everything go right on your first attempt.

Panelists from Bosch, eNow, Motiv, and Thor discussed the state of the electric truck industry and the technical and commercial challenges facing automobile electrification, especially battery technology.

Freight brokers’ revenues went up but margins went down in 2017; Amtrak blames CSX for yesterday’s crash; Hazelwood won’t testify in Pilot trial; oil tanker shipping rates crater; click through for more!

Some early adopters of the Tesla Semi are receiving another advantage – help with designing and building electric charging stations for the trucks.

Current and former Tesla engineers are blowing the whistle on the company’s sloppy manufacturing processes, citing problems with testing, assembly, and employee qualifications. 

If you’ve ever had your doubts about Elon Musk’s grand visions, you aren’t alone, but at some point maybe we should get on board the Tesla fan-wagon. Production issues are one thing, but they’re breaking new ground all over the world.

The biggest hurdle to overcome is the long-distance infrastructure of superchargers.

FreightWaves’ readers made the past year a great one for our young brand. Today, we take a fond look back at your favorite articles from 2017.

Ashlee Vance, who wrote a popular biography of Musk in 2015, observed Musk’s ability to get the most out of his engineers. He asks them “to do the impossible.”

Tesla is taking pre orders for its Semi, asking for $20,000 each. Participating in such an exercise is likely to end in disappointment

Oil prices finished 2017 above $60 a barrel for crude, surpassing their highest level in more than two years. Delivery of light, sweet crude for February was up 1% to $60.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude was up 71 cents to $66.78 a barrel.

Tesla is now accepting orders for its Tesla Semi in three European countries. The different dynamics of the European freight market represent some different challenges for the company.

The Canadian province of Ontario has announced an electric truck rebate of 60% of the incremental purchase cost compared to an equivalent conventional fuel vehicle, up to a cap of CA$75,000 per vehicle, under the new Green Commercial Vehicle Program.

From all green e-vehicles to the hyperloop to the rocket-to-Mars, one thing we should all be hoping for is that Elon Musk’s visions become reality. On the one hand, you can say the only way to make a vision happen is to possess the vision in the first place.