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It’s been nearly 10 years since Tesla first announced it was building the Semi, a purpose-built, all-electric big-rig meant for heavy-duty commercial hauling. The last time we saw the Class 8 tractor-trailer was back in January of 2023, when Tesla provided an in-person update on the state of the pilot program it was running with nearly 200 trucks and companies including the FritoLay division of PepsiCo.
During that adventure, we got to crawl all over and inside the preproduction Semi but not drive it. This time around, I not only got to drive the Semi, but also got to see the automaker’s brand-new factory in Sparks, Nevada, where the production 2027 Tesla Semi is being built. Before we detail our latest experience, let’s review some big-rig basics.
How the Tesla Semi Works
First, a quick primer on semi-trucks, aka big-rigs or 18-wheelers. The official name is a Class 8 tractor-trailer; they’re the heaviest commercial vehicles on the road, as defined by a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) exceeding 33,000 pounds.
In its heaviest, long-range, three-battery-pack configuration, Tesla Semi has a GVWR of 48,800 pounds and gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 82,000 pounds, which includes the weight of the truck and trailer and everything inside. Those 82,000 pounds are the limit set by the manufacturer, and government agencies use it to determine legal and commercial weight compliance. The typical diesel-powered tractor-trailer has a GCWR of 80,000 pounds, but electric big rigs are allowed an additional 2,000 pounds for their batteries.
Moving all this weight takes a lot of energy, and the Tesla Semi’s battery packs are situated low, between the frame rails. They power three permanent-magnet electric motors, derived from the Tesla Plaid and Cybertruck drive units, to power the two rear axles. The wheels on the front axle are for steering, making the Tesla Semi a classic 6x4: six wheels total, four of them powered. To further clarify, the dual rear wheels on both back axles are counted simply as wheels in this case.
The forward axle of the rear tandem is known as the torque drive axle (TDA) and is activated when maximum torque is needed, such as hard acceleration and climbing grades. At steady highway speeds, Tesla says the two-motor TDA disengages to reduce drag, allowing the rearmost efficiency drive axle (EDA) to power the truck by itself. The single-motor EDA is always on, while the TDA’s dual motors come on only when needed. Tesla’s engineers claimed we wouldn’t be able to feel any kind of change when the TDA is on or off. We’ll see about that.
About Its Battery
One of the biggest changes from the preproduction pilot vehicles is that the production Semi uses the same Tesla 4680 battery cells that power the Cybertruck. These cells are manufactured at Tesla’s “Giga factories” in Austin, Texas and Sparks, Nevada and are arranged in eight “bandoliers” of 28 cells for each battery module. Fourteen modules are in each pack, and the long-range Semi uses three packs to achieve a total of 850-ish kWh of power or 500 miles of driving range. The standard-range Semi needs only two battery packs for 325 miles of driving range. Tesla claims the batteries are rated for 1 million miles of use and can be charged to 60 percent in 30 minutes. Maximum power output for Tesla Semi is 1,076 horsepower.
During the “Semi Rollout” launch event we attended, Tesla plugged in a Semi at the start of the keynote address by Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, and Dan Priestley, Tesla Semi program director. At various points during the program, Lars and Dan cut to a live feed of a Semi charging to show that it was indeed charging at close to its 1.2-megawatt (1200-kW) limit. While that charging rate tapered off, the Semi’s state of charge showed well over 60 percent before the roughly 40-minute program finished.
So What? How Does It Drive?
In the last year, I’ve put approximately 10,000 miles on MotorTrend’s long-term 2023 Tesla Model Y, which makes me eminently qualified to evaluate almost any Tesla. My Achilles’ heel in this situation is that I have zero Class 8 truck driving experience. The largest trucks I’ve ever driven have been heavy-duty versions from Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, and Ram, which sometimes have dual rear wheels, fifth-wheel receiver hitches, and the ability to tow upwards of 30,000 pounds, but I’ve never towed that kind of weight, as that would require a commercial driver’s license (CDL). So I’m a big-rig rookie. And yet, driving the Semi was surprisingly familiar, shockingly easy, and dare I say, several tons of fun.
It starts when you approach the Semi, which you’d unlock if you have the Tesla mobile app on your phone keyed to the vehicle. If not, you can simply swipe a keycard on the door handle to open up the large, rear-hinged door. Inside is a huge cabin with two seats—a jump seat mounted on the rear wall of the cab, behind and to the right of the center-mounted driver’s seat.
Sitting down in the driver’s seat doesn’t turn the Semi on, as it does in all other Tesla vehicles. But you’d be forgiven for thinking that, as the steering wheel, screens, and levers all look very familiar because they’re essentially tweaked and repurposed controls from the Model 3, Y, and Y L.
To adjust the driver’s seat and mirrors, you can use the left touchscreen or familiar steering-wheel rollers. As the driver’s seat is built for long-haul truckers who spend all day behind the wheel, it’s a comfortable, suspended seat, with many more position adjustments than the seats found in Tesla passenger vehicles. The steering-wheel position is manually adjustable but electrically power assisted. More on this later.
To start the vehicle, you simply depress the brake pedal and push the end of the right gear selector stalk to turn the vehicle on and then shift it into gear by pushing down on the lever into drive. Before I could go anywhere, I had to push down on a yellow, diamond-shaped parking brake release on the right side of the dash.
And then? You just drive it. Like any other Tesla. Yes, the central seating position feels odd at first, but I quickly got used to it. Lane centering wasn’t a problem, thanks to fantastic visibility straight ahead and out of the tall side windows. The view to the rear is also excellent because of the enormous side mirrors and two cameras mounted on each supporting arm. These four cameras (two on each mirror arm facing down and back) show different blind spots on the twin 16.0-inch screens mounted on the left and right sides of the steering wheel. There’s a top-down view of the blind spot ahead of the front wheels and a view looking directly down along the side of the cab, below the side glass.
Although it’s comforting to have all this visibility, the views out, back, and down reinforce how high and centered you sit inside the Semi. But any unease fades away as you start quickly oozing down the road. The smooth, shiftless acceleration and light yet direct control of the electric power steering (EPS) drive home the Tesla-ness of the Semi. It’s both unmistakable and reassuring, as is the feedback of the scrolling buttons on the steering wheel and the menu system on the screens, where you adjust the temperature and airflow of the HVAC system, bring up Spotify or Apple Music, and punch in your route home.
I only spent about 12 minutes driving the Semi around Tesla’s Reno Gigafactory and new Semi Factory but got to see a few of its tricks. Thanks to the independent front suspension and the attention Semi engineers paid to increasing the steering angle of the front wheels, the Semi has an impressively tight turning radius. Tesla claims the Semi needs only a little more room to make a U-turn than a Model Y, and it certainly felt that way after I turned around on a two-lane road about the width of a residential street. It takes around five complete turns of the steering wheel to go lock to lock, and the feeling is light yet precise, thanks to the EPS.
I was only able to get up to about 35 mph while shuttling between Tesla’s factories, but I did encounter some patches of surprisingly rough pavement that sent lot of noise and vibration up through the cabin despite airbag suspension at all six wheels. I was going to chalk that up as a major miss for the Semi until I chatted with a real trucker.
Thoughts From a Real Trucker
That real trucker happened to be another invited guest of Tesla: Adam Wingfield, the editorial director of FreightWaves, a media outlet devoted to global supply chain, transportation, and logistics. He’s a veteran trucker, with more than a million miles of Class 8 trucking under his belt, and most important, a commercial driver’s license in his wallet. Because of that, Tesla allowed him to drive the same long-range Semi I drove, but off property, with a trailer attached. Wingfield estimates he spent about 25 minutes behind the wheel of a Semi connected to a trailer with about 37,000 pounds of payload. He estimates the total weight of the Tesla tractor and trailer to be about 74,000 pounds or roughly 90 percent of the 82,000-pound maximum GCWR.
Wingfield, who had never driven any Tesla before this afternoon, said he was surprised at how smooth the Semi drove and how quickly he got accustomed to the central driving position. But the biggest surprise was when he drove the Semi as a bobtail (without a trailer connected) and then with 37,000 pounds of payload.
“I was very surprised,” Wingfield said.” It didn’t feel like I was towing anything at all.” He was equally surprised at the performance of the Semi while climbing an incline he guessed to be a 7 to 8 percent grade. “I had it coasting at 35 mph and then whomped on the throttle. And it pulled like there was nothing behind it at all,” said Wingfield, who estimated that he got up to the top of the incline in under a minute, and only dropped one mph to 34-mph as indicated on the speedometer. He also said during his drive he reached a maximum speed of 50 to 55 mph. His thoughts about the tight turning radius:
“In the majority of conventional American tractors, you’re sitting well back from the front axle. But in the Semi, you’re sitting much closer, almost on top of it, which gives you the turning feel of a cabover, but the axles turn a whole lot sharper,” Wingfield said.
And that rough patch of road I felt in the bobtail Semi? Wingfield nodded knowingly. “That’s because you weren’t towing any weight. You were riding at the top of the air suspension, with no compression on it, so of course it felt very stiff. If you had a heavy trailer behind you, it would have felt cushy, like a Cadillac,” said Wingfield, demonstrating why it’s always a good idea to seek the insights of an experienced professional.
So, How Much?
Tesla’s launch event marks the official start of customer deliveries of the 2027 Tesla Semi. On hand to receive their keycards were several of Tesla’s first customers, including US Foods, IMC Logistics, Arkansas Best Freight (ABF), HMD Trucking, WattEV, DHL, OK Produce, Einride, Nevoya, Lincoln Trucking Systems (LTS), and PepsiCo.
When asked how much these partners paid for their Semis, Moravy declined to give a number, citing customer negotiations and various incentives offered by the different states in which they operate. “It won’t cost more than a diesel truck,” said Moravy, who also claimed during the keynote that the Tesla Semi would be cheaper to operate, refuel, and maintain than traditional diesel-powered trucks.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated on 9/26 to include Semi’s total horsepower, correct the production location of the 4680 battery production, and correct a misquote of Adam Wingfield regarding the Semi’s speed at the start of the hillclimb.
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