Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) chief executive Elon Musk on Thursday delivered the company's first heavy-duty Semi truck to PepsiCo.
Musk, who appeared onstage at the delivery event at Tesla's Nevada plant, said the battery-powered, long-haul truck would reduce highway emissions, outperform existing diesel models on power and safety and spin off a fast-charging technology Tesla would use in its upcoming Cybertruck pickup.
"If you're a trucker and you want the most badass rig on the road, this is it," Musk said at the event, Reuters reported, noting that it was five years since Tesla had announced it was developing the all-electric truck.
In 2017, Tesla had said the 300-mile range version of the Semi would cost $150,000, and the 500-mile version $180,000, but Tesla's passenger electric vehicle prices have increased sharply since then.
Robyn Denholm, chair of Tesla, recently said the automaker might produce 100 Semis this year, Reuters noted. Musk has said Tesla would aim to produce 50,000 of the trucks in 2024.
PepsiCo, which completed its first cargo run with the Tesla truck to deliver snacks for those attending the Nevada launch event, had ordered 100 trucks in 2017. Brewer Anheuser-Busch, United Parcel Service Inc and Walmart Inc are among other companies that had reserved the Semi.
Tesla did not provide details on orders or deliveries to customers, nor an estimate on what the total cost of ownership for future buyers would be compared to diesel alternatives, Reuters said.
The Semi is capable of charging at 1 megawatt and has liquid-cooling technology in the charging cable in an updated version of Tesla's Supercharger that will be made available to the Cybertruck, Musk said. The Cybertruck is scheduled to go into production in 2023.
Trucks in Semi's category represent just 1% of US vehicle sales but 20% of overall vehicle emissions, Tesla noted.
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