After a raft of issues and corporate problems and following the appointment of a new, Australian chairperson, electric vehicle maker Tesla is again making some bold statements about its Semi, prime mover truck, which is due for launch sometime next year.
The troubled automaker’s electric truck, is supposed to go into production next year and the company has made another statement about another significant advance order for the yet to be built truck.
Albertsons, one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States has stated that as a part of its sustainability report released earlier this month, that it has ordered ten all-electric Tesla Semis for use in its Southern California fleet.
Tom Nartker, Albertsons’ VP of Transportation, commented on the announcement in a press release
“Advancing supply chain efficiency and sustainability is an important goal for our company. We’re excited to pilot this expansion of our transportation program with trucks that help us limit our overall carbon footprint.”
Albertson’s operates a fleet of more than 1,400 trucks across the USA.
After Tesla revealed the pricing of the electric semi trucks last year last year, it was revealed that that the regular production versions for the 600km and 800km range versions will be $US150,000 and $US180,000 respectively, while the company is also listing a ‘Founders Series’ version for $US200,000.
Now Tesla CEO Elon Musk is saying that he expects that the production version could be even more efficient with a range closer to 1000 km. However it is noit the first time the fearless self promoter has made bold promises.
He also said that the Tesla Semi made it ‘across the country, alone, with only one Supercharger network and an extension cord’.
It appeared that the vehicle was out to tour the USA in order to meet with potential customers.
The Tesla Semi has undergone a nationwide sales tour tracking across the country visiting customers and potential buyers. It travelled close to 3000km from its home base to a major transport operator in Arkansas and then another 1000km to a major UPS hub in Illinois. Then it travelled another 600 km to Iowa before the final 1000km return trip to its home base in Colorado.
Musk said that the company had learned a lot from the test program and it plans to make improvements as they bring Tesla Semi to production.
When unveiling the vehicle last year, Tesla said that it planned to bring it to market in 2019 and it hasn’t officially updated the timeline yet.
