Tesla Semi — 'sports car' feel

Elon Musk said this week that the Tesla Semi “feels like a sports car,” using a driver’s-eye pitch for a Class 8 truck Tesla has spent years trying to bring to volume production. (x.com) In the same post, Musk said the Semi is a dual-axle, tri-motor truck with about 800 kilowatts of power, and that its front axle disengages at highway speeds. Tesla’s Semi page lists up to 500 miles of range and says the truck can recover up to 60 percent of range in 30 minutes on Tesla’s Semi Chargers. (x.com) (tesla.com) Tesla’s current Semi site also says the truck uses 1.7 kilowatt-hours per mile and puts the driver in a central seating position for visibility. Those are the kinds of details Tesla has increasingly emphasized as it tries to sell the Semi as a premium electric truck, not just a diesel replacement. (tesla.com) The timing matters because the Semi has been delayed repeatedly since Tesla unveiled it in November 2017 and originally targeted production for 2019. Tesla said in its January 28, 2026 fourth-quarter results release that the truck would go into production in the first half of 2026. (tesla.com) (ir.tesla.com) That gap between promise and rollout has shaped the truck’s reputation. Electrek reported in October 2025 that Tesla had pushed Semi production into 2026 even after earlier signals pointed to a faster launch. (electrek.co) Tesla is not starting from zero on road use. PepsiCo took delivery of the first Tesla Semi trucks in December 2022, and PepsiCo said one of its drivers made a 220-mile trip from Modesto, California, to Reno, Nevada, for the unveiling. (pepsico.com) PepsiCo expanded that fleet in California in May 2024, saying 50 more Tesla Semi trucks would operate from its Fresno facility. PepsiCo said the broader deployment was part of its plan to cut emissions from transport operations. (prnewswire.com) Independent testing has also given Tesla material for the performance case. The North American Council for Freight Efficiency’s Run on Less program found in 2023 that a Tesla Semi completed a 1,076-mile day with charging stops, a result later cited by PepsiCo and trade coverage of the truck’s operating profile. (thedriven.io) (electrek.co) Musk’s “sports car” line fits that broader sales argument: electric motors deliver instant torque, and Tesla is framing that as a benefit for drivers as well as fleet managers. After years of delays, Tesla is now asking buyers to see the Semi as a truck that can haul freight and still feel fast, quiet, and unusually responsive. (x.com) (tesla.com)