Month: November 2017

Tesla reveals electric ‘Tesla Semi’ to rival diesel trucks

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Image Source: autoexpress.co.uk

Tesla has revealed their new electric articulated lorry, the Tesla Semi, which they hope will be a replacement to the diesel-guzzling trucks currently in use by 3.5 million truck drivers in the US. It is the first electric truck to be revealed amongst several companies making similar electric vehicles including Daimler AG, Volkswagen, Cummins and Nikola.

CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, revealed that the Tesla Semi can also reach an impressive speed; an empty trailer can go from 0 to 60mph in just 5 seconds! The truck will have a central driving position (not on one side like we currently drive) with touch screens on either side of the driving seat. The truck will also have cameras instead of wing mirrors.

Safety is a big concern for Tesla. The truck will come with an enhanced version of Tesla’s current semi-autonomous driving system called AutoPilot which is installed in all Tesla vehicles – this gives them self-driving capability which is safer than human driving. The new truck is also said to have lane-keeping technology and be impossible to jackknife.

For truck drivers, the range the truck can travel on one charge is an important factor. The Tesla semi will be able to travel 500 miles on one charge whilst full and at highway speeds. Despite this impressive range for such a large vehicle, this is still significantly less than the range of current diesel trucks on a tank of diesel, with refilling much faster than recharging a truck’s battery.

No price has yet been revealed, but Tesla says that the vehicle will work out cheaper per mile (about 20%) than a diesel equivalent once all costs are accounted for including fuel and maintenance.

Do you think the Tesla Semi is enough to convert diesel truck drivers?

Road Safety Week 2017

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Image Source: roadsafetyweek.org.uk

The last week in November this year (20-26) marks Road Safety Week 2017, an annual event arranged by the charity Brake, to raise awareness of the dangers of the road and to spread life-saving information about how to be safer in and around road traffic.

‘Speed Down Save Lives’

The theme for this year’s Road Safety Week is ‘Speed Down Save Lives’, a campaign encouraging drivers to think about their driving speed and it’s effect on stopping distances. Modern cars can get up to high speeds in very short amounts of time, and this year’s campaign is committed to raising awareness amongst drivers that it’s their responsibility to know how fast they’re going and how long their vehicle will take to stop if they see a hazard in the road ahead.

How can I get involved?

If you want to join in the campaign for safer roads this year, you can apply for a free action pack either as an individual campaigner or as an organisation like a school or community.

If you’d like to raise a road safety complaint in your community, Road Safety Week is a perfect time to do this – take a look at the Brake charity website to find out how to organise petitions, hold a demonstration or how to go about getting speed limits queried in your area.

If you’d like to contribute to this fantastic cause you can do so in a variety of ways, whether it’s a bake sale, run a race for Brake or just give a donation. Brake will be collecting money throughout the week across the country: London 20th Nov, Birmingham 21st Nov, Huddersfield 22-23 Nov and Leeds 24th Nov.

What will you be doing for Road Safety Week?