500-mile Tesla Semi enters manufacturing, begins deliveries to Pepsi Dec. 1

Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter late on Thursday to announce manufacturing of the corporate’s semi-trailer truck, dubbed the Semi, has began.

He additionally confirmed that Pepsi, which positioned an order for 100 of the Class 8 vans following the debut in 2017, will probably be among the many first recipients. Semi deliveries to the beverage firm start Dec. 1. Budweiser additionally made an order for 40 of the vans across the identical time as Pepsi.

Manufacturing of the Semi is dealt with at Tesla’s plant in Austin, Texas. The plant can be the place Tesla builds the Mannequin Y crossover, and in 2023 is slated to start out manufacturing of the Cybertruck pickup truck.

Manufacturing of the Semi was initially on account of begin in 2019 however the date was pushed again as Tesla prioritized Mannequin Y manufacturing in Austin within the face of restricted availability of battery cells and different supply-chain points. Since then established truck producers like Daimler Vehicles and Volvo Vehicles have already launched electrical vans, together with Class 8 vans.

Tesla began accepting reservations for the Semi in Could and began requesting a $20,000 deposit in August, at which level reservations have been closed. The vans have been initially priced at $150,000 for a 300-mile mannequin and $180,000 for a 500-mile mannequin. It is attainable the costs will probably be elevated when reservations open once more, a state of affairs that has affected quite a lot of electrical automobiles in latest months.

Tesla’s efficiency figures for the Semi embrace 0-60 mph acceleration in 20 seconds and the power to speed up on gradients as much as 5%. These figures are with the Semi’s most 82,000-lb gross weight onboard. Energy comes from a trio of motors.

Tesla hasn’t stated how large the battery is however the firm stated a 70% cost in half-hour is feasible utilizing considered one of its chargers designed for the Semi.

It is attainable there will even be Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving digital driver-assist options, although Tesla hasn’t confirmed the provision. The corporate initially stated there will probably be some self-driving functionality again through the truck’s 2017 launch, nevertheless.