Tesla began deliveries of its Tesla Semi electric truck. The American automaker, as usual, held a small event when deliveries of its new models begin. Recall that the first company to receive an electric truck was Pepsi. During this event, the manufacturer also shared a little technical information about its electric truck, and also added some details about the 800 km journey on a single charge that the Tesla Semi recently made and which caused a lot of discussion.
Up to this point, it took a very long time, 5 years. Actually Tesla Semi was introduced in 2017. Initial plans called for a road debut in a couple of years, but as we know, there have been several delays that have significantly delayed first customer deliveries.
Tesla created this electric truck to make the transportation sector more sustainable. Musk explained that Class 8 trucks make up just 1% of vehicles in the United States but account for 20% of US truck emissions and 36% of particulate emissions.
The electric truck is equipped with a powertrain very similar to that of the Tesla Model S Plaid. So, we have 3 electric motors. In particular, when driving at a constant speed, only one thruster is used for maximum efficiency.
The Semi has a three-motor system and carbon hub rotors, just like the Plaid. 1 unit for efficiency, 2 units of acceleration for torque pic.twitter.com/MDn4cj0jzO
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
When more power is needed, the other two come into play. To demonstrate the performance of the Tesla Semi, the manufacturer showed a short video showing an electric truck easily overtaking a diesel truck on a road with a 6% grade.
I’ve watched it about 10 times. Anyone who knows anything about trucks can tell you that this is an extremely impressive acceleration from 80,000 pounds at 6% lean. pic.twitter.com/cZzhLaZ3n6
— Fred Lambert (@FredericLambert) December 2, 2022
And in terms of autonomy, as mentioned at the beginning, we are back to talking about Tesla Semi traveling 500 miles (800 km) on a single charge. During the short event, a time-lapse video of the path was shown and, above all, a graph of the route with gradients and a battery trend.
Tesla Semi travels 500 miles fully loaded on a single charge pic.twitter.com/iZzomLcwZF
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
Tesla has confirmed that its Tesla Semi provides consumption less than 2 kWh per mile.
As for the power supply, the Tesla Semi will be able to take advantage of the new one. 1MW charging technology developed by Tesla. Columns soon to be added inside Supercharger stations.
The announcement that the Tesla Cybertruck will also be compatible with this charging technology is very interesting. During the event, some details about the cab of the truck were added, where the driver will be able to have an advanced infotainment system based on two large screens, wireless charging for smartphones and other devices designed to facilitate the use of this vehicle.
Best Driving Experience: Maximum road visibility, standing space, 2x 15″ touchscreens, wireless phone charging and more. pic.twitter.com/ktrh602Krd
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
So the Tesla Semi is ready to hit the road. Therefore, it will be very interesting to get the first feedback from those who will use it for work, in order to understand whether it can really keep what the car manufacturer promises in real use.