Inside Tesla's NEW $2.4B Semi Truck Factory!
Tesla’s Semi Truck promises to shake things up as it happens in any business or
market Musk enters. With advantages like low costs of ownership, less downtime due to
less maintenance required, convoy mode, and rapid acceleration, the trucking industry
doesn’t know what is hitting them yet!
However, before it can disrupt the trucking world, Tesla needs not only to complete the
truck but to have a plant where it would make the battery-powered trucks.
In this video, we go inside Tesla’s Semi Truck factory!
Presenting the Semi Truck in 2017, Musk estimated the all-electric Class eight truck
would be ready for deliveries in 2019. That deadline came and went, forcing Tesla to
update the delivery timeline to 2020. However, Covid happened, the companies that
didn’t fold couldn’t meet their targets, and the Semi Truck delivery was postponed
again.
News of Semi Truck deliveries starting later this year began to float around again but
here we are with no Semi Truck yet.
However, when the truck is ready, it is going to be worth it. Many top logistics
companies are keeping the faith as well with their orders, including Pepsi, Walmart,
Anheuser-Busch, City Furniture, etc,
The electric truck which will be offered in 300 miles and 500 miles range options,
promises less than 2 kWh/mi. It is an aerodynamic marvel, attaining a low drag
coefficient of 0.35.
Tesla obsesses about performance and it is evident in the Semi Truck which can
accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 20 seconds with an 80,000 pounds load, thanks to a
system of four electric motors with instant traction control. It will literally zip up grades
and inclines.
The electric motors are independent and can receive different amounts of power from
the battery based on the condition of the road. Tesla claims this ability helps it to avoid
jack-knifing, the worst nightmare of every truck driver.
Jack-knifing happens when the trailer is moving faster than the cabin as a result of a
failure of the trailer brakes. This happens when the driver is trying to brake at high
speeds.
Tesla says when jackknifing is about to occur, each wheel decides what to do to grip the
road harder, and prevent an accident.
Apart from the increased safety, Tesla is touting the economic efficiency of the Semi
Truck, leading to incredible cost savings for fleet operators. According to the order
page, the electric truck provides more than $200,000 in fuel savings with a two-year
payback period.
Thankfully, Tesla is not putting a yoke in place of a steering wheel but is putting the
driver in the center of the cabin, for a safer driving experience.
The truck starts at $150,000 and you can reserve one today with a refundable $20,000
reservation fee.
Tesla has been conducting road tests, prompting sightings by observers who are quick
to whip out their phones for photos to share on social media.
Coming to where Tesla would produce the Semi Truck, Electrek first reported Tesla was
operating in a giant building next to the Nevada Gigafactory in February 2020.
The first Giga Factory where Tesla makes battery cells and packs, drive units, and
energy storage products, is among the largest building in the world, even though it was
only 30 percent completed.
Instead of completing and setting up a part of Giga Nevada, Tesla opted to operate out
of a building next to the plant.
Tesla has a giant new building next to Giga Nevada and we might know what it's for -
Electrek
Electrek sources claimed Tesla would produce the Semi Truck inside the new building.
Fast forward to a year later and we had news that Tesla was going to undertake limited
production runs in the building near Giga Nevada. Inside the 500,000 square foot
building, Tesla would make a total of five trucks per week, a far cry from the number
Tesla would need to make to satisfy demands.
Earlier in January, Tesla had announced vacancies for posts related to the Semi Truck,
lending credence to the claim that Tesla would make its electric truck there. The jobs
included Supervisor of Maintenance and Manufacturing Equipment Engineer. They
would join other vacancies like process technicians.