Tesla Semi manufacturing begins, first deliveries set for December

Tesla is taking the Pepsi Problem, with the primary examples of its long-awaited Semi going to the smooth drink large earlier than the top of the yr.

CEO Elon Musk confirmed on Twitter the Semi has began manufacturing, and first deliveries of the car will go to Pepsi on December 1.

The smooth drink firm introduced it was shopping for 100 examples of the Semi again in December 2017, only a month after the car was revealed.

Whereas he didn’t tweet an image of the manufacturing line or a completed car, Musk reiterated it’ll have a 500-mile (805km) vary and be “tremendous enjoyable to drive” – not that the latter is usually a excessive precedence for patrons of heavy vans.

The corporate has but to substantiate battery specs or energy and torque outputs for the Semi.

Earlier this yr, Tesla eliminated pricing info for the Semi from its web site and closed pre-orders, although it did share extra details about the car.

A go to to Tesla’s web site now reveals solely a Get Updates button instead of the earlier possibility to put an order.

Whereas the vary figures stay the identical – 483km or 805km – Tesla now notes the Semi has three electrical motors on the rear axles, not 4 as was beforehand introduced.

Specs are in any other case unchanged.

It does the 0-60mph (0-96km/h) sprint in 20 seconds, and might do the “freeway pace restrict” up a 5 per cent grade – although Tesla beforehand stipulated on its web site 60mph up the identical grade.

Tesla says it makes use of lower than 2kWh of vitality per 1.6km even when totally loaded with an 82,000lb (37,200kg) gross mixture weight, and will be charged as much as 70 per cent in half-hour utilizing what the corporate is now calling its Tesla Semi Charger.

Pricing has been faraway from the web site. When it printed pricing earlier this yr, Tesla had listed the standard-range mannequin at US$150,000 (A$217,657) and the extended-range at US$180,000 (A$261,189), with a reservation quantity of US$20,000 (A$29,021).

Tesla just lately printed extra photos and video of the Semi, and its look stays a lot the identical as what was initially promised.

That features the cockpit, which characteristic a centre-mounted driver’s seat with two massive free-standing touchscreens flanking the steering wheel and angled in direction of the motive force.

The wheel itself has obtained an replace with what seem like touch-capacitive buttons. Whereas Tesla hasn’t put a yoke within the Semi because it has with the Mannequin S and Mannequin X, there don’t seem like any typical stalks.

The centre console has additionally been restyled. As an alternative of three cupholders in a row, there seem like two wi-fi cellphone chargers, whereas the cupholders have been pushed additional again and to the facet.

The Semi was revealed all the way in which again in 2017, with plans to begin manufacturing in time for 2019 deliveries.

It was revealed similtaneously the second-generation Roadster, one other mannequin that has but to achieve manufacturing.

The corporate has been touting the long-awaited truck as being safer and cheaper to run than a traditional diesel truck, with fewer transferring components to keep up and fewer time required at a service centre.

Tesla has by no means produced a heavy truck, which poses a problem for the corporate.

In distinction, producers introducing electrical semis like Daimler and Volvo have loads of expertise manufacturing heavy vans.

The Freightliner eCascadia from Daimler Vehicles gives a alternative of 194kWh, 291kWh and 438kWh batteries and a claimed vary of both 249, 354 or 370 kilometres.

Its Detroit ePowertrain is on the market in both single- or dual-motor configurations, the previous with 143kW of energy and most torque of 15,600Nm and the latter with 294kW and 31,000Nm.

Volvo’s FM and FH electrical vans supply as much as 540kWh of battery capability, with the FM providing as much as 380km of vary.

They characteristic 2-3 electrical motors, with claimed steady energy of as much as 490kW, and help DC quick charging at as much as 250kW.

Volvo Vehicles started serial manufacturing of electrical vans in 2019, and its electrical lineup now contains six autos.