Tesla (TSLA) is not just targeting the North American market with its all-electric class-8 Tesla Semi truck — it has the European market in sight as well.
As we reported last month, the automaker took two Tesla Semi trucks to Europe for presentation, testing, and validation purposes. They first landed at Giga Berlin and were spotted in a drone video captured by a local observer of Tesla’s European car factory.
Yesterday, Sr. Manager of Tesla Semi Engineering Dan Priestly delivered a presentation at this year’s IAA Transportation event in Hanover, Germany. Earlier today, Dan recorded an interview with a PepsiCo executive at the same event on topics such as scaling the Tesla Semi electric truck fleet and the PepsiCo case study (videos below).
Tesla Semi Range and Weight Ratings
Dan Priestly presented some interesting new data on the Tesla Semi during his presentation. The above screenshot is taken from Dan’s first slide of the presentation. The North American-produced Tesla Semis have a range of 500 km (310 miles) for the Standard Range variant and 800 km (~500 miles) for the Long Range variant.
Tesla Semi Standard Range version achieved the 500 km (310 miles) range with a gross vehicle weight of the truck at less than 9,000 kg (~19,842 lbs).
The Long Range Tesla Semi achieved the 800 km (~500 miles) range with a gross vehicle weight of the truck at less than 10,500 kg (~23,150 lbs).
Tesla Semi will be street legal in Europe and be compatible with European trailers.
Dan Priestly / 2024 IAA Transportation / Hanover, Germany.
Operating Costs: Tesla Semi vs Diesel Trucks
These specifications for any logistics transport company are crucial. When transitioning from diesel trucks to electric semis, logistics companies have the economy as the top priority in their minds. If the Tesa Semi can provide the same or better cost per mile, the transition to a sustainable transportation method becomes way much easier and desirable.
At IAA yesterday, Tesla’s Dan Priestly claimed that Tesla Semi trucks have achieved a lower operating cost compared to diesel trucks. This is evaluated in long-term testing and evaluation of the class-8 electric truck. According to Tesla, the Tesla Semi pilot fleet has already driven 7.5 million miles.
According to Tesla, customers wanting to switch to EV-based semi-trucks have two major concerns, #1: they are way too heavy and the range is not acceptable. Dan addressed these concerns in his presentation in the following words:
We’ve been putting a lot of effort in to show that those two things are not necessarily correct or at least our product helps address those concerns.
Our 800 km truck we’ve done actual demonstrations of and these masses we think are competitive and allow for a significant amount of payload and when you couple the two together, we believe that we can address a large number of applications that diesel is successfully doing today but we can do it at a lower operating cost.
Now how do you achieve this? it’s through developing a single, optimized, simple platform around battery electric from day one.
Tesla Semi Megawatt-Level Charging
Tesla Semi trucks are significantly larger vehicles compared to electric cars — and with the purpose of hauling loads need a considerably larger battery to operate. Electric semis need a Megawatt Charging System (MCS) to charge the trucks in as little time as possible.
The Megcharger station at Giga Nevada is the first MCS developed by Tesla (TSLA). The automaker developed the Megacharging technology, especially for its electric Semi trucks.
Potential electric semi-truck customers also have charging times and availability as a concern while deciding to move to electric. Dan addressed this concern in his presentation. He stated that Tesla Semi megawatt-level charging is safe, reliable, and enables diesel equivalency. Dan said:
The other common refrain we get from our customers is about charging and the charge times are too long. We have successfully demonstrated and deployed megawatt-level charging in the field. It’s safe, it is reliable, and it enables a one-for-one replacement of diesel trucks.
Dan also mentioned PepsiCo’s testing the demonstration of the Tesla Semi last year. According to him, PepsiCo truck drivers were able to drive the Tesla Semi for more than 1,700 km (1,050+ miles). This was only possible with DC fast charging using the Megachargers.
“PepsiCo did a demonstration last year of more than 1700 km in a single 24-hour period — that is enabled by fast charging,” Dan Priestly said.
“This allows the vehicle to get back on the road as quickly as [it] can and go back to earning money for the customer,” he added.
Tesla is focused on making Tesla Semi charging a seamless experience. Saving time on charging sessions is critical in getting as many miles as possible in a 24-hour shift. Using Megacharging during rest stops and loading and unloading the trucks is the best way to utilize charging times to the maximum benefit for saving time.
“The goal is zero dedicated stops for charging,” Dan said during the IAA presentation.
Tesla and PepsiCo own a pilot fleet of Tesla Semi class-8 electric trucks. This fleet has driven 7.5 million kilometers (4.6 million miles) using the megawatt-level Megacharging. Although this is a small number in the context of the heavy trucking industry miles driven but is still a significant figure for data-driven analysis.
According to Tesla, there is a Semi truck in the company’s fleet that has driven 400,000 km (~250K miles). This is a significant milestone for an electric semi truck as it is the first one to achieve this mileage across the industry. Dan said in his presentation:
Just as a data point, we have a truck in our fleet, that is less than a year and a half into operations — it has driven more than 400,000 km those are not simulated, not accelerated — those are real-world miles.
And those have all been done at North American gross vehicle weight limits to enable 15 million ton-kilometers of work.
We haul our battery packs out of our factory in Nevada to support vehicle operations down in California, and we do this one-for-one with diesel, there’s no compromise in schedule and no compromise in payload in order to make this happen.
Tesla Semi Heavy Lifting up Serious Grades (mountain pass elevations)
Tesla (TSLA) has been testing its electric Semi trucks across mountain passes for years now. During the IAA presentation, Dan Priestly showed some data and graphs that demonstrate Tesla Semi’s capabilities at elevations from 1,000 to over 2,000 meters.
Dan stressed that the automaker is pushing the Tesla Semi to its limits when it comes to making it on par with diesel trucks and even better in some aspects.
Tesla Semi successfully drove at the following mountain passes and altitudes and demonstrated its heavy lifting capabilities.
- Tejon Pass – elevation: 1,268 m
- Brenner Pass – elevation: 1,370 m
- Donner Pass (California): 2,203 m
At the end of his presentation, Dan concluded it with the following words:
We’re really excited to bring Semi to Europe. We think it blends low cost, high capability, and long-range into a unique product that addresses a wide variety of needs and applications within the European market.
And we’re excited to come along with everybody else here in moving towards a zero-emissions future and accelerating the world to sustainable energy and transportation.
The future is electric, Thank You.
Stay tuned for constant Tesla updates, follow us on:
Google News | Flipboard | X (Twitter) | RSS (Feedly).
Related Tesla Semi News
- Tesla V4 Cabinet to unlock Cybertruck 500kW and Semi 1.2MW charging speeds at V4 Superchargers
- Tesla Semi replaces diesel trucks with lower operating costs, fleet driven 7.5M km, 1700 km in 24 hours is possible, Dan Priestly at IAA
- Tesla Semi trucks spotted at Giga Berlin, here’s why Tesla sent them to Europe
- Tesla Semi spotted with a suite of sensors on the roof, Elon Musk approves its volume production
- Tesla Semi trucks impress in real-world range and performance testing, first PepsiCo driver shares his review of the electric long hauler
- Tesla Semi and the Cybertruck engage in a friendly drag race outside Giga Texas (video)
 plans of bringing the Semi to Europe.){kind=link}