Tesla Semi truck launches with 500 miles of range

December 02, 2022 by

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Production trucks delivered; capable of 500 miles on one charge, fully laden

Production versions of the long-awaited Tesla Semi truck have been delivered to the soft-drinks company Pepsi at a handover ceremony in Nevada, five years after the first prototype version was unveiled.

The Tesla Semi has a claimed range of 500 miles thanks to its 1,000 kiloWatt hour battery pack, roughly 10 times larger than the packs fitted to long-range electric cars.

Tesla claims the Semi is able to cover 500 miles on a single charge when fully laden and weighing 81,000lbs, roughly 36.7 tonnes. A video showing this being achieved was released alongside production vehicles, with the Semi managing a reported energy consumption of under 2 miles per kiloWatt hour.

Powering the Tesla Semi is a 1,000-volt tri-motor system, with 0-60mph said to take just five seconds when the lorry is unladen, or 20 seconds when fully loaded.

Unlike conventional North American trucks, the Tesla Semi has a central driving seat, flanked by twin 15-inch touchscreens screens that display navigation and vehicle information, as well as live footage from blind-spot cameras that work in conjunction with conventional mirrors.

The Semi is apparently capable of taking on electricity at a rate of one megaWatt (1,000 kiloWatts), although the infrastructure for these ‘Megachargers’ has only just begun to materialise, with the first being installed in Nevada, and Tesla boss Elon Musk saying the same technology would feature in the Cybertruck, once that arrives.

Full specifications of the Semi are still forthcoming (a pre-prodution version is pictured above), but the vehicle is claimed to have three times the power of “any diesel truck on the road”. For reference, the most powerful US trucks have engines that produce around 600hp.

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