On Thursday, five years after they were first announced, the Tesla Semi trucks finally reached their customers at an event held at the Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada.
Tesla Semi trucks, which were first introduced in 2017, were supposed to start being made in 2019. But there were a lot of delays, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a global parts shortage. Representatives from PepsiCo, one of the first companies to reserve trucks, were there to pick them up.
Semi is built like a bullet, not a barn wall—optimized for efficiency pic.twitter.com/VeHue9gcaE
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
Tesla Semi is powered by a tri-motor system & carbon-sleeved rotors just like Model S Plaid. 1 unit for efficiency, 2 acceleration units for torques. The truck can accelerate 0-60mph in 20 seconds, and has a battery range of up to 500 miles. As Tesla stated, its new vehicle has 3x the power of any diesel truck on the road.
Semi has a tri-motor system & carbon-sleeved rotors just like Plaid. 1 unit for efficiency, 2 acceleration units for torque pic.twitter.com/MDn4cj0jzO
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
Prices may start at $150,000, and there have been a number of orders from businesses like Walmart and FedEx in the low-dozens range.
"It looks sick," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on stage at the event. "You want to drive that. I mean, that thing looks like it came from the future." Musk later referred to the Semi as "a beast."
Tesla Semi driving 500 miles, fully loaded, on a single charge pic.twitter.com/iZzomLcwZF
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
One of Tesla's battery powered class 8 semi-trucks had completed a 500-mile trip fully loaded with 81,000 pounds of cargo. Musk clarified that the entire trip was able to be accomplished without needing to recharge the battery, starting from Tesla's factory in Fremont, California and ending at San Diego.
The best driver experience: max road visibility, space to stand up, 2x 15-inch touch screens, wireless phone charging & more pic.twitter.com/ktrh602Krd
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
Musk enumerated a number of features he said will make the Semi the most efficient, most desirable, and most driveable truck on the road. The new 1,000-volt powertrain architecture in the Semi will be used as a base for future product development at Tesla. To prevent jackknifing and increase battery efficiency, the Semi has traction control and regenerative braking respectively. For seamless highway driving, an automatic clutch has been included.
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
Musk disclosed that Tesla has engineered a new liquid-cooled charging connector which can provide 1 megawatt of direct current power. "It's going to be used for Cybertruck, too," Musk added.
