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Tesla lists electric truck for 150k 

Tesla-lists-electric-truck-for-150k-
Written by Eric Titner

If you’re a trucker, there’s an exciting new wave of innovation and technology that’s sweeping over your industry—and Tesla is leading the charge. Tesla, headed by company founder and maverick CEO Elon Musk, has been at the vanguard of bold, forward-thinking ideas in recent years, and has decided to take its visionary approach to trucking—and the results are interesting to say the least.

Truckinginfo.com has recently published an article that discusses this new truck, which is expected to go into production in 2019—let’s take a closer look.

The future of trucks seems to be leading towards electric vehicles, a radical departure from the diesel guzzling behemoths that you’re used to driving. Tesla has recently unveiled it’s new Tesla Semi, which is likely going to usher in big changes in trucking. It has a rather steep base price—$150,000 for the base model—but considering that the average price of a truck with an internal combustion engine typically sells for around $100,000, it isn’t too far outside of the typical range that a trucker would expect to pay for a new vehicle—and owners of the new Tesla Semi can expect to see cost savings in terms of reduced fuel consumption. Furthermore, according to an article by DC Velocity, “Musk told a webcast audience that the vehicle will pay for itself in two years when compared to the cost of a diesel tractor, citing savings in the electric truck’s ability to outperform diesel-powered trucks in aerodynamics, reliability, and fuel.”

What will you get with this exciting new base model? You’ll get a durable, reliable long-haul vehicle that’s designed to have a 300-mile range between charges (if you’re looking for something with a longer range, a $180,000 version that can go up to 500 miles between charges was recently unveiled). According to Tesla, the new Tesla Semi will have a cargo capacity similar to its diesel counterparts, without a significant weight increase compared to the average Class 8 truck.

If you’re wondering how confident Tesla is in the viability of their new trucks, how’s this for a vote of confidence: Jerome Guillen, Tesla’s vice president of trucks and programs, recently announced during an electric truck confidence in Europe that Tesla would be its own first customer. That’s right—Tesla will utilize its brand-new Tesla semi to haul its own products and cargo between its Freemont California facility and its Gigafactory just outside of Reno Nevada (in case you’re wondering, that’s an approximately 260 mile route).

If you’re interested in getting behind the wheel of this new rig, Tesla is accepting early reservations for the Tesla Semi—provided that you’re willing and able to plunk down $20,000 for a reservation. If money isn’t a major problem for you, Tesla is also offering a limited-edition Founder Series truck model (just 1,000 versions of this truck will be released), with more bells and whistles than the base model—but it also requires that you put down a $200,000 reservation.

If you’re among the lucky few who gets to drive one of these new Tesla Semis, one things for certain—you’ll catch the attention of other drivers on the road!

About the author

Eric Titner

Eric is a NYC-based editor and writer, with years of experience in career-focused content development across a wide range of industries.