They say good affair come to those who wait . While that may be true in some caseful , the panel ’s still out on whether that adage will apply to Tesla ’s long - expect electricsemi truck . This week , five years after it wasrevealedand three class after it was expected to go on the market place , the electric vehicle shaper has in the end shipped its first Big Rig .
In classic dramatic Tesla manner , CEO Elon Musk revealed the new commercial-grade semi during a springy streamed event Thursday by personally force back one through the company ’s Sparks , Nevada Gigafactory . Musk exited the hand truck ’s cab to a crowd of cheering Tesla fans , and then instantly start apologize .
“ good-for-nothing for the time lag , ” Musk said . “ The unmixed amount of play between five years ago and now is harebrained , ” Musk suppose . “ A lot has bump in the world . But , here we are . ”
Elon, the truck driverScreenshot:Telsa
PepsiCo , which reportedly ordered 100 of the semis when they were announce , confirmed they are the first recipient of the now useable trucks . Now , according toThe Wall Street Journal , Pepsi expects to take 15 of the galvanising hand truck and pose them in its Modesto , California plant life by the final stage of the year .
The flashy reveal could n’t come at a better time for Tesla . The electric cable car company , long the startup that could n’t drop off , has seen its stockplummetin late months due in tumid part over increase competition from more traditional carmakers entering the EV distance and fears over the continued fallout of Musk ’s $ 44 billion Twitter acquirement .
Unlike many other competition sink their toe into the electrical trucking distance , Tesla ’s trucking rig is one of the relatively few built as an EV from the ground up . Though it remains to be seen how the truck will in reality perform in genuine populace commercial runs , Tesla says it can travel 500 miles on a individual charge , speed from 0 - 60 in about 20 seconds , and recharge around 70 % of its battery in about an hour . All of that ’s made potential , in part , by four sovereign motor on the hand truck ’s rearward axis .
“ It looks like an elephant proceed like a cheetah , ” Musk said .
Semi has a tri - motive organization & carbon - sleeved rotors just like Plaid . 1 unit of measurement for efficiency , 2 acceleration unit for torquepic.twitter.com/MDn4cj0jzO
— Tesla ( @Tesla)December 2 , 2022
More important than speed though is the reach . Anxiety overlimited mountain range , while a major breaker point of concern for electric vehicle , are amplified further for truck driver who might have to take on longer trips along U.S. roadways with a still limited electric charging internet . Clarence Day prior to the event Musk released atweetsaying the Tesla squad had successfully finish a 500 mile trip in the tractor trailer with 81,000 pounds of cargo , though it ’s unclear if that also included the exercising weight of the vehicle itself . During Thursday ’s presentation , Musk made a degree to emphasize the particular positive impact he believed the semi would have in dense urban areas .
“ A lot of people do n’t realize it ’s quite unhealthful to live next to a highway with diesel trucks , ” Musk allege . “ In addition to climate change and global thawing , count it [ the trailer truck ] is also quiet and it ’s going to improve the calibre of your melody and fundamentally improve the wellness of people living near highways . ”One matter Tesla and Musk would n’t remark on however : the terms . In the past , Tesla say its semi wound set out at around $ 150,000 with longer ambit versions costing around $ 180.000 . Those pricing figures originate get more complicated however when one starts to account for revenue enhancement credits and other incentives dangled in front of commercial buyers like Pepsi . In Pepsi ’s case , the Journalnotes , it appears a local public wellness agency shout out The California Air Resources Board will fund half of the party for replacing its old motortruck with the 15 Tesla semis .
Like Tesla ’s other products , the semi ’s aesthetic design departs from rule . The steering wheel will sit in the center of the cab rather than the left over or right side . Touch screen are then invest on either side of the equipment driver . And while Musk made no mention of autonomous drive during the outcome , he has previouslysuggestedhe would like to introduce some form of self - driving capabilities to semi fleets in the future .
Successfully electrifying freight rate trucking would significantly add to Tesla ’s overarching mission of reducing nursery gas emissions . In the U.S. alone , the Environmental Protection Agencyestimates27 % of glasshouse gas expelling staunch from conveyance , the eminent of any sector . While most of that ( 57 % ) come from passenger cars and light responsibility vehicle , a goodly chunk ( 26 % ) comes from medium and heavy duty motortruck . During his announcement , Musk reportedly referred to the semitrailer as , “ a all-important piece of the puzzle , ” for environmental sustainability .
Tesla ’s road to finally shipping its semi has come with numerous delays and missed deadlines , bestow on by a mixture of element shortages , and pandemic complications . All of that means the great unwashed would probably take any other predictions when it comes to next semi ’s with a grain of salt . Still , that has n’t stopped Musk and Tesla from reach them anyways . Earlier this year , in the thick of avoid a nuclear meltdown at Twitter , Musktold investorslistening in on a third quarter Tesla earnings call he expected to ship 50,000 of the semi trucks annually by 2024 . It would take a truly remarkable product acceleration to make that a realness , particularly view Tesla ’s Board Chair Robyn Denholm recentlysaidthe company could optimistically hope to embark just around 100 unit by the end of this year .
CarsElon MuskPEPSITESLATesla Model 3Tesla Model STransport
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