American electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla revealed its first venture into the world of commercial vehicles in the form of the 'Semi' electric last week. Now, Tesla has released the prices for the Semi, and fortunately for those looking to switch to electric trucking, the numbers are very competitive compared to rivals powered by diesel.
Tesla has revealed the estimated price of the three different variants of the Semi on the electric trucks' page on its website.
The Semi with the 300-mile (483km) range is priced at $150,000 (Rs 97.07 lakhs) while the one with a range of 500 miles (805km) comes in at $180,000 (Rs 1.16 crore).
Customers can reserve either of these two variants of the Semi for a deposit of $20,000 (Rs 12.94 lakh).
A Founder's Series variant of the Semi is also listed for $200,000 (Rs 1.29 crore), though no details have been revealed about any enhancements compared to the 500-mile range variant of the Semi. Customers looking to reserve the Founders Series Semi will have to shell out the truck's full price to book one.
The pricing turns out to be rather competitive despite the fact that diesel rivals of the new Semi are at least $30,000 (Rs 19.42 lakh) cheaper than the electric truck. The reason for the competitiveness, Tesla claims Semi owners will save up to $250,000 (Rs 1.61 crore) after a million miles (1.6 million kilometres) on the road.
The price comes as a surprise to many so-called 'experts' but it does hint at the fact that Tesla has found a way to bring the cost down for the battery pack, which is one of the reasons it build the massive Gigafactory production complex.
Along with the price benefits, the new Tesla Semi accelerates harder than its diesel rivals, can sprint faster up a gradient and features autonomous driving aids along with a jackknife prevention system and a host of cameras and sensors monitoring blind spots keeping drivers ware of what is around their truck.
DriveSpark Thinks!
The Tesla Semi looks to make truckers go electric with its electric truck and by keeping the prices down, the American electric vehicle manufacturer may just kill off its competition if the Semi does live up to what Elon Musk promised on the stage on the night of November 16.
