In 2017, Tesla revealed some details about its electric Semi truck, which it had already mentioned once in 2016. Now, after about four years, it looks like the company will begin production of the long-awaited Tesla Semi truck.
While there are already a few electric trucks on the road, none of them have the specifications that Tesla promises.
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When the company announced the electric truck in 2017, it said there would be two versions. It’s essentially a Class 8 truck with a capacity of 80,000 pounds (36,287 kilograms). However, one version will allow for a range of around 300 miles (about 480 km) while the other extends the range to 500 miles (about 800 km). Prices for the two versions are estimated to be around $150,000 and $180,000 respectively.
However, the Tesla Semi truck has been very late in going into production, which has disappointed many customers.
When it was introduced in 2017, Tesla had said that the Semi truck would be on the market in 2019 and began accepting pre-orders from many companies that wanted to invest in electric vehicles.
However, Tesla was unable to deliver the truck in 2019. Somehow we got to 2021, but now it seems that the company is very close to producing the vehicle.
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In March, Electrek reported that Tesla had built a production line for the Tesla Semi truck in a new building near the Gigafactory Nevada with the goal of producing five electric Tesla Semis per week by the end of the year.
Now it is said that the production line is ready and that the final checks (final debugging) are being carried out before production officially begins. It is one of the last steps that must be done.
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Last summer, Tesla CEO Elon Musktold employees in an email that “it’s time to bring the Tesla Semi truck into production” without providing a timeline.
More recently, Tesla said production of the electric truck would begin this year, but it did not provide further details.
Tesla revealed that it plans to use the first Tesla Semi trucks for its own operations, but some customers who have placed pre-orders very early will also receive the vehicles later this year.
Source: Electrek
