Tesla boss Elon Musk has announced that the launch of the brand's Semi electric lorry will be delayed until 2020, citing an already strained battery supply for production of its range of EVs.
Speaking at the firm's annual shareholders meeting, Musk said Tesla would strive to ramp up battery production as quickly as possible, going so far as to suggest a venture into metal mining could be a possibility.
Despite the delay, customers are still able to reserve Semis. Existing customers include large companies such as Walmart, UPS and FedEx, but it is remains to be seen whether the delayed release will discourage further investment in the zero-emissions truck.
Such bottlenecks are no new phenomenon for Tesla; for example, Model 3 production was brought to a halt in early 2018 by worker shortages and software issues. The brand's fourth model, the Model Y, a Jaguar I-Pace rival, is due on the US market next year, with Musk aiming for an output of 2000 examples per week by September 2020.
The Semi will be capable of driving for up to 600 miles on a gingle charge, even when fully loaded, Musk has previously claimed.
His claim followed the boss of Daimler's lorry division, Martin Daum, suggesting that the Semi's statistics "defied the laws of physics".
The Semi with the 600-mile claimed range costs $180,000 (£132,720 at today's rate) in the US. A lower-spec variant with a 300-mile range will be priced from $150,000 (£110,565). Prices for diesel lorries in Britain start at about £85,000 by comparison.
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geed
Lorry! Bonkers British word.
typos1
Yeah Ia gree I hate "lorry"
Yeah Ia gree I hate "lorry" truck sounds much better.
Campervan
Truck? Lorry? Semi?
In the US a truck is what we in the UK call a pick up. The US call an articulated lorry a semi.
iIn the US the best selling vehicle for decades has been a truck, the Ford F-150.
Leslie Brook
Campervan wrote:
It's not a lorry or a truck, it's a Tractor Unit. When connected to a trailer then the combination is a lorry. A truck is the wheels of a skateboard.
supercarrambler
Why did I have to verify what a Cross Walk was ?
To log onto Autocar's website I had to verify what a "Cross Walk" was.... I have no clue what one is...
Anyway can you explain what a semi is ?
sbagnall
supercarrambler wrote:
Surely as an ex boyscout you'd know that.
jason_recliner
Tesla Over-Promising and Under-Delivering?
I just don't believe it!!!
Leslie Brook
geed wrote:
It's a lorry.
kdbruyne10
Tesla
Tesla has developed an electric semi-truck and has brought in early customers such as PepsiCo, Walmart and UPS. Tesla's CEO Elon Musk also has said that an electric pickup truck is in the works, too.
The startups might not be the worst thing for the big OEMs. That might end up being just the slow pace of innovation.
Turinbrakes
Taking the lorry out for a spin
What the hell is the point in that? What will be the top model, the GT3 RRS
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