It has now been more than five years since Tesla announced its electric semi-truck, but the company has finally delivered its first unit. The first official production vehicle has been delivered to Pepsi during its “Semi Delivery Event” held at Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory. The beverage maker has ordered 100 of the vehicles in total.
Read: Bandwidth Blog & Smile 90.4FM Tech Tuesday: Grocery delivery & dark stores
There are two versions of the truck available – $150,000 and $180,000 for the 300- and 500-mile versions, respectively. It is around a third more expensive than competing diesel trucks, but Tesla estimates that its vehicles can operate 20 percent more efficiently, and save up to $250,000 over the million-mile life of the electric truck.
At the launch on December 1st, Musk said the truck is “designed like a bullet”, and comes with a large 1MW battery pack (that is about 10 times larger than the biggest passenger EV batteries). The truck can reportedly accelerate from 0-100 kph in around 20 seconds, which completely outperforms its diesel counterparts. It is especially impressive if you take into account that this acceleration is with a full load of more than 36 tonnes. It can also charge from empty to 80 percent charged in around 30 minutes. The trucks also come with Enhanced Autopilot capabilities, as well as jackknife-mitigation systems, blind-spot sensors and data-logging for fleet management.
The delays in deliveries have come as a results of supply-chain issues resulting from the pandemic lockdowns, according to the CEO. In July 2021, the timelines were pushed out again. “We believe we remain on track to build our first Model Y vehicles in Berlin and Austin in 2021,” Musk said during the company’s Q2, 2021 investor call. “The pace of the respective production ramps will be influenced by the successful introduction of many new product and manufacturing technologies, ongoing supply-chain-related challenges and regional permitting.”
“To better focus on these factories, and due to the limited availability of battery cells and global supply chain challenges, we have shifted the launch of the Semi truck program to 2022,” he continued. Beginning in May of this year, Tesla started actively taking reservations again for a $20,000 deposit. “And first deliveries are now,” Musk said on Thursday before welcoming Kirk Tanner, CEO PepsiCo Beverages North America, and Steven Williams, CEO PepsiCo Foods North America, on stage for high fives and handshakes.
