Meet the Tesla Semi electric truck

Tesla has finally unveiled its highly anticipated all-electric heavy duty truck called Tesla Semi, designed to compete with diesel trucks. Elon Musk introduced the Tesla Semi, by riding it into an airport hangar near Los Angeles.

The electric truck is one of  Tesla's many effort to be less dependent on Fossil fuels, a project that also includes electric cars and solar roofs. According to the company, Tesla Semi delivers massive savings in energy costs, performance, efficiency, safety and reliability, when compared to a diesel truck.

The Tesla Semi has a range of 500 miles (800km)on a single charge. Without a trailer, the it achieves 0-60 mph in five seconds, compared to 15 seconds in a comparable diesel truck. With a full 80,000-pound load it can achieve 0-60 mph in 20 seconds, a task than takes a diesel truck about a minute. Tesla also claims that its electric truck climbs 5% grades at a steady 65 mph, whereas a diesel truck maxes out at 45 mph on a 5% grade. 

The Tesla Semi requires no shifting or clutching for acceleration and deceleration, and its regenerative braking recovers 98 percent of kinetic energy to the battery, giving it a basically infinite brake life. Overall, when compared to a diesel truck, the Tesla Semi is more responsive and covers more miles in the same amount of time. The company will also setup Megacharger charging solution at origin and destination points, to recharge electric trucks to a 400-mile range in 30 minutes.

Speaking of the interior and design, unlike other trucks, Tesla Semi's cabin has been designed specifically around the driver, featuring unobstructed stairs for easier entry and exit, full standing room inside and a centered driver position for optimal visibility.  There are two touchscreen displays positioned symmetrically on both sides of the driver to provide easy access to navigation, blind spot monitoring and electronic data logging. The built-in connectivity integrates directly with a fleet's management system to support routing and scheduling, and remote monitoring.

The Tesla Semi's all-electric architecture is designed to have a higher safety standard than any other heavy-duty trucks, boasting a reinforced battery that shields it from impact and gives it an exceptionally low center to gravity. Its windshield is made of impact resistant glass. Jackknifing is prevented due to the truck's on-board sensors that detect instability and react with positive or negative torque to each wheel while independently actuating all brakes. The truck also has surround cameras to detect object and minimize blind spots to automatically alert the driver to safety hazards and obstacles. It also features Enhanced Autopilot for automatically applying emergency breaks, lane keeping, lane departure warning and event recording.

The truck also requires significantly less maintenance, as it comes with fewer moving parts than a diesel truck. Its battery is designed to support repeated charging cycles for over a million miles, while the motor can last more than one million miles under the most demanding conditions.

The Tesla Semi electric truck will go into production in 2019. Reservations can be made for $5000 USD per truck. 

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