Elon Musk, the company's chief executive, unveiled the first heavy-duty Semi truck on Thursday at an event at the Electric automaker's Nevada plant, making it the first foray into the trucking industry.
Musk said at the event that the company successfully completed a 500 mile test of the Semi's driving range on November 15 between Fremont and San Diego.
The truck is a Class 8 vehicle, meaning it has a weight limit that allows it to carry more than 33,001 pounds of cargo. It was originally supposed to go into production in 2019 after being unveiled in 2017 but plans were delayed due to battery constraints.
Tesla said that its other vehicles would use the powertrain in the Semi, and that the company will use the truck in its own supply chain to ship auto components.
Musk said that the Semi has three times the power of a diesel-powered truck, and is the first Tesla vehicle and it is intended to reduce the emissions of the trucking sector relative to size of the fleet.
The Semi would use regenerative braking to recapture kinetic energy to improve efficiency.