Elon Musk revealed the expected battery capacity of the Tesla Semi before the start of production, and it is surprisingly less than we thought.
In 2017, Tesla unveiled its plan for an electric semi-truck, called Tesla Semi, and at the time, the automaker announced two options capable of more than 300 and 500 miles of range on a single charge.
They are expected to cost $ 150,000 and $ 180,000, respectively, but with an efficiency of less than 2 kWh per mile at full load, the cost of operations is expected to be what the Tesla Semi shines through.
With this kind of efficiency and reach, the Tesla Semi should have batteries between 600 kWh and 1 MWh.
Now in a new interview with Joe Rogan, CEO Elon Musk revealed that the Tesla Semi will have a battery around 500 kWh:
“You want something on the order of probably a 500 kWh package. What we have on the Model S and X is a 100 kWh package and probably something like a 500 kWh package on the Tesla Semi. “
However, the CEO appears to be talking about a 300-mile version of the electric truck, and he said the longer-range version would come later.
In response to Bill Gates’ comments that battery powered electric trucks are not viable, Musk argued that adding the type of weight that comes with a 500 kWh battery is not a problem.
He said it’s not a “game changer” when it comes to dough, especially if you’re using a structural battery, as Tesla revealed on Battery Day last year.
Tesla plans to make the battery with its new 4680 cells a structural part of the vehicle’s chassis.
A new Tesla Semi prototype has recently been located and the automaker plans to start production with some deliveries later this year.
Musk said recently that the Tesla Semi would be produced at Gigafactory Texas in Austin.
But we also saw indications that Tesla is preparing to have some production of the Tesla Semi at Gigafactory Nevada.
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