Tesla to enter trucking business with new electric semi

DETROIT — After more than a decade of making cars and SUVs — and, more recently, solar panels — Tesla Inc. wants to electrify a new type of vehicle: big trucks.

The company unveiled its new electric semi-trailer Thursday night near its design center in Haw- thorne, Calif.

The move fits with Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s stated goal for the company of accelerating the shift to sustainable transportation. Trucks account for nearly a quarter of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according to government statistics. Tesla also could equip its trucks with the semiautonomous driving features found in its cars, such as automatic braking and lane changing.

But the semi also piles on the chaos at the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company. It’s way behind on production of the Model 3, a new lower-cost sedan. It’s also ramping up production of solar panels after buying Solar City Corp.

Musk has said Tesla is also working on a pickup truck and a low- er-cost SUV and negotiating a new factory in China.

Tesla hasn’t released any details about the semi. Some analysts expect it to get around 200 miles per charge and be used for daily tasks such as transporting freight from a port to a distribution center. Musk has said it should take about two years for the semi to go on sale.