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Tesla has managed to ship several high-end electrical vehicles to consumers, but commercial trucking is the company'south side by side large movement. After showing off its design for an electric semi truck, the company has been working on an aggressive release schedule. However, the vehicle hasn't been spotted in real life until now. A video uploaded to YouTube shows Tesla's sleek electric semi cruising down a road in California.

At that place are few details to glean from this brusk clip (below). The original prototype trucks Tesla unveiled several months back did non have side mirrors, leading some to suspect Tesla had some fancy alternative in mind. The truck just spotted in the wild does have mirrors, though. That'southward necessary for it to exist street-legal, and so Tesla probably just omitted the mirrors for the annunciation to brand the truck look cooler.

As you lot tin can see in the video, the front of the semi is narrower than standard diesel trucks. It doesn't demand a giant engine, and the cab is slightly smaller with a centered commuter'due south seat. It's vastly quieter than a regular semi every bit well. The truck doesn't even drown out other road noise as it passes the camera. There's someone behind the bicycle of the truck, but Tesla is touting the autopilot features of the vehicle. Although, many take pointed out Tesla'due south self-driving tech is far behind the curve.

Tesla claims the base model truck volition get about 300 miles per charge, but an upgraded version with a larger battery will go 500 miles. The reduced drag coefficient helps brand information technology more power efficient, just that's a shorter distance than your average semi can proceed a full tank of fuel. It also takes longer to recharge a behemothic battery than information technology does to refill a tank. All the same, an electrical semi could exist much cheaper to operate for shorter trips than a diesel one.

The four contained electric motors also ensure the Tesla semi can go from zero to 60 in just five seconds. That'south without a trailer, though. With an lxxx,000 pound load, the Tesla semi can reach threescore MPH in about 20 seconds.

So far, Tesla has taken larger orders for its trucks from companies like Walmart and Pepsi. CEO Elon Musk claims the company will begin shipping vehicles in 2022. The base of operations model will cost about $150,000, and the upgraded model will be $180,000. That's not much more than the price of a conventional semi truck, which unremarkably sells for around $120,000.