US retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and trucking company J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) have pre-ordered the new Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) electric truck - within a day of the vehicle's unveiling.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk revealed the commercial heavy-duty truck late Thursday along with a revamped Roadster, the company’s luxury sports car. The truck will begin production in 2019 while the new Roadster will be available in 2020.
READ: Tesla surprises the world by using truck launch to unveil the new Roadster
Wal-Mart said on Friday that it had pre-ordered 15 trucks, including five for its US operations and 10 for Canada.
Wal-Mart is “excited to be among the first to pilot this new heavy-duty electric vehicle. We believe we can learn how this technology performs within our supply chain, as well as how it could help us meet some of our long-term sustainability goals, such as lowering emissions,” the company said in a statement.
J. B Hunt has made reservations to buy “multiple” Tesla Semis to support divisions in its West coast operations, it said on Friday.
“Reserving Tesla trucks marks an important step in our efforts to implement industry-changing technology,” chief executive John Roberts said in a statement. “We believe electric trucks will be most beneficial on local and dray routes, and we look forward to utilizing this new, sustainable technology.”
The truck will be able to drive up to 500 miles on a single battery charge, surprising many analysts who had expected 200 miles.
Tesla Semi pic.twitter.com/7VLz7F46Ji
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 17 November 2017
Not saying the next gen Roadster special upgrade package *will* definitely enable it to fly short hops, but maybe …
Certainly possible. Just a question of safety. Rocket tech applied to a car opens up revolutionary possibilities.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 19 November 2017
For the Roadstar, Tesla is requiring the first would-be buyers to pay the full price of the vehicle upfront to secure a pre-order.
The first 1,000 cars that will be available of the Roadster are the Founders Series Models, which have a starting price of US$250,000.
To pre-order, buyers must put down a US$5,000 reservation and wire the company US$245,000 within 10 days, even though the vehicle won’t be available until 2020.
The regular Roadster models, which have a starting price of US$200,000, will also require reservation of US$5,000 and a US$45,000 wire transfer in 10 days, with the balance due at delivery.