Elon Musk teased Tesla’s electric semi truck at a TED talkElon Musk teased Tesla’s electric semi truck at a TED talk

It’s no secret Tesla CEO Elon Musk is an ambitious man, but he continues to fuel the hype surrounding the company by recently teasing the first Tesla semi truck.
In typical Tesla fashion, the semi truck will be all electric. Its goal is to showcase the possibilities of electric range over diesel fuel, and Musk is confident the truck will outperform a traditional semi.
Musk revealed a teaser image during a TED Talk, according to Roadshow, and followed up by announcing a September reveal for the vehicle.
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From the single image provided, the shape looks properly slippery and futuristic—and seems to apply Tesla’s design motif to the large body well.
Musk has driven the semi and told Business Insider the rig is capable of spirited and sporty driving characteristics.
“This will be a very spry truck,” he said. “You can drive this around like a sports car.”
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk at Tesla Store opening in Westfield Mall, London, Oct 2013
The semi truck is being developed in good hands, too. Project lead Jerome Guillen previously ran Daimler’s semi truck program before joining Tesla in 2012 to work on the Model S.
Considering the amount of energy requires to accelerate 60,000 pounds or more to highway speeds, Tesla’s semi tractor will need all the expertise the company can garner to ensure Musk’s lofty claims are met.
However, the semi truck wasn’t all Musk had to share.
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The Tesla CEO revealed plans for four additional gigafactories to help meet global demand for battery cells in the future.
The first gigafactory (outside Reno, Nevada) went online in January of this year, where the battery cells produced are intended to give Tesla the economies of scale it needs to sell mass-priced electric cars in volume.
This will be especially important as Model 3 production looms in the near future, with the first units expected to be produced this summer.
2012 Tesla Model S beta vehicle, Fremont, CA, October 2011
As for specifics on the semi, additional details surrounding the Tesla semi will likely be shared during the September reveal.
A Tesla pickup truck will follow, Musk has said, to be revealed sometime in the coming two years.
If Musk has his way, we’ll be looking at the beginning of a wide portfolio of vehicles from Tesla: the Model 3, Model S, Model X, a semi, and a pickup truck.
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