After a five-year wait, Tesla’s new electric truck is finally hitting American roads. But if its technical sheet is known in broad outline, a lot of information has not yet been revealed regarding it. Among them, its weight, but also its price. Yet crucial data… The capacity of its battery is however impressive.
It had been known for six years that Tesla was going to launch a 100% electric truck, when Elon Musk announced it in his Master Plan, in July 2016. A few months later, in November 2017, the firm unveiled a first prototype. Several copies were then seen on the roads, especially in 2018, but the production version was waiting, while its launch was postponed many times.
Indeed, if it was to start in 2021, it was not until December 2022 that the first copies were delivered to customers. at a grand ceremony. On this occasion, Elon Musk took the opportunity to make some announcements.
Low consumption
Indeed, during this evening, which was held in Nevada and which was broadcast in live on Youtube, the leader recalled some key aspects of his new truck. Starting with its great autonomy, announced at around 800 kilometersn with a load of 37 tons. Data quickly confirmed by a video, showing the Semi rolling from Freemont to San Diego without taking a single break.
In addition, the businessman also confirmed the great efficiency of his latest, displaying a consumption of only 1.7 kWh per mile, which is approximately equivalent to 105 kWh/100 km. If until now, Tesla did not wish to communicate on the capacity of the battery of its Semi, this information gives us valuable information. According to a quick calculation, this then corresponds to approximately 850 kWh.
This is without counting on the buffer (a part of the battery that is never used) and the fact that the Tesla Semi has “only” consumed 93% of its battery as can be seen below. We can therefore count on a gross capacity close to 900 kWh.
For comparison, a Model S integrates approximately 100 kWh of battery once morest approximately 60 kWh for a Tesla Model 3 Propulsion. The weight of the battery of the first is equivalent to approximately 600 kg. We imagine that the Tesla Semi’s battery has been optimized so as not to weigh nine times more, that is to say 5.4 tonnes! But anyway, it is obvious that the latter alone weighs several tons.
An impressive figure, but what is even more so is above all the recharge time. Indeed, during the key handover ceremony, Elon Musk also lifted the veil on a brand new revolutionary charging system, known as Megachargers or Superchargers V4. Thanks to more efficient cooling, the device is then able to deliver more than 1,000 kW, i.e. 1 MW of power.
As a result, only 30 minutes would be needed to fill 70% of the battery, while the vehicle might take up to 1,400 kW. This should benefit the travel time, which should remain reasonable. We are now impatiently awaiting the hypothetical 1000 kilometer test from Norwegian YouTuber Bjørn Nyland to see if the Semi exceeds the child ES8 et Mercedes EQS.
Lots of missing data
If Elon Musk was therefore rather talkative regarding the capabilities of his electric truck, also showing a video illustrating his tremendous acceleration, he however remained quite discreet on certain key elements. Starting with the power, which has not been announced while the brand has confirmed that the Semi is powered by three electric motors, like the Tesla Model S Plaid. Nevertheless, we must expect a figure higher than the 1,200 horses of the latter.
As Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief of Electrek on Twitter, the American brand also failed to announce the weight of its electric semi-trailer. Nevertheless, the site recalls that in the United States, the regulations for a class 8 truck, that is to say the largest format visible on the roads, allows up to 80,000 pounds, or regarding 36.3 tons. A tolerance of an additional 2,000 pounds (900 kg) is granted to electric vehicles.
According to compte Twitter Nikola Insiderthe Tesla Semi should then weigh around 27,000 pounds, si.e. regarding 12.2 tons. It might then tow around 45,000 pounds at most, the equivalent of 20.4 tons according to Electrek, but nothing has yet been confirmed by Tesla. The brand has also not yet publicly communicated the price of its heavyweight, although it announced in 2017 an amount between $150 and $200,000or approximately 142,318 to 189,758 euros.
According to the journalists, this amount might then be paid for in just three years thanks to the savings made on fuel and maintenance costs. A figure that reminds us of a previous study, proving that owning an electric car is less expensive than a thermal vehiclefor similar reasons.
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