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Charlotte Haye 15th November 2017

The Tesla HGV Unveiled At Last

Back in September, we wrote this post about all the exciting new announcements in the world of HGV’s. When we wrote that, both Tesla and Cummins had announced that they were developing new, all electric HGV’s to the market. The specs were limited and there wasn’t much in terms of detail around appearance or performance. But now, Tesla have finally released their model to the public, and boy, does it look amazing.

Appearance

For starters, as far as electronic vehicles go, the Tesla semi is beautiful. If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s an amazing summary of the vehicle and the launch event in this video. In summary, the semi’s are sleek, silver bullets that redefine what we understand HGV’s look like. The low profile and angled cab make it look incredibly futuristic, with a high tech look many drivers have been praising.

Specs

But let’s be honest, you want to know about the technical bits. So, the launch event featured two different Tesla Semi configurations that will be available to buy. Along with this, we also saw the Class 8 aerodynamic prototype and a new, never before seen low roof version. Each model achieved a drag coefficient of 0.36, which is unheard of for a large goods vehicle, and even for some commercial passenger cars. Even more impressive, the semi is equipped with 4 independent electric motors on the rear axels, which enables insane torque for a 0 to 60 mpg acceleration with a full load in just 20 seconds. The powertrain also enables another interesting performance spec: a speed of 65 mph going up a 5% grade. Elon Musk himself characterised the semi’s performance as ‘BAMF’ (bad ass mother f**ker), and we have to say, we agree. The specs of this vehicle have exceeded and even crushed our expectations. There were also murmurings of a semi-autonomous driving capacity, which shows that Tesla is steering clear of full self-driving HGV’s for now. Instead, the semi’s will feature enhanced autopilot features to create semi-automated convoys.

Range

Of course, the main concern with any electric vehicle is how long it can go between charges. Since electric charging stations aren’t a standard across the country yet, the issue of how long the vehicle will last on one charge is a game changer. So when Musk announced that the Tesla Semi has two different battery pack configurations to enable 300 and 500 miles of range on a single charge. While a 300 mile range is what we expected, the capability of a 500 mile range (with a full load no less) is exceptional.

But above all of this, it’s only been unveiled a few weeks and already Tesla has orders for the new models pouring in. From big American haulage firms to DHL, over 200 have been ordered so far, with more coming in all the time. This proves that the transport world has been waiting eagerly for an electric HGV to hit the market, and we are expecting to see a lot more of these vehicles on the road in the future. To keep up with the latest HGV news, or find our more about the Electric HGV, just get in touch with us today.