Elon Musk has unveiled the Tesla Semi, the firm's first electric truck. This semi-trailer is completely electric and, like everything else Musk makes, is predictably good-looking.
The Semi can be attached to any trailer and production is planned for 2019. Reservations can be made already for the princely sum of $5,000 (£3,789) per truck.
Musk claims his Semi can reach 65mph while climbing a hill with a five per cent gradient. "The best diesel trucks can only get to 45 mph at a five per cent grade," Musk said at the truck's unveiling.
Unusually, the driver's seat is positioned in the middle of the cockpit for improved visibility. It's also appropriately high-tech, with two large touchscreen displays either side of the driver showing navigation, blind spot monitoring and data logging.
The Semi is also semi-autonomous and can follow a convoy with a local Wi-Fi connection letting a manually operated truck at the front lead the way.
Speed: 0-60 mph in 5 seconds
Charging time: 400 miles in 30 minutes
Maximum load: 80,000lbs
New megachargers will give the trucks 400 miles of charge in 30 minutes. But, despite its speedy charging, Tesla has been relatively slow to the party. In April, Musk tweeted that the Tesla Semi would be revealed in September. The two month delay finished off a rocky year for the company.
WIRED takes a look at the traffic jam of competition Tesla faces.
The Nikola Motor Company is hoping to power its trucks with hydrogen instead of electricity. In 2016 the startup unveiled its Nikola One truck. This 18-wheeler has a 320-kWh battery fuelled by a hydrogen fuel cell. Fully charged, the truck will have up to 1,200 miles of range. The Semi has a 400 mile range. Nikola expects to complete development of its trucks by 2020.
In March Toyota announced the development of a hydrogen fuelled semi-trailer truck. The trucks have a 12kWh battery and maximum capacity of 80,000 pounds, like the Tesla Semi. Toyota began testing these trucks on a 200 mile route in Los Angeles this October.
Uber announced its self-driving truck project last year, but it doesn't actually have anything on the road or ready to pre-order yet.
Despite originally partnering with Otto, Uber recently dropped Otto branding and is now working with software firm ATG. The Uber trucks will have a combination of software from the two companies.
Uber has been making moves to create a completely autonomous truck, but currently the company has a Level 2 driver assistance system, meaning the driver still needs their feet on the pedals, and does not actually meet the definition of a self-driving car under California law. In 2016 Uber successfully drove a truck using a Level 2 system down a 120 mile motorway, with a trailer full of beer.
The American self-driving truck startup raised $15 million in funding this summer. While its trucks are not yet electric, they currently have a Level 2 system for autonomous driving. The trucks are based on the classic style American Peterbilt 579.
Embark has partnered with Frigidaire and Ryder to get the trucks on the road. As of October, Embark had already completed 650 miles of test trips while delivering fridges ordered by customers.
The German automotive company plans to get its self-driving truck on the road next year. But unlike Tesla the trucks will not be electric. In April 2016, a platoon of six trucks completed the first European cross-border trip.
Daimler is also working on a separate electric truck project. Designed specifically for city driving, it's Urban e-Truck has a range of 124 miles and runs on lithium-ion batteries.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
