After years of waiting, Tesla is finally ready to ship the first of its Semi-electric trucks. The company held a "Semi Delivery Event" at Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory in the United States, where it handed over the keys to the first production vehicle in the line-up to Pepsi.
The beverage maker had put out an order of 100 Semi's for their fleets in the US but because of delays have only started to receive the first production units now.
The Semi was first unveiled in 2017 and as the company took reservations, it estimated a shipping date of 2019. Citing delays due to the pandemic, and supply chain problems, Tesla delayed the shipments to 2021. Then in July of 2021, the date was pushed back after another delay, this time extending it to 2022.
When it was announced in 2017, the Semi had a retail price of $150,000 for the 300-mile (approx. 480 Km) version, and $180,000 for the 500-mile (approx. 800 Km) version. Tesla estimated that its vehicles could operate 20 percent more efficiently and save up to $250,000 over a million miles, compared to diesel trucks.
As Engadget notes, each Semi has a 1MW (Megawatt-hour) battery pack and the vehicles are fast too, capable of reaching 0 to 60 in 20 seconds, while fully loaded. They can tow up to 80,000 pounds (approx. 36,250 Kg) and can recharge batteries up to 80% in just 30 minutes.
Like Tesla's other vehicles, the Semi is outfitted with state-of-the art electronics, including two model-3 displays for the driver and enhanced features like Autopilot, Jackknife mitigation, blind-spot sensors and support data logs for fleet management.
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