Leno: Tesla proves America is still in the engineering game
Not long ago, I drove the Tesla Semi, which is their idea of an electric over-the-road hauler. It was sort of like driving a giant McLaren F1. You sit in the middle of the cab with a couple of computer screens, and even though it’s the size of a building, it feels as fast as a Tesla car (it isn’t, but for a huge truck, it sure feels like it). The windshield pillars are pulled way back, so you can see everything, and it’s extremely comfortable, and, of course, very quiet. One thing I didn’t like is that the windows don’t go down, which is a little disconcerting. They only open sideways, and just a crack, so you can maybe slip a Wendy’s single through, but you’re more or less sealed up in it.
We set up a trailer loaded with cars, and I backed the Tesla in, hooked up, put it in drive, and pulled away. And even though the whole rig with the trailer now weighed about 80,000 pounds, I could not tell the difference between having and not having the load attached. It accelerated exactly the same, and it’ll go 500 miles. It was amazing, and I think if you’re a trucker, especially a short-hauler like we have thousands of in LA going from port to warehouse and back again, this is the future. No dirty fuel, no changing the oil every other week, and you can pull it right into a warehouse to attach and detach the trailer because there’s no emissions.
I admit I am a huge fan of the Tesla story. OK, the Cybertruck isn’t necessarily my thing, but I grew up at a time when a pickup truck was a radiator, an engine, a cab, and a bed. And I’m old enough to remember the first pickup truck that was not a pickup, the 1961 Corvair Rampside. It didn’t really sell because it didn’t look like a pickup truck. But I get that the Cybertruck is for a different generation. It’s the best example of an over-40/under-40 car in a while, meaning people over 40 can’t stand it and people under 40 think it’s totally cool.
But the genius of Tesla is not in the cars, it’s in the infrastructure. Elon Musk came to the garage in 2007 with his Roadster based on the Lotus, and I drove it. I told him it was great, and he said that he planned to build charging stations all up and down California so you could pull in and charge for free. I remember thinking, “Well, that’ll never happen.” But as he was building the cars, he was also building the charging stations, and you see today that the Tesla charging network is a big reason people are buying the cars.
I think about when I was a kid, how a lot of American cars were all about the marketing. They would bring in guys from Whirlpool or somewhere and whatever they knew about selling washers, they would apply to cars, so it was all marketing hooey. The GT version was just the basic car with fancy wheels, a stripe, and a cartoon character on the fender. Those cars are nostalgic and fun to play with today, but they were never cutting edge. Nowadays, it seems like the president of General Motors is at the Nürburgring every other week. Personally, I think American engineering is now the equal of anything from Europe or Asia. Take the C8 Corvette; it’s built out of aluminum and magnesium in a union shop paying a union wage and it’s under $100,000. Europeans can’t do that. Heck, nobody else can do that.
I guess that makes me a techno-optimist. I look around and I see a world that seems better in just about every way. Sure, there are problems, but the average person lives a much better life, in large part due to technology. And American engineering and American manufacturing are on the upswing again. Tesla and the Corvette are only two examples, but it seems like every week there’s an announcement of a new breakthrough in clean energy or a new battery plant or chip factory being built somewhere in the U.S. Wasn’t it just yesterday that Japan was going to put us out of business? Then it was China. I think we tend to write ourselves off too quickly, because here we are, still in the game.
People my age often complain that America isn’t what it used to be. A lot of them are like Mark Twain, who is credited with saying, “I’m in favor of progress; it’s change I don’t like.” In the end, it doesn’t really matter what America used to be, it only matters where it is headed. And to me, it looks like it’s headed in a pretty good direction.
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500 miles hauling 80,000 pounds. Not bad if it’s true in the real world, but is there a mountain in that 500 miles, and what do you suppose it costs, and how long does it take, to charge semi batteries after a 500 mile drive?? Cars won’t get 500 miles on a charge, but then Tesla gets a fee each time you use their car chargers, no matter how much electricity you use. The more you use the chargers, the more $ for Tesla. I can see this being really useful in-town but problematic for long haul trucking, even autonomously. How much will 50-100 semi sized charging stations cost for truck stops? So many questions………
As far as engineering goes, in WW2, Germany had the engineering, we had the manufacturing. Now, we have engineering and China has the manufacturing. “The one that manufactures the most, always wins.”
There is a little war of great significant in Ukraine, and our Congress argues about how many bullets to send them. We have no chance.
My wife’s cousin met Jay Leno at a BP in Ohio when Jay liked his early M5. He is a car nut gear head like all of us. The world is a different place when EV’s first tried to be the mode of transportation. We then also had steam trucks that ran on peat. The fact that is ignored is the need for additional generating capacity before the grid can handle the strain. We still have the advantage of having a melting pot of citizens from all over the world to add to our national brain trust and in that the best assemblage when given the freedom and funding .
My grandmother bought her first refrigerator in 1934 for $250 when here house had only a few light bulbs. I’m sure people were concerned that all the new technology at the time would use up all the electricity. Somehow the electric companies managed.
i agree technology will eliminate truck driving jobs … i do enjoy reading any of jays car stuff
Jay, loved ur article but I agree & disagree with some of ur statements. I’m a car guy with two toys & two everyday drivers for me & the wife. I had an electric car, BMW i3, and from my experience, electric cars will always be town cars until a MAJOR break through in battery design.
“I’m in favor of progress; it’s change I don’t like.” Thanks for the reminder of Twain’s adage, Jay. People in their 20’s and 30’s don’t see EV’s the way people in their 60’s and up do. They aren’t a change for them; they are what there is. It’s grouchy old farts who see change everywhere who struggle.
I guess I’m an exception to Jay’s over/under 40 rule. I would love to have a Cybertruck and I’m over 70.
“… the average person lives a much better life, in large part due to technology.”
Would love to know Mr. Leno’s source for this average person perspective since I don’t believe he’s been a member of the “Average Person Class” for a while now….
Yes, technology is great, but it also intrudes upon our daily lives – unbeknownst to us in many instances – to surveil us, harvest our personal information to sell to the highest bidder, or to shift income away from the “average person” Mr. Leno speaks of to the “above average folks” like Mr. Leno himself….all done under the (blind) eye of our wonderful democracy.
I am enthused by Jay’s optimism. America, unlike China, offers everyone opportunity. You just have to make the effort. I’m generally not a union guy, I’ve worked on the management side in union shops, as they protect the the worst worker at the expense of the best (teachers, as a thought). And, earning a living wage, producing for the greater good is not exclusive to union jobs (sorry, Joe). Look at any skilled tradesperson, who invested the time / effort to learn a craft, and it’s easy to appreciate their work. A quality plumber, electrician, AC tech, welder, machinist or anyone who can make / build / fix “stuff”, is a valuable asset and can earn way more than a living wage, and should be respected for doing what others cannot or will not. America is still the world leader in innovation, and optimism is a good thing.
Keep writing Jay. I enjoy the perspectives of your articles.
Jay, thanks for this. I met you years ago at the Silverado Concours in Napa California. Best wishes and stay well.
I can afford a Corvette. I think it’s ugly. I can afford a Tesla Pickup which is absurd. And I’m not amused by a Generation of functional illiterates staring at their smartphones.
Please someone direct me to the research, if any, and the conclusion of the huge amount of negative impact to the environment, that even if 1/4 of entire vehicles on the road in America would be all electric. I don’t think it would ever be possible, as brainwashed people like Jay think. Here’s what I think. when the government subsidized companies can’t make much more money building and selling EVs to us, miraculously “LOL” vehicle engines that will extract hydrogen from water will start to emerge, (which already exist by the way) and take over. Very few of us will realize this was all planned.
Jay’s article is a bulletin in the flow of progress. It is inevitable, and foreseeable by some, that the “workless” society will be the norm.
A I will be replacing the jobs requiring only thinking, robots will be replacing physical labour will be doing the building, and a combination will be doing the regulating and “policing” …. its’ coming folks, mark my words. The big question then becomes how does the economy work ? How will humans be fed when they aren’t working ? Do we tax the robots and computers and continue with a “goods for accomplishment” system or become a ubiquitous welfare society beholden to the machines and electronics that perform all necessary work. Just asking.
Hey Jay, Good to hear some positive feedback and an optimistic outlook on the auto industry’s future in America. I think the new E tech swing will inspire todays youth to want to be part the new industry and of that market movement.
Still love my US brothers made Duramax diesel, on my third one, my 79′ 911SC, and BMW 440i’, feel these are some of the best each segment, great on the D. Max long haul and the cars just haul ass travel fun!
But moving forward in urban congestion, for day to day necessity driving, the E vehicles are the way to go, so I may just get an E grocery getter soon!
Go green there America has its place.
Happy to be a Canadian neighbour of such positive thinking and bringing work home!
Cheers, Canada Chris