(November 18, 2017) Tesla on Thursday unveiled its long awaited electric big-rig truck, which the company said includes semi-autonomous driving features. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during a rally in Los Angeles that his company’s electric trucks will have a 500-mile driving range at maximum weight and highway speed and they will be capable of going from zero to 60 miles per hour in five seconds, or 20 seconds if they are carrying an 80,000-pound load.

Musk said production of the Tesla electric truck is scheduled to begin in 2019.

A Tesla truck will be 20 percent less expensive than a diesel truck over the life of the vehicle, and they will be capable of operating in convoys, he said. “It blows my mind,” Musk said to cheers. “I think it will blow yours.”

Musk compared the experience of driving the big rig to the feeling of being behind the wheel of one of his company’s other electric vehicles that feature its semi-autonomous “Autopilot” feature.

“It’s as though you’re driving a Model S or a Model X or a Model 3,” he said. “It’s just big. It’s super easy to drive.

“The truck will automatically brake,” he said. “It will actually automatically lane keep as well. Even if you’re in the truck and you have a medical emergency, the truck will actually stay in the lane and gradually come to a halt ... This is a massive increase in safety.”

Musk said Tesla’s autopilot system will come standard on all of its electric trucks.

Musk also touted the reliability of his company’s electric trucks, saying Tesla is guaranteeing the big rigs will not break down for a million miles because they have will have multiple motors.

“You can lose two of the four motors and the truck will still keep going,” he said.

Source: The Detroit News