Will Tesla’s Planned Electric Semi Truck Sport a 300-Mile Range?

As Tesla is poised to unveil an electric “semi” truck in September, a report from Reuters says the it will have a range of 200 to 300 miles. The company is also apparently working on developing an electric tractor trailer to accompany the vehicle.

At a recent meeting with Tesla shareholders, Elon Musk said “We’re getting them (commercial truck drivers) closely involved in the design process, so the biggest customers of the heavy duty Tesla semi are helping ensure that it is specified to their needs, so it’s not a mystery. They already know that it’s going to meet their needs, because they’ve told us what those needs are. So it’ll really just be a question of scaling volume to make as many as we can.”

By way of background, most semi trucks can travel over 1,000 miles on a single tank of fuel. So, the new Tesla version will fall a bit shy of the mark. That why, according to some reports, Musk is will develop an electric tractor trailer.

Still, the market seems ready. Nearly 30 percent of US trucking jobs are regional trips of 100 to 200 miles,

Electric vehicles have other appeals, notably they are considered less costly to maintain than conventional vehicles and the energy to run them fr is also less expensive than diesel fuel.

Naturally, a big hurdle will be the size and weight of the battery.

But, that hasn’t stop Tesla before!

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