√Elon Musk says Tesla Semi electric truck deliveries will begin this year

After three years of delays and broken promises, Tesla claims its Semi electric truck will finally be delivered to US customers from later this year.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk claims the electric-car giant will finally deliver its Semi truck to US customers before the end of 2022 – three years later than originally promised.

In a post on social media platform Twitter, Musk claimed Tesla’s electric Semi truck will be delivered to customers by the end of this year – after it was originally slated for production in 2019, and its global reveal in 2017.

The Tesla Semi electric truck announcement comes after Musk earlier this week reiterated Tesla’s plans to start delivering its Cybertruck electric pick-up to US buyers next year.

Tesla 500 mile range Semi Truck starts shipping this year, Cybertruck next year
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 10, 2022

Order books for the Semi are open for US buyers, with Tesla requiring customers to place a $US20,000 ($AU28,300) deposit to secure a place in the queue.

Tesla’s first commercial vehicle has a claimed driving range of 500 miles (805km) when empty in its top-of-the-range variant, which is priced from $US180,000 ($AU255,000) plus on-road costs.

A less-expensive variant is also offered, priced from $US150,000 ($AU212,000) plus on-road costs with a shortened claimed driving range of 300 miles (482km).

Powered by four electric motors which drive the rear wheels, Tesla claims the Semi can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in five seconds when it is unladen.

With a full payload of 36,287kg, the Tesla Semi can allegedly achieve a zero to 100km/h time of 20 seconds, while reaching 60mph (97km/h) up a five per cent grade.

While it is unclear if the Tesla Semi will be sold in Australia, the electric truck features a centrally-mounted driver’s seat – making it ambidextrous, unlike the currently left-hand-drive Cybertruck.

However, the Tesla Semi’s width might prevent it from being legal on Australian roads.

Australia only allows trucks which are up to 2.5 metres wide, while Tesla has said the Semi is between 30 and 50 millimetres wider than this limit.

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