The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent for a Tesla semi on February 22, 2022. According to the abstract, Tesla's latest patent is the Tire Automatic Inflation System (ATIS).
When operating commercial vehicles for the average user, proper tire inflation pressure is crucial because it affects fuel efficiency as well as the degree of wear of the tires. According to the North American Freight Efficiency Council, fuel consumption increases by 0.5-1.0% in commercial vehicles with less than 10 psi tire inflation, ensuring that commercial vehicles are well inflated will reduce the problems associated with tire failures.
In the case of Tesla Semi, fuel isn't really an issue, but efficiency is still important, and Tesla's recent patent shows that it's developing an automatic tire inflation system (ATIS) that can overcome one or more of the causes of under-inflation of commercial vehicle tires, which can monitor tire inflation pressure with preset values and re-inflate tires when the vehicle falls below target levels.
Tesla's patent abstract for an automatic tire inflation system states:
"The automatic tire inflation system (ATIS) for vehicles includes a controller, a valve controlled by the controller, and for at least one drive shaft having an inner bearing and an outer bearing, a channel formed in the spindle, the first hose joint is connected by the controller to a channel formed in the spindle, a channel formed in the hub, a channel formed in the spindle to a channel formed in the hub of the rotating air seal, and a channel formed in the hub to be connected to at least one wheel. Rotary air seals may be converted from a seal formed between the mandrel and the hub to support the formation of a channel in the mandrel and the formation of a passage in the hub between the air flow and in a non-sealed state to negate the seal and hub between the mandrel. ”
While full production of the Tesla Semi has not yet begun, some of the company's customers are already preparing for all-electric trucks, and in the case of PepsiCo, the food and beverage company has already prepared superchargering stations for its Tesla Semi fleet in Modesto, California.