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No - the commercial sector does not tolerate a company underdelivering. They expect the product to meet the spec. They demand continuous uptime and any problems to be fixed under warranty in 24 to 48 hours. (Every day a truck is in the shop cost the owner $1500 to $2000 in lost revenue). Commercial customers won't wait for weeks to get their vehicle fixed like Tesla's current customer base. Big fleets will buy a test fleet and then run them for 3-5 years to determine a baseline for Tesla. It is all about total cost / mile, uptime and service.
You tow dead electric trucks just like a dead diesel truck. It takes a really big wrecker and they can tow the tractor / trailer combo as one. Vehicle to Vehicle charging exists today so that could be a possibility.
The 500 mile semi is targeting region hauling. There is no way it is going to do long haul where drivers run 700 miles in their 11 hours of driving. Driving at a normal speed this truck likely has a 350 - 400 mile. It does make a lot of sense for depot to depot hauling where the truck owner also owns the infrastructure on both sides.
Yes, the weight of the tractor is key. Every extra pound on the tractor is one pound less cargo that can be carried. The "Breaking the Laws of Physics" statement is yet to be determined. My gut tells me the Semi is thousands of pounds heavier than the equivalent diesel day cab used for regional hauling. The eCascadia with a 438 kWh battery weighs in at 21,800 lbs according to the Freightliner website. Tesla will save some weight by building the Semi to be BEV from the ground up but that battery is huge. For reference the Nikola Tre with a 733 kWh battery weights in at 29,800 lbs.
Daimler and Volvo are targeting drayage and urban use with their electric trucks. The ranges aren't huge because they don't need to be and the truck returns home every day. That keeps the tractor weight low and reduces the cost. Tesla's 300 mile version is also targeting this usage. Commercial customers buy what they need - not more. I expect the 300 will be Tesla's volume seller.
Tesla also talked about Megawatt charging. I REALLY hope this is just Tesla rebranding the MCS standard being worked on internationally. CharIN is heading up the standards effort and their design is good for 1 MW to 3.75 MW. The applications are HD trucks, ships, and airplanes and there are a lot of companies / industries involved hoping to create on charge standard to rule them all instead of the 4-5 different plugs we have with light duty vehicles.
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