Tesla delivered Thursday night the first production version of its long-delayed electric New Tesla Semi-Truck. Its long-delayed electric semi truck, five years after Chief Executive Elon Musk revealed the commercial vehicle.
The New Tesla Semi-Truck
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made big promises with regard to its highly anticipated Semi truck – promises which, when fulfilled, will place Tesla into an entirely new market, and leapfrog Teslas competitors there.
Despite not making any significant changes, his New Tesla Semi-Truck delivery event was nonetheless a huge moment, as Teslas Semi has the potential to transform the trucking industry for good, eliminating emissions and dramatically cutting costs.
Since delivery trucks and trailers are responsible for about half of U.S. automotive nitrogen oxide emissions, the Tesla Semis all-electric capability has the potential to dramatically lower overall auto emissions in the country.
Tesla is also promising an up to $200,000 fuel savings on the Tesla Semi within its first three years of ownership. The Tesla Semis pricing has yet to be revealed, but MIT Technology Review estimates the Semis batteries alone will cost more than three times more than an average oil-burning Big Rig.
Teslas first production Semi comes in two flavors: A 500-mile model costs $180,000, while a 300-mile model comes in at $150,000.
It is unclear what Teslas Semi will cost, or how many of them Tesla will produce, although back in 2017, when the truck debuted, Tesla promised an initial $150,000 price.
The company recently completed test driving of a fully electric truck, and delivered the first Semis ordered from PepsiCo PEP.
Tesla delivered its first Tesla Semi EV truck to customers and revealed details about the vehicles production version — fulfilling a five-year-old promise. Teslas Semi trucks were first announced back in 2017, and, after a few delays, they are ready and set for delivery.
PepsiCo preordered 100 of their first battery-powered semi trucks in 2017, and is expected to deploy 15 electric trucks at PepsiCos beverage factories in Sacramento and the Frito-Lay factory in Modesto, Calif., later this year.
Musk, appearing on stage at a demonstration at the Nevada Tesla plant, said the companys first heavy-duty semi would cut down on emissions on the freeway, beat existing diesel models in energy efficiency and safety, and would be the spinoff from a quick-charging technology that Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O) will be using in its next pickup, the Cybertruck.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Dan Priestley, senior Tesla engineering manager for Tor trucks, also boasted about the new megawatt-scale superfast chargers they will be using to rapidly refill a trucks batteries, though they did not say how long its Semi trucks will take to charge.
For instance, Tesla said five years ago its laggard EV semi truck could go 500 miles on a single battery charge, fully loaded, driving at 65 miles per hour.