Automotive

Elon Musk sets date for all-electric Tesla Semi reveal

Elon Musk sets date for all-electric Tesla Semi reveal
Tesla will unveil its all-electric semi on October 26
Tesla will unveil its all-electric semi on October 26
View 2 Images
Tesla will unveil its all-electric semi on October 26
1/2
Tesla will unveil its all-electric semi on October 26
Elon Musk talks up the Tesla Semi on Twitter
2/2
Elon Musk talks up the Tesla Semi on Twitter

After first flagging a move into larger kinds of electric vehicles last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has today revealed plans to unveil the company's first all-electric semi truck at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California, with test drives to take place next month.

Tesla first laid out its ambitions for electric trucks in its "Master Plan, Part Deux" last year. In it, Musk described an electric heavy duty truck that would substantially reduce the cost of cargo transport and boost safety, while also being really fun to operate.

Not all that much is known about Tesl'a electric freight truck, but Musk did say in back in April that the company was on track for a September unveiling. He followed up by touching on it in a Ted talk soon after, describing it as a heavy duty, long-range, high-torque semi designed to alleviate heavy duty trucking loads.

"This is something which today people do not think is possible," said Musk. "To think the truck doesn't have enough power or it doesn't have enough range. With the Tesla Semi, we want to show that, no, an electric truck can out-torque any diesel semi, and if you had a tug-of-war competition, the Tesla semi will tug the diesel semi uphill."

Only time will tell who wins such a battle, but we are set to learn a whole lot more about the Tesla Semi toward the end of October. And Musk still appears quite excited about what it can do.

Elon Musk talks up the Tesla Semi on Twitter
Elon Musk talks up the Tesla Semi on Twitter

Source: Twitter

3 comments
3 comments
f8lee
With batteries being so heavy (and not getting any lighter as they are used, unlike fuel that is consumed), how much actual cargo will it be able to carry?
JetDoc
As a former (retired) long-haul trucker, I don't see the feasibility of an electric semi tractor for long-haul use. An average diesel powered long-haul semi-truck in the USA can travel for 8-10 hours without stopping, and if there are two drivers, they can keep on going to cross from coast to coast (3000+ miles) in less than 3 days. How does Musk propose to "refuel" his electric trucks to keep up with that sort of schedule? Even if he COULD develop a plug-in electric truck with rapid recharge capability, the infrastructure isn't there to operate these trucks on a coast to coast basis. It will be many years before these trucks are anything more than a novelty.
Derek Howe
I personally thought the best way Tesla (Musk) would tackle semi's is through battery swapping. Make it so you pay a monthly payment to use their batteries, in your Tesla truck. So you swing into a battery swapping station, and in a matter of minutes they remove your dead one, and install a fully charged one, and your back on the road. According to rumors, this semi will have a range of 200-300 miles, and it's max capacity is 40,000lbs.