Elon Musk revealed new details behind the Tesla Semi truck which the Silicon Valley-based electric car maker is expected to unveil in September. During a sit-down interview with TED organizer Chris Anderson on Friday, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO to Tesla and SpaceX said the company’s future electric semi-truck will outperform diesel trucks on the road today.
Following a teaser video showing Musk’s vision for an electrified subterranean transportation system, wherein Tesla vehicles would be transported underground on an electric “skate” platform, Musk projected a teaser image showing the front of Tesla’s upcoming semi-truck.
.@elonmusk teasing the @TeslaMotors semi truck coming out late this year. #TED2017 pic.twitter.com/gy6KJBoGKR
— Ben Dignan (@bendignan) April 28, 2017
We also found out for the first time that Tesla has already built a Tesla Semi prototype. “This will be a very spry truck. You can drive this around like a sports car,” said Musk, referring to his test drive of the electric commercial hauler.
The semi-truck market represents a massive market for Tesla, as 70% of US freight move through semi-trucks. We previously analyzed the impact of Tesla venturing into the semi-truck market and its potential uphill battle. Tesla’s electric semi-truck could theoretically remove thousands of high-polluting diesel trucks off of the roads, but this will be contingent on the success of having high capacity and extendable battery technology, combined with having availability to a robust charging network that can support extreme long distance travel and high payloads.
Tesla is set to unveil the “seriously next level” semi truck this September.
Tesla Semi truck unveil set for September. Team has done an amazing job. Seriously next level.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2017
