Tesla Delivers Its First Electric Semi Truck—‘Most Badass Rig On The Road’

This week, Tesla Chief Elon Musk finally delivered the company’s first heavy-duty electric Semi truck to PepsiCo, after five long years of waiting. 

At an event at the automaker’s plant in Nevada, Musk touted that the long-haul, battery-powered vehicle would help businesses reduce highway emissions and gain better performance than existing diesel cars. 

Calling the vehicle “the most badass rig on the road,” the CEO also revealed the trucks would come with a spin-off of a fast-charging technology that Tesla plans to incorporate in its forthcoming Cybertrucks. 

Robyn Denholm, Chairman of Tesla, recently said the company hopes to produce 100 Semis by the end of the year, with another 50,000 models expected in 2024. PepsiCo, the first to receive the truck, ordered 100 vehicles back in 2017.

However, as per Reuters, many details remain unclear for the Semi, including the pricing, information on different models of the truck that could be produced, or a supply forecast for deliveries to be made to other waiting customers. 

Furthermore, Musk did not elaborate at the event as to how Tesla’s autonomous driving system would work within the Semi or any of its future iterations over the coming years. 

For now, all we know is that the vehicle can charge at one megawatt, and is equipped with liquid-cooling technology in its charging cable that will be made available with the Cybertruck once it goes into production next year. 

The Semi boasts three electric motors, the same as used in Tesla’s Model S, though only one of them needs to be engaged while cruising on the highway with two in reserve for acceleration to make the trucks more energy-efficient. 

As part of Musk’s presentation at the plant, a new image of a “robotaxi” surfaced, which showed a future car concept under a tarp, though there doesn’t seem to be any other details regarding that venture just yet. 

With customers of the Semi still waiting for key details, such as how much each truck can haul and when their vehicles will finally arrive, perhaps not many people are thinking about Tesla’s next creation just yet. 

[via Reuters and Ars Technica, cover image via Tesla]