Tesla unveils electric rival to semi trucks

TESLA has aimed to reinvent the car and the way electricity is generated for homes. With those efforts still in progress, it is setting out on another quest: to remake the multibillion-dollar trucking industry.

In an elaborately produced nighttime presentation by its CEO, Elon Musk, Tesla on Thursday unveiled a prototype for a battery-powered, nearly self-driving semi truck the company said would prove more efficient and less costly to operate than the diesel trucks that now haul goods across the US.

Musk said the truck would have a single-charge range of 800 kilometres, greater than many analysts had expected and enough to serve many typical trucking routes.

The truck can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in five seconds without a trailer, and in 20 seconds when carrying a maximum load of 36,000 kilograms, less than a third of the time required for a diesel truck, he said.

Musk said Tesla expects to begin producing the truck by the end of 2019. He gave no price but hinted that it would be costly. “Tesla stuff is expensive,” Musk said, drawing another cheer from the crowd, gathered at an airfield outside of Los Angeles.

But he also said the electric truck would be less expensive to operate, in part because it has fewer components that require regular maintenance (no engine, transmission or drive shaft). Instead, the truck, called the Tesla Semi, is powered by a giant battery beneath the cab. It has two rear axles, each outfitted with two electric motors, one for each wheel. Its acceleration and uphill speeds will allow it to cover more distance in less time than diesel trucks, he added.

As a result, Tesla is estimating it will cost $1.26 per mile to operate, compared with $1.51 a mile for a diesel truck. The cost can fall further if groups of trucks travel together in convoys, which reduces wind drag.