Musk now targets October to unveil Tesla semi truck

This is the only picture of the Tesla Semi released thus far by Elon Musk.

This is the only picture of the Tesla Semi released thus far by Elon Musk.

Published Sep 16, 2017

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Palo Alto, Califiornia - Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said the electric carmaker was tentatively scheduled to unveil its planned semi-truck late in October, about a month later than the billionaire had earlier estimated.

"Tesla Semi truck unveil & test ride tentatively scheduled for Oct 26th in Hawthorne," Musk said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Musk has tantalised the trucking industry with the prospect of a battery-powered heavy-duty vehicle that can compete with conventional diesels, which can travel up to 1600 kilometres on a single tank of fuel.

Tesla's plans for new electric vehicles including a commercial truck called the Tesla Semi were announced in 2016 and in April Musk said the release of the semi-truck was set for September.

Tesla has been making strides in self-driving technology and implementing it in an electric truck could potentially move it forward in a highly competitive area of commercial transport also being pursued by Uber Technologies Inc and Alphabet Inc's Waymo.

Tesla was developing a long-haul, electric semi-truck that could drive itself and move in "platoons" that followed a lead vehicle, according to an email discussion of potential road tests between the car company and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles in August.

Tesla's electric big-rig truck could have a working range of 300-500 kilometres to compete with more conventional diesels.

Reuters

IOL Motoring

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