The state of Colorado is at least 1000 miles (~1600 km) from the Gigafactory, and Tesla seems to be testing the Semi for longer trips besides the Gigafactory, NV to Fremont Factory, CA cargo trips previously.
Erik J. Martin first spotted the Tesla Semi at the Brush, Colorado Supercharger Station (video below) where the truck driver, engineers and staff were more than happy to answer many questions regarding the electric truck.
Tesla Semi currently uses the existing Tesla charging network and needs to plug into at least 4 Supercharger stalls to power up its battery pack(s) — ultimately, Tesla Semi will have its own Megacharger network to support fast charging for this beast.
This spotting also reveals that the Tesla Semi prototype currently has 26 cameras installed for experimenting with the optimal camera positions for the production version of the truck — the staff there also revealed to Erik that Tesla is going to build the ‘sleeper’ feature soon, probably by extending the cabin toward the rear end.
Erik was able to get the following new details about the Tesla Semi Electric Truck, which he posted in his video’s description:
This version is a “Day Cab” with a 300 mile range and it takes 30 min to recharge when it has adequate power. Currently it is using the Supercharger Network, but will utilize its own MegaCharger Network when it hits production. Tesla will be its own first customer and the initial truck sales will be to itself to relieve the financial burden in transporting materials from the Gigafactory.
This one-off Alpha prototype is made of carbon fiber. It has approximately 26 cameras around it for Autopilot, which will be a lower number once the truck design is final. This one has extra cameras so they can experiment with camera placement for optimal use in its driver assistance suite.
It’s also important to note that the Tesla Semi will not be ‘full self-driving’ for a long time, besides using the radars and camera for Autopilot use on the highways, and will always need a ‘driver’ inside to perform certain tasks and backup purposes — so it doesn’t seem to be a big threat to semi driver jobs.
Tesla Semi Truck’s door handles are designed the same as the Model 3 door handles — besides borrowing the door handles, the Tesla Semi also uses the same motors as the Model 3 and most probably the same 2170 cells for the battery pack as well.
There are around 600 pre-orders placed for Tesla’s Electric Semi Trucks as per public knowledge (details on our tracking page) — but Elon Musk revealed in the 2018 shareholder meeting that they have around 2,000 Tesla Semi pre-orders with them.
Corporate clients like Anheuser Busch and Bee’ah, along with other big names, are taking a keen interest in the No-Emission Tesla Semi Truck for the sake of the environment and future generations. Let’s move forward towards a cleaner, greener, and cooler Earth, and promote Electric Vehicles.
Featured Photo: Erik J. Martin (@soundanswer)