Chief Executive Elon Musk unveiled its electric truck, dubbed the Tesla Semi, by riding the truck into an airport hangar near Los Angeles. The invited crowd was potential truck buyers and Tesla car owners.
Tesla has already begun accepting preorders for the rig and revealed it would cost buyers at least $150,000. Production is set to begin in 2019.
There will be a special ‘founders series’ being made, with $200,000 required up front to get one of the first 1,000 made.
“Overall, the semi is more responsive, covers more miles than a diesel truck in the same amount of time, and more safely integrates with passenger car traffic,” Tesla said.
“Without a trailer, the Tesla Semi achieves 0-60 mph in five seconds, compared to 15 seconds in a comparable diesel truck. It does 0-60 mph in 20 seconds with a full 80,000-pound load, a task that takes a diesel truck about a minute.”
“Most notably for truck drivers and other travelers on the road, it climbs 5% grades at a steady 65 mph, whereas a diesel truck maxes out at 45 mph on a 5% grade.”
Musk described electric trucks as Tesla’s effort to move the economy away from fossil fuels through projects including electric cars, solar roofs, and power storage.
Some analysts, however, fear the truck will be an expensive distraction for Tesla. Tesla has never posted an annual profit and is in self-described ‘manufacturing hell’ starting up production of the $35,000 Model 3 sedan.
Tesla will have to convince the trucking community that it can build an affordable electric big rig with the range and cargo capacity to compete with relatively low-cost, time-tested diesel trucks.
“The truck can go up to 500 miles at maximum weight at highway speed,” Musk said. Currently, diesel trucks are capable of traveling up to 1,000 miles on a single tank of fuel.
Without cargo, the Tesla semi can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in five seconds or reach 60 mph in 20 seconds at the maximum weight allowed on US highways of 80,000 pounds.
“I can drive this thing and I have no idea how to drive a semi,'”Musk joked.
The entry-level diesel trucks start at $100,000 and said there will be cost savings of over $200,000 over the life of the truck. This is based on fuel consumption and electricity vs. diesel costs.
Tesla executives showed off the Class 8 truck to journalists, describing it as ‘trailer agnostic,’ or capable of hauling any type of freight. Class 8 is the heaviest weight classification on trucks.
The truck’s day cab is not a sleeper and has a less prominent nose than a classic truck, and the battery is built into the chassis. The semi has four motors, one for each rear wheel.
Executives said Tesla designed the cab with a roomy feel and a center seat for better visibility, where the driver is flanked by two touchscreens.
The semi has Tesla’s latest semi-autonomous driving system which is designed to keep a vehicle in its lane without drifting, change lanes on command, and transition from one freeway to another with no human intervention.
According to Reuters report in August, Tesla was discussing self-driving trucks with regulators in Nevada and California. The company did not mention full autonomy in a release on the new vehicle.
The fourth-largest US less-than-truckload carrier, Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., consolidates smaller freight loads onto a single truck, said it would not use the Tesla truck.
“We met with Tesla and at this time we do not see a fit with their product and our fleet,” Dave Bates, senior vice president of operations, said.
Musk tweeted that the truck would ‘blow your mind clear out of your skull,’ joking, ‘it can transform into a robot, fight aliens and make one hell of a latte.’
Tesla faces a crowded field for electric trucks. Manufacturers such as Daimler AG, Navistar International Corp, and Volkswagen AG are joining a host of start-ups racing to overcome the challenges of substituting batteries for diesel engines as regulators crack down on carbon dioxide and soot pollution.
Manufacturers mostly focus on medium-duty trucks, not the heavy big rig market Tesla is after.
Tesla needs to invest a substantial amount of investors to create a factory for their trucks. The company is currently spending about $1 billion per quarter, largely to set up the Model 3 factory, and is contemplating a factory in China to build cars.
Charging and maintaining electric trucks could be expensive and complex. Tesla said the truck can charge for 30 minutes and then travel 400 miles.
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