The Tesla Semi: an impressive electric truck with “unrivalled performance”
After a leaked email from CEO, Elon Musk, Tesla is preparing for a “volume production” push of their electric truck, the Tesla Semi boasts its impressive features and cost benefits, potentially transforming the truck industry.
Electric vehicle company, Tesla, is leading the way with their electric truck, Tesla Semi. The company, whose mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, revealed plans for the truck back in 2017.
Production of the electric truck was due to postponed until 2021. A leaked email from CEO Elon Musk indicated that Tesla employees were to prepare for a “volume production” push of the vehicle in 2020.
Despite a drop in their stocks back in May, their Tesla Semi is taking charge toward the phase-out of diesel trucks. Tesla believes the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission future, the better. With their new electric truck, they are on the way to eliminating fossil fuels from the truck industry.
Founded in 2003, the company aims to prove that people don’t need to compromise to drive electric. This seems to be the case with the Tesla Semi as it promises to be: “The safest, most comfortable truck ever”.
Back in 2017, when Musk excitedly revealed the Semi, he said the electric truck “blows my [his] mind”. Boasting its “badass performance” the truck has quick acceleration. Musk demonstrated this at its reveal showing that it will radically outperform its diesel counterparts in terms of acceleration, both on the flat and uphill.
The truck is receiving support from fifteen different U.S. States, along with the Nation’s capital of Washington, D.C.
Tesla’s truck catalysing change in the US
With Tesla planning on beginning production soon, their electric truck could accelerate the push towards US states revising laws that deal with commercial vehicles. These laws look into the impact vehicles have on the environment.
A group of US states and the District of Columbia unveiled a joint memorandum of understanding aimed at boosting the electric vehicle market. The memorandum looks at heavy-duty vehicles and the phasing out of diesel-powered trucks by 2050.
In a report from Reuters showed that several states are pushing for an electric, zero-emission plan for the future for trucks by 2050. If effective, this plan would eliminate the need for diesel trucks that transport goods across the country.
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Washington D.C., and Vermont are the states and Territories involved in the plan.
Aiming to reduce the number of gas and diesel vehicles in the US, the initiative focuses on various types of trucks, buses and vans. The goal is to have every medium and heavy-duty vehicle as emission-free by 2050. This comes with the short term goal of 30% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030.
What’s so good about the Tesla Semi?
According to their website, the Tesla Semi will deliver a far better experience for truck drivers The electric truck increases safety and significantly reduces the cost of cargo transport when compared to diesel vehicles.
With its “unrivalled performance” the Semi can achieve 0-60 mph in 20 seconds with a full 80,000 load. This task takes a diesel truck about a minute. Musk stated at the unveiling of the Semi: “One thing we really care about at Tesla; we really care about performance. We want to have a vehicle that feels incredible, that accelerates like nothing else”. It seems like Tesla has kept true to their promises with their impressive electric truck.
Designed specifically around the drive, the Semi has unobstructed stairs for easier entry and exit. Furthermore, the truck has full standing room inside along with a centred driver position for optimal visibility.
A new high-speed DC charging solution, or Megachargers, will add about 400 miles in 30 minutes. This can be installed at origin or destination points. The Megachargers will enable recharging during loading, unloading and driver breaks.
Tesla’s all-electric architecture inside the Semi is designed to have a higher safety standard than any other heavy-duty truck on the market. Safety features of the electric truck include;
Enhanced autopilot
Automatic emergency breaking
Automatic lane-keeping
Lane departure warning
Event recording
Along with all these impressive features, the electric truck can also travel in a convoy, where one or several Semi trucks will be able to autonomously follow a lead Semi.
What is probably the most impressive about the Semi are it energy and cost-saving benefits. When fully loaded, the Tesla Semi consumes less than two kilowatt-hours of energy per mile. It is both efficient and reliable. According to Tesla, owners can expect to gain $200,000 or more in savings over a million miles based on fuel costs alone.
Musk’s “ecological paradise”
It comes as no surprise that with all these impressive features Tesla’s electric truck is already receiving pre-orders from large businesses. Package chains such as the United Parcel Service (UPS), DHL, and FedEx, have pre-ordered 125, 10 and 20 of the trucks respectively.
Tesla will build its new factory in Austin, Texas, Musk announced this week. This factory will facilitate the production of the Semi. Promising to employ at least 5,00 people, Musk described the future factory as an “ecological paradise”.
Explaining the beauty of the new factory, Tesla’s senior global director of public policy has stated: “The potential is just great for recreation, for beauty, and the vision of being able to potentially transform an old mining site into a sustainable factory with recreational opportunities — that’s just a vision that sits perfectly with our mission”.
The factory will be open to the public with a boardwalk and bike lanes. It will be Tesla’s fourth factory in the US. So far the company has their vehicle factory in California, battery factory in Nevada and their solar factory in New York.
Tesla has – and continues – to revolutionise the electric vehicle industry, with their new Semi they are now tackling the electric truck market. With its impressive features and sleek design, it is clear the company are dedicated to transforming the electric truck industry.