Recently Tesla has gained another large customer. More and more companies are breaking records of orders. Will the electric truck actually be cost-effective alternative? The Polish logistics operator compared the costs of purchase and operation of a traditional truck with the vehicle of Elon Musk.
UPS with their order for 125 trucks beat PepsiCo, which will buy 100 Tesla trucks. These are two another well-known brands that did not hesitate to invest in trucks, whose practical performance is yet unknown.
Meanwhile Rohlig Suus, the Polish logistics operator, decided to see if Semi is really beneficial and whether transport companies can afford it.
Is the price of Semi affordable for Polish companies?
Tesla offers Semi in three options. The cheapest of them, with the reach of about 480 km, costs 150 000 dollars, which is slightly more than half a million PLN. The cost of Semi which drives 800km after charging is 180 000 dollars, that is about PLN 637 000. On the other hand, the price of limited series amounts to 200 000 dollars, that is about PLN 708 000.
However, for the national transport on the Polish market the carriers buy standard vehicles, aged 8-10 years. It is therefore difficult to expect shopping frenzy in Poland to buy Tesla trucks, which are expected to cost over 50 percent more than currently most popular tractors purchased in a showroom, manufactured by DAF and MAN. The cost of buying a popular 8-10 year old vehicle is about PLN 80 000-100 000 and Tesla is at least five times more expensive, not to mention the cost of bringing such a vehicle to the country – said in „Puls Biznesu” Janusz Nóżka, the fleet manager in Rohlig Suus Logistics.
Tesla ensures, however, that a higher purchase price of Semi can by compensated by significantly lower costs of use compared to the use of diesel-powered trucks. According to the declarations of Musk, the difference is expected to be even 20 percent. Polish logistics operator decided to see how many years it will take for the investment in Tesla truck to return. It turns out that despite high cost of purchase, Semi can be profitable.
Investing in Tesla will return faster
Despite significantly higher cost of the car itself, a higher amount of the insurance, investing in Tesla returns 6 years earlier than in the case of a truck with an internal combustion engine. This is mainly due to the price of fuel consumed per 1 km: truck with the traditional drive burns oil at 1.12 PLN per kilometre, while Semi consumes electricity at the cost of 0.42 PLN on the same section. Consequently, total cost of Tesla operation is by 28 percent lower (1.68 PLN/km) compared to its counterparts with diesel engine (2.35 PLN/km).