Longtime CDL holder and Overdrive truck test-driver Jason Cannon, the esteemed editor of our sister publication CCJ, finally got a close look at the tractor that's been coming next year! for almost a decade.
That'd be Tesla's battery-electric Semi, specifically a 500-mile-range model Cannon found parked up around the Technology and Maintenance Council event of the American Trucking Associations a couple weeks back.
He couldn't drive it in this case, but he did "crawl all over it" for a detailed look at various features you'll find in the video up top.
Panoramic driver view a 'little weird'
The subhead captures Cannon's first impression walking up into the cab and sitting in the center-mounted seat. "But like anything else, the more you do it, the quicker you’ll get used to it, I suppose," he said.
Adjusting to the environs a little more, though, he had this thought on the panoramic view out the front and sides:
"It’s really pretty remarkable," he said, "like a cabover but with more side glass." With a whopping 6.5 feet of headroom, the center seat has the driver a wingspan’s length from each side window, "making the cab feel that much larger."
And while there's no sleeper option for for this tractor, it's got the room for it. Yet placement of the house-door-style entry on the passenger side of the rig would complicate traditional positioning of storage/fridge options on that side. (The unit in the video was outfitted with a jumpseat along the back wall behind and to the right of the driver's seat.)
Can we say the wait for this model's production is finally over? Maybe, but with big caveats. Dating back to its first introduction in 2017, production was planned for 2019. That of course didn't happen, nor did other projected production dates over the years.
[Related: How much does the Tesla Semi weigh? Details emerge]
The manufacturer remains steadfast on making deliveries in 2026 this time around, of two battery-range models:
- Standard Range at 325 miles
- Long Range at 500 miles -- both on a single charge.
Power consumption for both is estimated at 1.7 kilowtt-hour (kWh) per mile -- approximately 19.8 miles per diesel gallon equivalent.
Charging capacity and speed tell more of the story. Tesla’s Megawatt Charging System can deliver 1.2 megawatts of peak power to replenish 60% of the range in just 30 minutes.
As Cannon notes in vid, "pretty good timing for a mandatory rest break."
Tesla has identified 66 planned Megacharger sites across 15 states, focusing on high-traffic corridors like I-5 and I-10. Catch more detail on the three electric motors and more specs in the vid, or get over to CCJ's original report for more, with a full transcript.
[Related: Tesla's 'badass' Semi torn apart by owner-operators]
