Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a break from the complicated rollout of the Model 3 sedan and introduced an electric heavy duty truck, aptly called, ‘Tesla Semi’ and a new roadster at its design studio in Hawthorne, California. The event was live-streamed from the company website as well.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a break from the complicated rollout of the Model 3 sedan and introduced an electric heavy duty truck, aptly called, ‘Tesla Semi’ and a new roadster at its design studio in Hawthorne, California. The event was live-streamed from the company website as well.
The unveiling of two products, including the unexpected Roadster, drew roars of applause from a selected crowd at an airport hangar near Los Angeles while highlighting the ambitions of the luxury electric car maker, which is piling on projects as it struggles to roll out a more affordable sedan on which the company's future depends.
Musk described electric trucks as Tesla's next effort to move the economy away from fossil fuels through projects including electric cars, solar roofs and power storage. Musk said that the truck can go up to 500 miles (800 km) at maximum weight at highway speed, Musk said, without giving the size of the payload. Tesla said the Class 8 vehicle, the heaviest weight classification for trucks, in 30 minutes can recharge the battery enough to go 400 miles.
The truck also has Tesla's latest semi-autonomous driving system, designed to keep a vehicle in its lane without drifting, change lanes on command, and transition from one freeway to another with no human intervention. Reports suggested in August that Tesla was discussing self-driving trucks with regulators in Nevada and California, but the company did not mention full autonomy in a release on the new vehicle.
As the presentation appeared to end, the Tesla Semi opened its trailer, and the Roadster drove out. The sports car is an updated version of Tesla's first production vehicle. It can seat four and travel 620 miles (1,000 km) on a single charge, a new record for an electric vehicle, Musk said. It can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour (100 km per hour) in 1.9 seconds, which would make it the fastest car in general production.
The first 1000 cars will cost $250,000 each, paid in full up front, with later models starting at $200,000. Musk did not give a price for the Semi, or say how or where either product would be built, but he said the truck would begin production in 2019 and that the Roadster would be available a year later.
With inputs from Reuters
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