Tesla delivers its first electric truck

Three years after the initial deadline promised by Elon Musk, Tesla delivered the company’s first heavy-duty Semi truck to PepsiCo.

On Thursday, Musk presented the truck at an event at Tesla’s Nevada plant, saying that the battery-powered, long-haul truck would reduce highway emissions, outperform existing diesel models on power and safety and spin-off a fast-charging technology Tesla would use in its upcoming Cybertruck pickup.

‘If you’re a trucker and you want the most badass rig on the road, this is it,’ Musk said, noting that it was five years since Tesla had announced it was developing the all-electric truck.

Musk said the Semi has been doing test runs between Tesla’s Nevada factory and its plant in Fremont, California. Tesla said it had completed a 500-mile drive on a single charge, with the Semi and cargo weighing in at 81,000 pounds in total.

In 2017, Tesla had said the 300-mile range version of the Semi would cost $150,000, and the 500-mile version $180,000, but Tesla’s passenger electric vehicle prices have increased sharply since then.

Tesla had initially set a production target for 2019 for the Semi and now Musk has said Tesla would aim to produce 50,000 of the trucks in 2024.

However, Robyn Denholm, chair of Tesla, recently said the automaker might produce only 100 Semis this year.

PepsiCo, which completed its first cargo run with the Tesla truck to deliver snacks for those attending the Nevada launch event, had ordered 100 trucks in 2017.

Brewer Anheuser-Busch, United Parcel Service and Walmart are some of the other companies that have reserved the Semi.

A number of details about the truck remain unanswered. Tesla did not provide details on orders or deliveries to customers, nor an estimate on what the total cost of ownership for future buyers would be compared to diesel alternatives.

Tesla did not disclose the weight of an unloaded Semi either, a key specification for the efficiency of electric trucks.

Musk has spoken in the past about the prospect of fully autonomous trucks. Tesla did not provide details on how Tesla’s driver assistance systems would function in the Semi it unveiled on Thursday or future versions.

Tesla’s rivals like Daimler, Volvo, Nikola and Renault have already started selling battery-powered trucks of their own.

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 that will be made available to the Cybertruck, Musk said.

‘This thing has crazy power relative to a diesel truck,’ Musk said. ‘Basically it’s like an elephant moving like a cheetah.’

Industry experts remain sceptical that battery electric trucks can take the strain of hauling hefty loads for hundreds of miles economically.

In a slide displayed as part of Musk’s presentation, Tesla showed an image of a future ‘robotaxi’ in development with a mock-up of the future car covered under a tarp.

The Semi delivery presentation ended without Musk taking questions, as he often does at Tesla events. It was his first Tesla reveal since taking over Twitter – an acquisition some investors worry has become a distraction.

The billionaire, who now runs five companies after buying Twitter, has a record of overpromising on Tesla’s products.

In April, Musk had promised that Tesla’s Cybertruck would go on sale in 2023.

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