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Tesla Semi Unveiled: Here Are The Specs Of Elon Musk’s Electric Big Rig

By Patricia Grannum
Published on: 02:05 PST, Nov 17, 2017

Tesla has finally unveiled its highly-anticipated semi-truck. At a full house of thousands in a hangar near its design facility in California, Elon Musk revealed their first commercial hauling vehicle. It’s just as disruptive as you probably imagined.

Acceleration

According to Teslarati, the Tesla Semi can go from 0-60 in 5 seconds when it’s empty. With an 8,000 lb load, Tesla’s semi-truck can perform the same task in 20 seconds. This is more than twice as fast as a truck that runs on diesel.

The Tesla Semi can also travel a 5 percent gradient at 65 mph. Diesel trucks do this at 45 mph. The semi gets all of this power from its four independent electric motors.

“You can lose two of the four motors, and it will still keep going. In fact, you can lose two of the four motors and it will still be a diesel truck,” Elon Musk said at the unveiling event last night.

Musk added that the Tesla semi has a 0.36 drag coefficient, which is impressive when you consider that the standard for similar trucks is 0.65-0.70. The billionaire CEO compared the truck to a Bugatti and noted that their semi’s coefficient was better than that vehicle’s.

“Overall, the Semi is more responsive, covers more miles than a diesel truck in the same amount of time, and more safely integrates with passenger car traffic,” Tesla said in its official announcement.

On Twitter, Tesla claimed that the semi was more aerodynamic than a Bugatti Chiron.

A Convoy Driven By One Driver

An advanced autonomous driving system will allow the Tesla semi to form a convoy that’s driven by one driver. As Teslarati notes, this can reduce the cost per mile of long-distance travel.

Regenerative Braking

At the event, Tesla emphasized the semi’s regenerative braking. According to the company website, regenerative braking allows Tesla vehicles to convert kinetic energy into chemical energy that’s stored in the battery. Last night, Tesla revealed that the new semi converts 98 percent of its braking energy.

Range

Mashable reports that the Tesla Semi can travel 500 miles on one charge. Musk also revealed that the semi could charge 400 miles in 30 minutes. But you might be wondering how these super batteries will be charged.

Charging

The electric power for these vehicles will be provided by Megachargers, a more powerful system that will be separate from the supercharger system that Tesla already established for its vehicles.

According to Mashable, these stations will be powered by solar energy so they won’t be a drain on the area’s power grid. Musk said that truckers would be able to charge their rigs at their starting point or destination but it’s still not clear when these mega charging stations will be built.

The Tesla Semis are expected to go into production in 2019.

[Featured Image by Tesla Motors]

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