Tesla hasn’t given out much information about its upcoming electric semi truck, which Elon Musk refers to rather simply as “Tesla Semi,” but that won’t stop enterprising photographers from getting lucky.
A post on the r/TeslaMotors subreddit allegedly revealed the side of the Tesla Semi. It appears that the truck is either undergoing testing or product photography, based on everything going on around it. The original poster deleted his picture, but another Redditor reposted it, because nothing on the internet ever really disappears.
The picture was likely taken with a cellphone, so don’t expect much in the way of resolution or quality.
There’s only the one picture, so all you get is the side of the cab and a bit of the front end, which, as one would assume with an electric truck, lacks any sort of massive grille seen on other big rigs. It appears pretty close in appearance to the teaser Elon Musk put out however long ago.
Tesla did not immediately return a request for comment, but the automaker declined to comment to The Verge, citing company policy regarding speculation.
We don’t know much about the Tesla Semi — officially, at least. Reuters reported in August that the truck would be able to drive between 200 and 300 miles on a single charge, which would make it feasible for regional deliveries. It’s not quite a long-hauler, provided that range estimate is true.
Tesla is hardly the only company working on an electric big rig. Cummins built the AEOS, a Class 7 semi truck capable of hauling about 22 tons. With 140-kWh of batteries on board, the AEOS has about 100 miles before it needs a recharge, which it can do in about an hour using a 140-kW charger, which is even more powerful than Tesla’s current Supercharger. Production is expected to take place around 2019.
