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In April, Tesla said its first Semi rolled off its production line in a new factory next to Gigafactory Nevada in Sparks.<\/p>\n
Tesla Inc.<\/p>\n
Tesla Inc.<\/a> says it is now producing up to 1,000 Semi trucks a week<\/a> as it works to serve customers including PepsiCo, DHL and US Foods.\u00a0<\/p>\n CEO Elon Musk<\/a>, who unveiled the electric big rig in 2017 with production promised for 2019, said the Semi is a truck that drivers will cling to for its ease of use and comfort. He also told potential customers they can dodge the\u00a0high price of diesel fuel, which is at record highs<\/a> in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost like a sports car in truck form, so it\u2019s going to be the funnest truck to drive,\u201d he said in a pre-recorded video shown at the launch event.\u00a0 \u201cThis is really going to be a game-changer truck, and also it\u2019s going to make a ton of sense economically because the cost of electricity per mile is much less than the cost of diesel, especially in these crazy times.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Tesla did not disclose pricing. But a Tesla Semi with a 500-mile loaded range\u00a0will reportedly sell for $300,000<\/a> while one with a 300-mile range could sell for about $260,000. The company said the vehicles reach up to 60% of their range after 30 minutes of charging.\u00a0<\/p>\n New diesel-fueled trucks sell for between $130,000 and $300,000, depending on configuration, with a range from 1,000 to 1,500 miles.<\/p>\n Thad Ayres, Tesla Semi Service senior manager, drives a Tesla Semi during a Zero Emission Vehicle\u00a0Workshop in April in Grand Prairie.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Musk said Tesla\u2019s self-driving features will be available on Semi.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Its Full Self-Driving system is under investigation by federal regulators over its performance in low visibility conditions<\/a> and multiple traffic safety violations. The company has been ordered to submit documents on its internal evaluations of the system and discussions of radar, which is used by the Austin company\u2019s competitors to help assess the distance and speed of other objects. Radar is also effective in rain, fog, and snow. Tesla has requested extensions of the deadline for providing the documents.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Tesla Semi is being produced at a dedicated factory in Sparks,\u00a0Nev., that Tesla said can produce 50,000 electric trucks per year. But the company\u2019s Austin factory also plays a role, said Dan\u00a0Priestley, director of the Semi program.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe bring in cells, our in-house-made battery cells from Gigafactory Texas, and the plan is to unload them automatically, automated from the trailer,\u201d Priestley said. \u201cThey get stationed and then they get consumed by the line again, fully automated, all the way to the point that then they drive off the line, and at no point is there any human intervention or touch point.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The first Tesla Semi rolled off the line in May. Dozens of them are expected to be operating in Texas by next year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Autonomous and electric trucking company Einride<\/a>, which has its U.S. headquarters in Austin, is set to deploy 500 Tesla Semi trucks<\/a> on its fleet intelligence platform across freight corridors in Texas, California, New Jersey, Illinois and Georgia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A young visitor looks at a 40%-scale model of a Tesla Semi on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles in 2023. The Austin automaker said its new factory in Nevada reached a production milestone with assistance from Gigafactory Texas in Austin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Richard Vogel\/AP<\/p>\n Ahead of the launch event, Tesla announced that it is the primary original equipment manufacturer for the initial 2,500 trucks for the largest electric truck order to date<\/a> in the U.S.\u00a0Shippers in the alliance behind the order include Microsoft\u00a0Corp. and PepsiCo. Inc., which Priestley said will get a \u201cnew competitive edge\u201d through the predictability that electricity provides.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Other features of the Tesla Semi include driver profiles for easy adjustment of seat, mirrors and user interface settings and a trip planner that provides updates and charging information. It shares the same thermal system as Cybercab.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re bringing in everything we\u2019ve had in the automotive fleet to the Semi,\u201d said Lars Moravy, vice president of engineering.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Tesla Semi launch is the latest in a series of events for the company\u2019s newest vehicles, even as Musk insists Tesla isn\u2019t just a vehicle company. Earlier this month, it launched its Cybercab at an event in downtown Austin. On Thursday, Tesla is expected to unveil its\u00a0next-generation Roadster <\/a>at\u00a0SpaceX rocket test facilities in\u00a0McGregor. Musk is also CEO of the Starbase space company.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In April, Tesla said its first Semi rolled off its production line in a new factory next to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,5454],"class_list":["post-449269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-saen_share"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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