Tesla Semi Truck Deliveries Finally Commence After Five Year Wait
The Tesla Semi is finally ready after five years of waiting and Elon Musk has revealed, with Tesla engineer Dan Priestley, that PepsiCo have got the first ones.
Musk said:
“I can’t believe it’s been five years. Been a lot that’s happened since then, to say the least.”
Priestley went on to comment on the 500 mile range which was tested in ‘real world’ conditions by driving from Fremont to San Diego. He explained:
“This wasn’t an ultra-clean, precise test-track simulation, or something where we shut down the road. This is real-world, with traffic, true 500 miles. We’re loaded just under 82,000lbs, no special aero treatments. Car came off the line, [we] shook it down, made it run, that’s it.”
The Semi will have a tri-motor setup which consists of a single motor on the front axle and two motors on the rear axle, and carbon-sleeved rotors, similar to the Model S Plaid and Model X Plaid. There will also be other similarities in the inverters, heat pumps, and infotainment system.
For better energy efficiency, the rear motors can be disengaged to just use the front motor when on a motorway. Tesla claims the Semi has triple the power of any other diesel truck on the road and can be charged by a 1MW charger which means it can get up to 70% in about thirty minutes.
The cabin will come with all of the expected Tesla technology such as the wireless charging and two 15 inch touchscreens. The single seat is placed in the centre in order to provide the driver with “max road visibility”. Tesla also claim that the regenerative braking and traction control capabilities are much more advanced than any other non-electric trucks on the market.
Unfortunately, Tesla have still not released any prices.
