Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/925196
January 2018 | Overdrive | 21 hit the road with: collect them all! Flexible payment plans Downtime reimbursement Online certificates hit the road with: collect them all! Flexible payment plans Downtime reimbursement Online certificates Protecting the rig that runs your business! Protecting the rig that runs your business! Protecting the rig that runs your business! Protecting the rig that runs your business! Progressive Casualty Ins. Co. & affi liates. All coverage subject to policy terms. 1-800-PROGRESSIVE 1-800-PROGRESSIVE PROGRESSIVE.com In the days after electric car pioneer Tesla debuted its Class 8 tractor, orders began rolling in, signaling willingness among some larger industry players to spend millions on largely unknown technology that won't be produced until 2019. Tesla told Overdrive it is not sharing pre-order numbers publicly, but at press time, reports indicated that as many as 1,200 Semi reservations had been placed. Other reports estimated about 300 reservations at press time. Those orders have been placed without the company disclosing some key specifications, such as horsepower and torque ratings. Tesla founder Elon Musk instead has highlighted the truck's performance and what his company says will be low mainte- nance costs, thanks to four indepen- dent battery-powered motors and a highly aerodynamic design. Tesla says the truck can run 500 miles on a full charge and has a 400-mile range after a 30-minute charge. Deposits to buy a Semi began at $5,000 per unit, but Tesla quickly raised that to $20,000. Pepsi's private fleet ordered 100 Semis — between $500,000 and $2 million in reserva- tion deposits and the largest reported single order at press time. Walmart's private fleet ordered 15 units. Anheuser-Busch announced after the deposit hike that it had reserved 40 Semis to help cut its operational carbon footprint 30 percent by 2025. J.B. Hunt plans to deploy 40 Semis, mostly in its intermodal and dedicat- ed contract services divisions on the West Coast. – Staff Reports To read more about the vehicle, see a video about it and hear a podcast by Equipment Editor Jason Cannon with commentary on the Semi and its unveiling, search for "Tesla" at OverdriveOnline.com. Early adopters place bets on Tesla's electric Semi The cost of the new Class 8 Semi ranges from $150,000 to $200,000.