Tesla Delivers First Battery-Powered Truck Five Years After Unveiling

Tesla in 2017 said that the Semi truck can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 20 seconds, even when fully loaded, and maintain highway-level speeds even up steep grades

Tesla delivered its first heavy-duty, battery-powered truck, Semi on Thursday. Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk presented the vehicle at an event in Nevada. The truck was finally delivered to PepsiCo five years after its unveiling. Initially, Tesla targeted Semi’s delivery in 2019.  

Elon Musk said, “If you’re a trucker and you want the badass rig on the road, this is it.” He said that the battery-powered, long-range truck would reduce highway emissions, outperform current diesel models on power and safety, and offer a faster-charging. In the event live-streamed on Twitter, Musk drove one of three Tesla Semis in front of a crowd inside the factory in Reno, Nevada.

Although Musk did not reveal the truck's price or how much cargo it could haul, he said the Semi is doing test runs between Tesla’s Sparks, Nevada factory and its plant in Fremont, California. The company said Semi completed 500 miles of driving on a single charge. It carried 81,000 pounds of cargo. 

Tesla in 2017 said that the Semi truck can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 20 seconds, even when fully loaded, and maintain highway-level speeds even up steep grades. The company also said the vehicle will recharge up to 70 per cent of its travel range in just 30 minutes. They also said that the 300-mile range version of the Semi would cost $150,000 and the 500-mile version $180,000.

A month after it was unveiled, Pepsi ordered 100 Semi Trucks in December 2017. It reportedly costs $20,000 to reserve a Tesla Semi Truck. Brewer Anheuser-Busch, United Parcel Service Inc, and Walmart Inc are other companies that ordered Semis. 

Recently, Tesla President Robin Denholm said the company can produce 100 Semi this year. Musk has said that Tesla will aim to produce 50,000 trucks in 2024. 

Musk said that the Semi is capable of charging at 1 megawatt and has liquid-cooling technology in the charging cable in an updated version of Tesla’s Supercharger. Without revealing any specifics he said, future vehicles would use the powertrain technology developed for the Semi.

The Semi uses three electric motors developed for Tesla’s performance version of its Model S, with only one of them engaged at highway speeds and two in reserve when the truck needs to accelerate, a feature that makes the truck more energy-efficient, Musk said.

“This thing has insane power relative to a diesel truck. Basically, it’s like an elephant walking like a cheetah,” he added.

Many other companies have also begun selling battery-powered trucks, including Daimler’s Freightliner, Volvo, Nikola, and Renault. 

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