Yesterday was finally the day when Tesla handed over the first production Tesla Semi trucks to PepsiCo. Tesla live-streamed the entire event on its website and YouTube from the Tesla Semi production area at Giga Nevada (video recording below).
Tesla CEO Elon Musk along with Dan Priestly Sr. Manager of Tesla Semi Engineering delivered the presentation for about half an hour. Both Musk and Priestly shared what Tesla has been doing with Semi truck development since its unveiling 5 years ago.
Dan said that the Tesla Semi customers have been very loyal to the company while being supportive and huge part or the development throughout these years. PepsiCo had placed their Tesla Semi order of 100 trucks back in 2017 (see all public pre-orders on my tracking page).
Tesla had already parked two Semi trucks at the delivery area before the presentation started. One was in blue color with PepsiCo branding on it and the other in orange color with FritoLay branding (PepsiCo subsidiary).
Just before the presentation start, Tesla brought two more Tesla Semis to the stage in white color. All of these were production trucks not the prototypes ready to be handed over to the first customer PepsiCo.
If you’re a truck driver and want the most badass rig on the road, this is it (Tesla Semi)
Elon Musk
Why Tesla Semi?
The basic reason for the existence of the Tesla Semi truck today is the company’s mission towards sustainable energy & zero-emissions transportation.
Elon Musk shared the above slide during the presentation, which shows despite being only 1% of the entire US vehicles, combination trucks account for 20% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. These trucks spread even more particulate emissions that stand at a staggering 36% of the entire US vehicles produce.
Tesla Semi is the first commercial electric semi truck that has gone into production in the United States and aims to disrupt the trucking industry and lower the pollution.
People living along the freeways are the worst hit with pollution produced by trucks, “quite not healthy living around highways with diesel trucks,” Elon Musk said.
Tesla Semi being an electric truck does not only reduce carbon emissions, it reduces noise pollution as well in the absence of an engine and exhaust. Even when Tesla Semi is accelerating hard, there is little sound produced just like other Tesla vehicles.
Tesla Semi not just delivers on zero emissions, it also reduces the cargo and cost of ownership in a long term. According to Tesla estimates, the Tesla Semi truck can save up to $200,000 in fuel savings alone over a period of just 3 years.
That thing (Tesla Semi) looks like it came from the future, I mean it drives like a Tesla, literally!
Elon Musk
It’s A Beast
According to Elon Musk, the electric powertrain of the Tesla Semi is much more powerful compared to a diesel truck. According to Tesla, it is 3 times more powerful than any diesel truck on the road today.
“It’s like an elephant moving like a cheetah,” Musk said during the presentation. This is a multi-part story, I will be posting how the Tri-Motor powertrain of a Tesla Semi works in another article, so stay tuned and post your comments below.
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- Tesla Semi begins port drayage pilot program with MDB Transportation in California
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