This morning our observant Mechanical Shop Foreman, Joel Stephenson, spotted a Tesla Semi parked at the hotel next door to our shop in Lincoln, NE!  A few people from our staff went over and checked it out.  They were able to talk to the drivers and their entourage.  This Tesla is pretty ground-breaking.  Joel was able to observe it running and could only detect a slight hum.  The driver told Joel that that is the loudest it gets.    

We have a HyVee Grocery Store a few blocks away that has Tesla electric charging stations.  They were able to charge the Tesla Semi’s batteries for the semi in just 40 minutes, by utilizing all eight hook ups at once. 

The Tesla representatives told Joel that that this semi can go 300 miles between charges.  It also has electric brakes that charge the battery every time they are used.  This Tesla Semi does not have a sleeper and will retail for about $150,000.  There is another version with a sleeper that can go 500 miles between charges.  It will sell for around $180,000. 

Joel was also told that the Tesla Semi uses a lot of the same parts that the Tesla cars use.  That type of engineering is rather amazing!  We see hundreds of different parts and pieces a day as we repair trucks and other vehicles.  There is really no cross-use of parts on the vehicles we see.

This was an all-around neat experience for our team who is always interested in learning about the future of the transportation industry.  Apparently Tesla Semis can be pre-ordered on their website.  Any takers?