Pepsi to get first Tesla Semi in December: Musk

Tesla fans are going nuts after CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Friday that the Tesla Semi is now in production and the first truck will be delivered to Pepsi on December 1.

PepsiCo reserved 100 trucks soon after the announcement of the Tesla Semi in 2017, when Musk said the battery-powered prime mover would enter production in 2019.

The production date was then amended to 2021, when the first physical example was seen lapping a US test track, but that didn’t eventuate and in Musk said in August that it would be released by the end of 2022.

At the same time, Musk announced the also-overdue launch of the Tesla Cybertruck electric pick-up would take place in 2023, and now after a three-year delay it looks like the Tesla Semi is about to become reality.

However, as we haven’t heard much about serious long-distance testing, nor of any trucks being offered to fleets for evaluation, we’re a little sceptical that Pepsi’s will really be ‘production’ trucks rather than prototypes doing more R&D.

Indeed, initial pre-production versions of the Semi are being produced in Nevada, but the US EV-maker eventually plans to build them at the Giga Texas facility. Apart from Pepsi, Walmart Canada reserved 130 units, but it’s not yet clear how many Semis are planned for production annually.

Tesla originally said the Semi would have a base price of around $US150,000 (about $A235,000) for the 300-mile (480km) version, rising to $US180,000 ($A280K) for the 500-mile (800km) flagship.

Musk later claimed the Semi would hit 100km/h in about just five seconds when not hauling a load (rising to 20sec when hauling an 80,000lb/36,287kg trailer) and take a 400-mile charge in just 30 minutes via a Tesla Megacharger.

He added that a 621-mile range (1000km) version was possible from a future version, but when Tesla updated the Semi listing on its US website last month it removed the button to place an order and said it would employ three electric motors to power the rear axles rather than the original plan for four.

Through the savings gained via electric propulsion over traditional diesel power, Tesla says the Semi has a typical payback period of around two years.

But for the Australian market it’s really quite academic as due to its central driving position the Tesla Semi remains unlikely to pass Australian Design Rule certification for use on roads in this country.

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