News
A Tesla Semi with structural batteries and 620 miles of range is a haymaker against trucking emissions
The Tesla Semi may be requiring a lot of patience among its reservation holders, but it appears that the all-electric Class 8 long-hauler will be well worth the wait. While speaking at the European Battery Conference organized by the Federal Ministry of Economics, Elon Musk remarked that the Tesla Semi will be equipped with a structural battery pack. This, together with other optimizations, should allow the Tesla Semi to have a range of up to 620 miles in the future.
“Getting a range of 500 km is I think, quite easy. And this is assuming a truck that is pulling a load of something in the order of 40 metric tons. So that’s a heavy truck. For long-range trucking, up to, we think, easily 800 kilometers, and we see a path over time, to get to about 1,000 kilometers of range. We think this is going to be extremely competitive and compelling to trucking companies,” Musk said.
The Tesla Semi’s initial range of 300-500 miles per charge is no joke, but it does give the impression that the Class 8 long-hauler is best used for short or medium routes. With a 620-mile range, however, things become very different. Together with its low operating costs, stellar safety systems, as well as built-in driver-assist features like Convoy Mode, the Tesla Semi could very well be a haymaker against the emissions of the trucking industry.
The trucking industry is among the biggest culprits in the transportation sector’s overall emissions. Following the unveiling of the Tesla Semi back in 2017, the Environmental Defense Fund published a post stating that the transportation sector accounts for 7% of total fine particulate matter globally. Commonly known as soot, particulate matter has been linked to several diseases such as cancer, heart attacks, and strokes. Freight trucks produce nearly half of the transportation sector’s total fine particulate matter.
There is no doubt that a shift to electric trucks would benefit the environment and humanity as a whole. Unfortunately, battery-electric trucks have been constrained by range so far. Even vehicles made by veteran truckers like the eCascadia are only able to travel a measly 250 miles per charge. That makes battery-electric trucks limited in their use, despite their environmental benefits. Even the Tesla Semi’s initial iteration, which was announced with 300-500 miles of range per charge, is not comparable to the range of diesel long-haulers, which are fitted with 200-gallon tanks and are capable of running over 1,000 miles with a full tank.
Things become very different with a battery-electric truck that is capable of traveling 620 miles between charging sessions. In the United States, semi truck drivers are mandated by law to drive no more than 11 hours per day with a 14-hour work day cap before they are required to rest. At highway speeds, this translates to drivers covering about 600-650 miles per shift. Considering Elon Musk’s recent statements about the Semi, it appears that Tesla is improving its Class 8 truck to such a degree that it would be a compelling alternative even to long-range diesel and gas semis.
The trucking market is pretty much dictated by the businesses that are dependent on it. With this in mind, there is a good chance that businesses using trucks for their operations would shift to battery-electric trucks once they offer more advantages compared to their traditional counterparts. In the Tesla Semi’s case, the low operating costs, better performance, and safety improvements are already there. And with 620 miles of range, businesses will likely find very little reason to stick with fossil fuel-powered trucks.
News
Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
Tesla has rolled out a price incentive in Norway, effectively offsetting a notable VAT increase that hit electric vehicle buyers at the start of 2026.
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
A “Tesla bonus”
Once the VAT increase kicked in at the start of 2026, Tesla Norway’s sales cooled almost immediately, as noted in a CarUp report. Tesla’s response was swift, with the electric vehicle maker rolling out what it calls a “Tesla bonus.”
This bonus effectively cuts prices by up to 50,000 kronor across eight model variants. All versions of the Tesla Model Y qualify for the incentive, along with most Tesla Model 3 trims, save for the base entry-level model.
This means that for Tesla Norway’s best-selling vehicles, the bonus effectively restores pricing to pre-VAT levels. This blunts the impact of the new tax and makes Tesla’s vehicle offerings competitive again in Europe’s most EV-saturated market.
Stabilizing demand
In addition to the “Tesla bonus,” the electric car maker is also offering a promotional interest rate for up to three years, with terms varying by model. The incentive applies to orders placed between January 9 and March 31, 2026, with delivery required by the end of the first quarter.
The stakes are high in Norway, where electric vehicles dominate new-car registrations. From the vehicles that were sold in 2025, 96% of new cars sold were fully electric. And from this number, Tesla and its Model Y made their dominance felt. This was highlighted by Geir Inge Stokke, director of OFV, who noted that Tesla was able to achieve its stellar results despite its small vehicle lineup.
“Taking almost 20% market share during a year with record-high new car sales is remarkable in itself. When a brand also achieves such volumes with so few models, it says a lot about both demand and Tesla’s impact on the Norwegian market,” Stokke stated.
Elon Musk
SpaceX gains favor as Pentagon embraces Musk-style defense reform
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
SpaceX emerged as a clear beneficiary of the Trump administration’s renewed push to accelerate military innovation, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth openly praised Elon Musk’s private space enterprise during a visit to the company’s Starbase launch site in Texas.
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
Hegseth embraces Elon Musk’s pace
Speaking at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Brownsville, Texas, Hegseth criticized what he described as a “risk-averse culture” among traditional defense contractors and called for faster innovation modeled after Musk’s approach. He confirmed that the Department of Defense plans to integrate Musk’s Grok AI platform into Pentagon systems, which is part of the administration’s efforts to make the U.S. military an “AI-first warfighting force.”
Hegseth stated that the Pentagon intends to deploy AI models across both classified and unclassified networks, signaling a willingness to push past earlier efforts to limit military use of artificial intelligence. His comments aligned closely with President Donald Trump’s recent call for a $500 billion increase in defense spending, Bloomberg News noted. Trump has also warned major contractors that slower production and shareholder-focused practices could put future contracts at risk.
While Hegseth criticized legacy defense firms, SpaceX was held up as an example of how aggressive timelines, vertical integration, and iterative development could reshape defense strategies. “We need to be blunt here; we can no longer afford to wait a decade for our legacy prime contractors to deliver a perfect system. Winning requires a new playbook. Elon wrote it with his algorithm: question every requirement, delete the dumb ones and accelerate like hell,” Hegseth said.
SpaceX’s expanding defense role comes into focus
SpaceX has become one of the U.S. government’s most important aerospace partners. The company holds roughly $4 billion in NASA contracts to develop Starship into a lunar lander, while also serving as a key launch provider for sensitive national security payloads using its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
During the visit, Musk highlighted that his ambitions extend beyond defense contracts, reiterating long-term goals of interplanetary travel and eventual exploration beyond the solar system. Still, the optics of the event reinforced how closely SpaceX’s capabilities now align with U.S. strategic priorities.
The appearance also marked another step in Musk’s political rehabilitation after a public falling-out with the White House last year. Since leaving his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has gradually reengaged with the administration, reconnecting with U.S. President Donald Trump during slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s tribute and attending events at the White House. Trump’s also recently suggested that Starlink could help restore internet access in Iran.
Tesla has launched a new Model Y configuration in the “Premium” trim, and it comes with three highly requested features that have launched in markets outside of the U.S. and in other trims.
Tesla announced on Monday night that it has officially launched the Model Y Premium in a seven-seat configuration, which also comes standard with a 16″ touchscreen and black headliner, both of which are featured in the Model Y Performance trim.
The seven-seat configuration is highly requested by consumers and helps fill out the more spacious SUV offering that the lineup has missed outside of the Model X, which prices out many consumers. This new upgrade only costs $2,500 extra for all three features, bringing the cash price to $48,990.
This also comes with the larger 16” touchscreen! pic.twitter.com/aiAxWUTKZa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 13, 2026
The move to add the seven-seat configuration with the black headliner and additional screen size is a welcome addition, as many Tesla fans have asked the company to come out with an SUV with more seating capacity. Although it is not a full-size SUV, the additional seating will certainly attract some buyers with bigger families.
It appears the third row is slightly more spacious than the past iteration of the seven-seat Model Y, which was available in the previous design pre-Juniper:
Credit: Tesla
However, it definitely still appears to be pretty cramped in terms of legroom. It will definitely be a seating arrangement for smaller passengers, mostly reserved for children.
The other two upgrades are the black headliner, which was launched in other markets and in the Model Y Performance. Many owners have wanted this change, and Tesla listened, but is only offering it with the seven-seat configuration. It also has a larger 16″ touchscreen, also present in the Model Y Performance exclusively:
Credit: Tesla
It is a nice touch to add these highly requested features to the all-electric crossover, which was the best-selling vehicle in the world for the third consecutive year.
Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
SpaceX gains favor as Pentagon embraces Musk-style defense reform
