Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed the brand's new electric Semi truck has entered production, five years after the truck was unveiled.
In a tweet, Move Electric Hall of Fame inductee Musk said, “Excited to announce [the] start of production of Tesla Semi Truck with deliveries to Pepsi on Dec 1st.”
PepsiCo will be the first company to take delivery of the Tesla Semi, which has an estimated range of up to 500 miles. A 300-mile range version will also be available.
Impressively, the new 36-tonne Tesla Semi truck can achieve a 0-60mph of just 20 seconds when fully loaded and when travelling uphill with a 5% gradient, it can achieve a top speed of 65mph.
Tesla says the performance of the truck is far greater than its diesel equivalent, which can only reach 45mph when driving up a 5% gradient.
Using a fast charger, the Semi truck can be charged up to 70% in just 30 minutes, with Tesla promising an energy consumption of less than 2kWh per mile.
Like the new Volta Zero 16-tonne truck, the Tesla Semi has a central driving position to improve visibility.
The new truck will be sold in the UK, but it is not yet known when deliveries will begin. Tesla previously listed the 500-mile range Semi truck with a starting price of $180,000 (£162,000) but this has since been removed.
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