Elon Musk unveiled the Tesla Semi in 2017 and plans to start mass production for all-electric truck this year, but a prototype was seen ‘in the wild’ cruising down a busy highway.
Twitter user Christian, who lives in California, spotted the massive silver Semi pulling a trailer down the freeway.
Although the sight of the truck was thrilling on its own, Christian notes that it was incredibly silent as it drove past his car.
Tesla was set to launch its electric Semi in 2019, but delayed the release until it was able to produce its own battery for the large vehicle.
Elon Musk unveiled the Tesla Semi in 2017 and plans to start mass production for all-electric truck this year, but a prototype was seen ‘in the wild’ cruising down a busy highway
The Tesla Semi was spotted driving down the highway shortly after sundown.
The truck boasts a silver paint coat and sleek front-end design, along with the iconic Tesla logo front and center of the hood.
The Semi features four Model 3 electric motors that enables it to cruise without producing the load roar that is heard from traditional diesel models, Teslarati reports.
Using the motors also seems to have paid off, as Christian mentioned how silent the truck – he and driving companions were completely surprised when the massive truck drove by.
Tesla was set to launch its electric Semi in 2019, but delayed the release until it was able to produce its own battery for the large vehicle
The truck is expected to be a battery-powered heavy-duty vehicle that can travel up to 300 miles on a single charge.
And Tesla’s hope is that it will eventually compete with conventional diesels, which can travel up to 1,000 miles on a single tank of fuel.
The Semi has been years in the making, but Musk’s latest update says it could hit the market this year.
Tesla pumped the brakes on the truck’s release until it was able to produce in-house batteries for the massive vehicle.
And the cells were announced during Tesla’s September 2020 battery day.
Musk took the stage while investors sat in Tesla vehicles to watch the presentation in order to abide by social distancing recommendations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He joked, ‘It’s a little hard to read the room with everyone being in cars,’ even as he was received by a chorus of honking horns.
Also present at the event was a full-size Semi Truck and the futuristic Cybertruck.
The tabless battery, called 4860, is said to make the firm’s electronic vehicles five times more energy dense, six times more powerful and increase the range by 16 percent.
The Semi features four Model 3 (center) electric motors that enables it to cruise without producing the load roar that is heard from traditional diesel models
For the design, Tesla took the existing foils of traditional batteries and created a laser pattern to form dozens of connections in the material.
Not only does it provide benefits to vehicles, but the design is easier to manufacture, needs fewer parts and without tabs it has a shorter electrical path length.
By reducing the distance the electron has to travel, the cell has less thermal issues and a shorter path length in a larger tabless cell, according to Musk, who explained that though the cell is bigger, it measures 80 millimeters in length, the power to weight ratio is better than a smaller cell with tabs.
‘This is quite hard to do,’ said Musk.
‘Nobody’s done it before. So.. It really took a tremendous amount of effort within Tesla engineering to figure out how do we make a fricking tabless cell and make it actually work and connect it to the top cap.’
