In May this year, the order books for the Tesla Semi were finally opened. This gave us our first glance at some of the essential features and specifications of the EV truck, including the $20,000 upfront payment to get on the reservation list.
Whether you like EVs or not, you have to admit that the estimated fuel savings of up to $200,000 within their first three years of ownership claim made a lot of fleet managers sit up and take notice.
Tesla did not stipulate a delivery date, but Elon Musk posted a tweet in early August revealing the 500-mile Semi would start shipping this year. We had no reason to doubt the information, even though Tesla's CEO is famous for playing fast and loose with delivery dates. For reference, see Tesla Cybertruck.
The Semi was also spotted delivering superchargers to Laguna Seca, which means it must be close to production. But there's now been a hitch...
The Tesla website was updated this week, and the "Reserve Now" button is missing on the Semi page. Replaced by a "Get Updates" button, the option to pay $20k to get on the reservation list is gone. The new charging claims also don't match what was previously stated.
When reservations opened, the claim was 400 miles of range in 30 minutes, using a Megacharger, but the site now shows that up to 70% can be recharged in the same timeframe - a 10% decrease.
Earlier versions of the page also stated that the Semi would be driven by four independent motors, which has now dropped to three. The rest of the information is the same. Tesla still claims a 0-60 mph time of 20 seconds when fully loaded with 82,000 pounds and a range of either 300 or 500 miles depending on which model a customer buys.
So, what's the deal?
The "Reserve Now" button being gone might have a simple explanation. We don't have concrete figures regarding reservations, but PepsiCo confirmed that it had reserved 100 units, which could be beyond Tesla's current production capacity, so it may have halted pre-orders to prevent excess backlog.
The Semi will be built at the Gigafactory in Nevada in a nearby facility purchased in 2020. The Semi assembly plant may not be up to speed yet, or there are delays due to the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage. A manufacturer halting production of a model is not unheard of these days.
Still, Tesla does not have the best reputation regarding taking reservations. There are currently 1,254,872 pre-orders for the Cybertruck, and not a single unit has been delivered yet. At $100 a pop, the Cybertruck reservations netted Tesla a rather nice interest-free loan.
The three-motor setup is easier to explain. When Tesla launched the Model S Plaid, it revealed an updated motor with carbon-fiber-wrapped rotors. It's widely believed the Semi will use Tesla's new 4680 cylindrical batteries, so why not use the most advanced motor? Especially if the performance and hauling capacity claims remain the same.
What we do find odd is the new claimed charging time. Tesla's new 4680 battery pack can charge much faster than conventional batteries, but there is a minor discrepancy.
As mentioned earlier, the previous claim was 400 miles in 30 minutes. The new claim is 70% in 30 minutes, which is 350 miles for the 500-mile Semi and 210 miles for the 300-mile version.
Perhaps Tesla is backpedaling slightly after running the prototype vehicles for a few months and finding its initial claims weren't exactly accurate.
Either way, we'll have to wait and see what happens.
