Ahead of the launch of Tesla Semi, the automaker’s upcoming electric truck, a Ryder executive says that he met with Tesla officials and that they said Tesla Semi will have 200 to 300 miles of range.
Scott Perry, an executive at Ryder System, a large Miami-based fleet service company, disclose the spec after telling Reuters that “he met with Tesla officials earlier this year to discuss the technology at the automaker’s manufacturing facility in Fremont, California.”
Tesla refused to comment:
“Tesla’s policy is to always decline to comment on speculation, whether true or untrue, as doing so would be silly. Silly!”
That’s apparently all that Ryder knew about the program.
Electrek’s Take
I would take this report with a grain of salt. Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that they have been meeting with potential customers, but if Perry from Ryder was in the know, why is only referencing one spec with a 50% margin?
Furthermore, Musk said that Tesla already has prototypes, but further iterations or the production version could vary in capabilities.
With this said, 200 to 300 miles of range could make sense.
Though Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that their electric truck will have “the highest weight capability and with long range” and if Ryder is correct, they would fall short since some trucks have a range greater than 1,000 miles.
But 200 to 300 miles with a full load would already require a battery pack with a capacity greater than anything built today and it would also be satisfactory for plenty of regional and local transport routes, which represent a significant share of freight transport.
We should definitely know more by the time Tesla unveils the vehicle next month. In the meantime, you can read our report: Tesla Semi: everything we know about Tesla’s upcoming all-electric truck/
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