Tesla’s Semi truck has finally been delivered to PepsiCo, 7 years after the vehicle was first announced. The launch event took place at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada with Elon Musk standing on a truck bed that was being used as a stage.
“If you’re a trucker and you want the most badass rig on the road, this is it,” Musk said.
The Semi truck (known in the UK and Ireland as an articulated lorry or ‘arctic’) is said to be 3 times more powerful than a diesel truck. The cool Tesla-like design boasts a bullet-like exterior to assist with aerodynamic efficiency. A uniquely design cab places the driver in the centre allowing them to have the best visibility and control.
Tesla’s Semi truck’s tag line states it is “The Future of Trucking”, and claims to be able to cover 0-60mph in 20 seconds, fully loaded. With a price tag of $150,000, the Semi can run for 300 miles on a single charge. Want to go 500 miles without charging? That will set you back a cool $180,000.
The automotive and clean energy company also shared this video demonstrating the 500-mile journey the truck can make on a single charge:
Tesla Semi driving 500 miles, fully loaded, on a single charge pic.twitter.com/iZzomLcwZF
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
In line with Tesla’s mission statement, the Semi is accelerating towards our universal use of sustainable energy, which is why Tesla has not just stuck to producing passenger cars. In the US 15 million passenger vehicles are sold annually, compared to 200,000 Semi trucks. However, the Semis account for about 20% of all US vehicle emissions.
Following the event, a series of tweets from Tesla’s Twitter account has been running through the Semi’s features including:
Semi is built like a bullet, not a barn wall—optimized for efficiency pic.twitter.com/VeHue9gcaE
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
Tesla’s Semi truck claims to be up to 70% charged in just 30 minutes owing to its 1Mw, liquid-cooled, charging technology which will be a feature of the Cybertruck due to be released next year. Tesla says that the Semi consumes less than 2 kWh per mile.
At the event Dan Priestly, Senior Manager of Tesla Semi Truck Engineering said, “We have not waivered from our mission to build the greatest class A truck in history.” We can see that this is certainly a step in the futuristic direction.
