Once more, Elon Musk did not disappoint. The successful entrepreneur took one step further towards an electric, autonomous vehicle future with a semi-electric truck. And in Musk fashion, of course, he managed to give a twist to the standard, boring design trucks usually sport while adding autonomous features and performance that not even a diesel can boast #automagic
The Tesla Semi, Elon Musk’ latest achievement, is an all-electric semi truck that can tow 80,000 lbs and can go from 0-60 mph in just 5 seconds! It cover more miles than a diesel in the same time and reaches 500 miles at highway speed.
Tesla has installed Model 3 motors for each wheel and made sure that their vehicle isn’t a victim of jackknifing by torquing every single wheel and activating the brakes automatically, when the need arises. Unlike other EVs, the Semi Truck doesn’t require gear shifting, thanks to regenerative braking tech that translates into “infinite” brake life for Tesla.
The design of the new truck is something else, too. There’s no passenger seat unless you opt for one and even then, its position isn’t next to the driver, but behind it. In this truck, the driver stays front and center. From there, he can monitor blind spots, navigation data and other info coming from third-party trip apps on different touchscreens. Surround view cameras support object detection, alerting the drive of possible obstacles in time to avoid them.
The electric truck has Autopilot technology too, meaning the system can trigger auto emergency braking, lane keeping and lane departure warnings on the highway.
Overall, Tesla’s truck is supposed to be both environmentally friendly and cost-effective, not to mention a lot easier to handle than a diesel truck, since you don’t have to deal with the moving parts of internal combustion engines.
It will be interesting to see how Tesla’s truck is received by customers in the months to come, especially since there’s not a lot competition on this slice of the market, besides Nikola.
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