Originally published at: https://wheelive.com/2021/02/13/elon-musk-unveils-a-remarkably-compact-battery-pack/
In the Tesla Semi electric truck, Elon Musk unveils a remarkably compact battery pack
The expected capacity of the Tesla Semi battery pack was revealed by Elon Musk ahead of the start of production, and it is surprisingly smaller than we thought.
Tesla revealed its proposal for an electric semi-truck, dubbed the Tesla Semi, back in 2017, and at the time, the automaker announced two options capable of a single charge of over 300 and 500 miles of range.
They are estimated to cost $150,000 and $180,000, respectively, but with a performance of less than 2 kWh per mile with a maximum load, where Tesla Semi shines, the cost of operations is expected to be.
Tesla Semi was supposed to have battery packs ranging from 600 kWh to 1 MWh with that kind of performance and range.
Now, CEO Elon Musk has revealed in a new interview with Joe Rogan that the Tesla Semi will have a 500 kWh battery pack:
“You want something, perhaps in the order of a 500 kWh pack. What we have in the Model S and X is a 100 kWh pack, and in the Tesla Semi, probably more like a 500 kWh pack.”
The CEO seems to be talking about a 300-mile version of the electric truck, though, and he said the longer range version will come later.
Musk claimed that adding the kind of weight that comes with a 500 kWh battery pack is not an issue in response to Bill Gates’ remarks about battery-electric trucks not being viable.
He said that when it comes to mass, it’s not a “game-changer,” particularly if you are using a structural battery pack, as Tesla unveiled last year on Battery Day.
Tesla plans to make the battery pack a structural part of the vehicle’s frame with its current 4680 cells.
Recently, a new Tesla Semi prototype was spotted, and the automaker expects to launch production later this year with a couple of deliveries.
Musk recently said that at Gigafactory Texas in Austin, the Tesla Semi will be made.
But we’ve also seen signs that Tesla is gearing up at Gigafactory Nevada to have some Tesla Semi output.
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