Tesla CEO Elon Musk begins deliveries of the company’s heavy-truck Semi at the Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada.
Tesla Inc.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicked off delivery of the company’s first few production semi trucks on Thursday, speaking on stage at the company’s factory in Sparks, Nevada, with Dan Priestley, the company’s senior manager for semi truck engineering.
as cnbc previously reportedTesla this year set up its lines outside Reno and began production of the Semi at the site where it primarily makes the battery cells, drive units and battery packs that power its cars. Musk and Tesla did not say Thursday how many Semis it is delivering.
Tesla originally showed off the Semi design in December 2017. Production was delayed due to, among other things, the COVID pandemic and battery cell supply issues.
During the delivery kick-off event, Musk briefly pointed to the uproar over the past five years and quipped, “Sorry for the delay.”
Later he thanked and handed over the mike to the representatives PepsiCo Fried Lay’sWhich is Tesla’s first customer to receive and use production semi trucks.
One major difference between Tesla’s Class 8 offering and other heavy-duty trucks is the location of the steering wheel and driver’s seat. Instead of using the left side (or right in Europe), Tesla designed the Semi with the steering wheel in the center of the cab, with touchscreens located on either side of the driver.
While the Tesla Semi was in development, other fully electric heavy-duty trucks launched on the market.
Volvo-Famous Renault trucks and daimler Tesla has produced and delivered electric heavy-duty trucks to customers before even surrounded Nikola – whose founder was ousted and convicted Fraud case in recent months — Started production of battery electric truck march,
But Tesla has some high-tech features that aren’t available elsewhere, including a new, faster-charging system and a battery with more range than competitors. The DC fast-charging system delivers up to 1MW, and uses a water-based coolant to ensure it’s safe to deliver power. Tesla says the Semi can travel 500 miles on a single charge when fully loaded.
The new fast-charging technology will eventually be installed at Tesla Supercharging stations and used to power the CyberTrucks, the consumer pickup truck Tesla is planning, Musk revealed. The company plans to mass-produce the sharp-edged heavy duty pickup at its new factory in Austin, Texas.
return to form
The Tesla Semi event may bring relief to fans who are concerned about its commitment and focus towards the electric vehicle business.
Musk recently took on new responsibilities as owner and CEO of social media giant Twitter, which he acquired in October in a $44 billion leveraged buyout. He sold some of his significant Tesla shares to finance that deal. He has been embroiled in a number of issues since taking over Twitter Conflict And controversies around that platter.
Musk returned to form Thursday, talking up Tesla’s environmental mission and the company’s vehicle technology.
There are 15 million passenger vehicles and about 200,000 heavy-duty trucks in the US, he said. “It sounds like a small percentage,” he said, but semi trucks represent a large portion of harmful vehicle emissions because of their size, weight and the fact that they run around the clock.
Those emissions can have dire health effects on people who live near warehouses, ports and other roadways where a lot of trucking activity occurs.
According to transportation and air quality research by the American Lung Association, as of 2020 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (such as delivery vans, short- and long-haul trucks) represented about 6% of the on-road fleet in the US. These vehicles generate significant amounts of pollution, including 59% of ozone and particulate-forming nitrogen oxide emissions and 26% of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
Musk said the Semi would not only help combat climate change, but “it’s also quieter, will improve the quality of your air, and improve the health of people who live near freeways.”
The same can be said of other electric, heavy-duty trucks displacing diesel trucks.
Musk and other executives did not discuss Tesla’s driver assistance systems, which are marketed as Autopilot and full self-driving capability, at the Semi Delivery event. In 2017, when Musk introduced the Semi, he touted a driverless trucking future.
Nor did they discuss how many trucks they plan to produce next year, nor how they’ll get additional battery cells and the raw materials to make them.
Shares in Elon Musk’s auto business closed flat at $194.70 ahead of the event, and did not move appreciably in after-hours trading.
see full delivery event Here.