Quote:

Aug 19, 2022 at 8:42am ET


Tesla has just updated its website related to the Tesla Semi, refreshing some of the specs and releasing new images and videos.

The Tesla Semi is currently expected to enter the market by the end of this year, according to the company's CEO Elon Musk.

One of the most interesting things is that the button to order/reserve the vehicle has disappeared, while there is a new one - "Get updates."".

We can only guess that there are two reasons for that: Tesla already has a lot of reservations (probably a four-digit and maybe even a five-digit number), which exceeds the near-term supply. The other reason might be the necessity to increase the prices (originally announced in 2017). The new website does not contain pricing info - previously prices of regular versions varied from $150,000 (standard range version) to $180,000 (long range version).
Spec updates

Tesla describes the Semi as "a Beast" - "More powerful, more efficient and fully electric. Semi is the future of trucking."

The company has maintained the core numbers, including two battery versions for about 300 miles (483 km) or 500 miles (804 km) of driving range when fully loaded.

The exact battery capacity has never been released, but assuming the expected energy consumption at "less than 2 kWh per mile", we can assume that it must be about 600 kWh and 1,000 kWh (1 MWh) depending on the version.

The gross combination weight of the Tesla Semi with a fully loaded trailer is 82,000 lbs (37,195 kg).

With such a load, the Tesla Semi is promised to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (96.5 /km/h) in 20 seconds, as well as being able to achieve a highway speed limit at a 5% grade. Those are very important practical measures to smoothly operate the truck - merge safely and keep pace with traffic as well as drive up steep grades.

According to the refreshed website, the production version of the Tesla Semi will be equipped with three independent motors on the rear axles, compared to four in the initial specs.

A new thing appears to be the charging info: up to 70% of range can be replenished in 30 minutes, using "Tesla’s Semi Chargers," which we believe refers to Tesla Megachargers.

Combining the charging time with the estimated battery capacity, we can calculate that the average charging power over a 70% state-of-charge (SOC) window is as high as 840 kW or 1,400 kW (1.4 MW).

It's pretty high power output, although nothing extraordinary on the C-level (in relation to the battery pack size): an average of about 1.4C.

Grit dog wrote:

So mkirsch, which fender flares have ya picked out?

8.1 Van wrote:

Tesla could make ten Model Y SUVs with the same amount of batteries from one Tesla Semi and they make a 30% profit margin on the Model Y that is sold out until 2023..