特斯拉高管稱即將擴(kuò)大其純電動(dòng)卡車的產(chǎn)量，同時(shí)其他行業(yè)專家也對(duì)其它脫碳途徑發(fā)表了看法。
美國綠色交通及充電樁展（ACT Expo）通常在南加州舉行，今年于5月20-23日在其東北方向265英里（425km）外的拉斯維加斯舉辦。有趣的是，大多數(shù)8級(jí)純電動(dòng)卡車的續(xù)航里程有限，甚至無法行駛完這段距離，尤其是在穿越丘陵地形或裝載重物的情況下。
但是，有一輛純電動(dòng)卡車能夠完成這段里程，它在滿載（即總重8.2萬磅）狀態(tài)下最大續(xù)航里程預(yù)計(jì)可達(dá)到500英里（805 km）。這就是在ACT展上首次亮相的特斯拉Semi電動(dòng)半掛卡車。特斯拉Semi的高級(jí)工程經(jīng)理Dan Priestley在展會(huì)期間的一場主旨演講中稱：“只有像Semi這種在針對(duì)特定用途、從零開始專門設(shè)計(jì)的電動(dòng)車平臺(tái)上打造的卡車，才能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)如此高的續(xù)航里程-質(zhì)量比。車上毫無空間浪費(fèi)，動(dòng)力總成與車輛配合得天衣無縫。”
自2017年特斯拉 Semi項(xiàng)目推出以來就一直領(lǐng)導(dǎo)該項(xiàng)目的Priestley詳細(xì)說明了特斯拉計(jì)劃進(jìn)行擴(kuò)產(chǎn)的這款卡車“在現(xiàn)有技術(shù)條件下可實(shí)現(xiàn)的”空載質(zhì)量。300英里（480 km）版Semi的空載質(zhì)量最高可達(dá)2萬磅（9070 kg），而長里程版的空載質(zhì)量最高可達(dá)2.3萬磅（10,400 kg）。
截至目前，特斯拉Semi半掛卡車已累計(jì)行駛了350萬英里（560萬km）。百事公司目前正使用該電動(dòng)卡車運(yùn)輸飲料——Priestley還特別強(qiáng)調(diào)了運(yùn)輸飲料，不只是薯片。特斯拉在其自己的供應(yīng)鏈運(yùn)營中也在使用Semi半掛卡車，例如將電池組從內(nèi)華達(dá)州的超級(jí)工廠運(yùn)往加州弗里蒙特工廠。Priestley表示：“兩年前，這條路線上的運(yùn)輸工作100%由柴油卡車完成，現(xiàn)在我們正在逐漸增加電動(dòng)卡車的比例。”他指出，這條路線路況嚴(yán)峻，不僅需要經(jīng)過I-80州際高速公路上的唐納山口（Donner Pass），而且全年都會(huì)遭遇酷暑或嚴(yán)寒的惡劣天氣。
Priestley 表示：“雖然肯沃斯SuperTruck 2團(tuán)隊(duì)成功達(dá)到了其預(yù)設(shè)的貨運(yùn)效率目標(biāo)，但特斯拉Semi車隊(duì)早在去年就超過了該項(xiàng)目。而且如果比較兩車的滿載質(zhì)量，那么Semi更是‘碾壓’SuperTruck 2。Semi車隊(duì)的平均耗電量為1.7kWh/英里。即使在重載條件下，耗電量也不會(huì)超過2 kWh/英里。”
作為參考，肯沃斯稱其在ACT上展出的SuperTruck 2示范車較2009年推出的T660車型提高了136%的貨運(yùn)效率，最高可達(dá)12.8英里/加侖。
Priestley還強(qiáng)調(diào)，充電技術(shù)是特斯拉的核心，也將成為特斯拉卡車的核心。他表示：“我們已證明了兆瓦級(jí)快充技術(shù)在卡車上的可用性、穩(wěn)定性、安全性，以及釋放更高大經(jīng)濟(jì)效益的潛力。我們目前已在實(shí)際車輛中部署并積極應(yīng)用該技術(shù)。該示范項(xiàng)目展示了電動(dòng)卡車可以實(shí)現(xiàn)與柴油卡車同等的運(yùn)營效率，因此車隊(duì)可在運(yùn)營過程中互相替換。”
Priestley宣稱：“該示范車隊(duì)及其所有配套設(shè)施（包括基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施和售后服務(wù)等）均表明我們已具備實(shí)施車隊(duì)電動(dòng)化的技術(shù)條件。是時(shí)候擴(kuò)大電動(dòng)卡車的生產(chǎn)規(guī)模了。”他表示特斯拉正在內(nèi)華達(dá)州建設(shè)一座工廠，預(yù)計(jì)于2026年開始向客戶大規(guī)模交付車輛，并逐步達(dá)到每年5萬輛的最終產(chǎn)能目標(biāo)。
關(guān)于各種動(dòng)力系統(tǒng)未來發(fā)展
下文摘錄了行業(yè)專家針對(duì)燃油和驅(qū)動(dòng)技術(shù)發(fā)表的一些獨(dú)到見解。這些技術(shù)即便目前尚不成熟，未來也很可能在卡車和非道路領(lǐng)域?qū)崿F(xiàn)脫碳目標(biāo)的過程中發(fā)揮作用。
氫能——彼得比爾特（Peterbilt）的總經(jīng)理Jason Skoog 表示：“如果要發(fā)展氫能，那么我們現(xiàn)在就必須建設(shè)更多基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施。就像電影《Field of Dreams》中的一句臺(tái)詞——‘If you build it, we will come.’氫能可能是目前最理想的技術(shù)，氫燃料內(nèi)燃機(jī)也頗具技術(shù)優(yōu)勢。但如不能補(bǔ)給燃料，那么氫能方案就不具備可行性。”
混合動(dòng)力——約翰迪爾建筑公司（John Deere）電動(dòng)汽車產(chǎn)品經(jīng)理Grant Van Tine表示：“在一些領(lǐng)域中，純電動(dòng)車可能不具可行性或目前條件尚不成熟，而混合動(dòng)力汽車卻是極佳的解決方案。”他提到一臺(tái)每天能夠在采石場工作12小時(shí)或更久的944 X-Tier混合動(dòng)力輪式裝載機(jī)，并表示：“首先，我們根本無法在這臺(tái)裝載機(jī)上封裝大量電池，但即便我們能將其改造為純電版，原本就重達(dá)12萬磅的設(shè)備也會(huì)增加5.4萬磅的負(fù)載，而且成本也會(huì)飆升至目前的三到四倍。”
可再生燃料——西斯科（Sysco）首席供應(yīng)鏈官Dan Purefoy表示：“我們在加州的運(yùn)營中發(fā)現(xiàn)，80%的車隊(duì)使用HVO（氫化植物油，也稱為可再生柴油或綠色柴油）作為燃料。我們非常樂于嘗試將這種可再生燃料推廣到其他市場，但我們始終面臨著一項(xiàng)挑戰(zhàn)——加州以外地區(qū)的供應(yīng)成本居高不下。如果HVO能夠迅速增長，并在全國范圍內(nèi)進(jìn)行推廣，我們肯定會(huì)充分利用HVO推動(dòng)公司業(yè)務(wù)發(fā)展。”
柴油——戴姆勒卡車北美公司總裁兼首席執(zhí)行官John O’ Leary表示：“坦率地說，柴油業(yè)務(wù)正承受著各種壓力。雖然我們非常樂于在未來進(jìn)行再投資，但如果沒有足夠的利潤支撐，我們也沒有能力在未來進(jìn)行再投資。”
Usually hosted in Southern California, the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo moved about 265 miles (425 km) north and east for its latest edition, taking place in Las Vegas from May 20-23. Interestingly, that distance challenges the range limits of most Class 8 battery-electric trucks, particularly if traversing hilly terrain or hauling heavy loads.
One electric truck capable of covering such a stretch – with its estimated range of up to 500 miles (805 km) fully loaded at 82,000 lb GCW – is the Tesla Semi, which made its trade-show debut at the ACT Expo. “Achieving strong range-to-mass ratios is only possible with a dedicated, purpose-built, ground-up electric platform – exactly what the Semi is. There’s no wasted space, the powertrain and the vehicle work hand in hand,” Dan Priestley, senior manager of engineering for the Tesla Semi, said during a keynote in Las Vegas.
Priestley, who’s been leading the Tesla Semi program since the platform was announced in 2017, presented a slide showing the “attainable” tare weights for its planned high-volume production trucks “based on learnings we’ve had thus far.” The 300-mile (480-km) version of the Semi has an attainable tare weight of less than 20,000 lb (9070 kg) while the long-range configuration is capable of being less than 23,000 lb (10,400 kg).
Tesla Semis have accumulated 3.5 million miles (5.6 million km) to date. PepsiCo is using the electric trucks to haul beverages – not just chips, Priestley emphasized – and Tesla is running the Semi in its own supply chain operations – for example, hauling battery packs from its gigafactory in Nevada to support its Fremont, California, factory. “Two years ago, this route was one-hundred percent diesel. We are now electrifying it,” Priestley said. The route is challenging, he noted, passing through Donner Pass along I-80 and encountering both hot and cold weather conditions throughout the year.
“SuperTruck 2 [participants] are hitting their [freight efficiency] targets. Last year’s Tesla Semi fleet outpaced them. And if we load up the vehicle to max weight, we crush it even farther,” Priestley said. “Across the fleet, we’re seeing an average of 1.7 kWh per mile. Even in heavy-haul applications, we’re seeing less than 2 kWh per mile.”
For reference, Kenworth revealed its SuperTruck 2 at the ACT Expo, stating the demonstrator vehicle improved freight efficiency by up to 136% compared to its 2009 T660 model and achieved up to 12.8 mpg.
Priestley also stressed that charging is core to Tesla, and that goes for the trucking side of the business as well. “We’ve demonstrated that megawatt-level fast charging is available, reliable, safe and unlocks next-level economics,” Priestley said. “We have this deployed in the field today and are actively using it. What this does is it unlocks operational equivalence between diesel and electric. [Fleets] can swap one for one in operations.”
“This pilot fleet, and everything that goes along with it – infrastructure, servicing, etc. – has shown that we are technologically ready. Electrification can be done,” Priestley asserted. “Now it’s time for scaling.” Tesla is building a factory in Nevada that will begin higher-volume customer deliveries in 2026, he said, ramping to an eventual target capacity of 50,000 units per year.
Opining on future of propulsion
Battery-electric trucks were not the only topic of discussion at the ACT Expo. Following are a few additional compelling quotes from industry experts on fuels and propulsion technologies that likely will contribute to the decarbonization of trucking and off-highway sectors in the future – if not already.
Hydrogen – “If hydrogen is going to be a solution, then we’ve got to have more of that infrastructure done now. It’s almost like a Field of Dreams moment – ‘If you build it, we will come.’ It could be the best technology out there, and hydrogen ICE is really great but if you can’t fuel it, it’s not going to be an option,” said Jason Skoog, general manager at Peterbilt.
Hybridization – “There’s some areas where pure battery-electric may not be feasible, may not be ready in its current state, but hybridization will be a great solution in those situations,” said Grant Van Tine, product manager, electric vehicles, John Deere Construction. He referenced a 944 X-Tier hybrid-electric wheel loader that operates 12 hours/day or more in a quarry: “If we could even make it battery-electric – which we physically cannot package that many batteries in this machine – it would add another 54,000 pounds to [the 120,000-lb machine] and cost three to four times what it is today.”
Renewable fuel – “We looked at our operations in California, eighty percent of our fleet leverages HVOs [hydrotreated vegetable oils, also known as renewable diesel or green diesel],” said Dan Purefoy, chief supply chain officer, Sysco. “We would love to try to expand that into other markets. We’ve seen that to be a challenge so far – the cost is still heavy with supply outside of California. That is an area if it were able to take off and expand across the country, we would definitely take advantage of that.”
Diesel – “The diesel business is paying for all of this, quite honestly,” said John O’Leary, president and CEO at Daimler Truck North America. “We will gladly reinvest that into the future, but without that there’s no ability to reinvest in the future.”
特斯拉Semi電動(dòng)半掛卡車在2024年美國綠色交通及充電樁展（ACT Expo 2024）的試駕活動(dòng)中亮相。（Ryan Gehm）
特斯拉 Semi 的 300 英里（480 公里）版本的皮重小于 20,000 磅（9070 kg），而長里程配置據(jù)說能夠小于 23,000 磅（10,400 kg）。（RYAN GEHM）
特斯拉的 Priestley 聲稱 Semi 比 SuperTruck 2 車輛更高效。肯沃斯在 ACT Expo 上展示了其 SuperTruck 2 演示車，該車的燃油效率高達(dá) 12.8 mpg。（RYAN GEHM）
特斯拉 Semi 工程高級(jí)經(jīng)理Dan Priestley強(qiáng)調(diào)，充電是特斯拉的核心業(yè)務(wù)，卡車業(yè)務(wù)也是如此。（RYAN GEHM）
彼得比爾特公司的 Jason Skoog 強(qiáng)調(diào)，無論是充電還是氫燃料加注，都必須加快基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)，才能發(fā)揮這些技術(shù)的潛力。（RYAN GEHM）
約翰迪爾的 944 X-Tier 混合動(dòng)力輪式裝載機(jī)在采石場每天工作 12 小時(shí)或更長時(shí)間，這種應(yīng)用不適合使用電池供電。（約翰迪爾）
戴姆勒北美卡車公司總裁兼首席執(zhí)行官 John O'Leary 表示，柴油技術(shù)的發(fā)展不容忽視。（RYAN GEHM）