Tesla recently announced that its electric freight truck, the Tesla Semi, will have an expected base price of $150,000 (300-mile range) or $180,000 (500-mile range). These tentative costs, which are lower than previously anticipated, make the Tesla Semi an attractive option over conventional trucks. For example, an average Class 8 truck costs about $0.54 per mile, compared with Tesla’s $0.26 per mile. Add in the significant cost savings associated with maintaining an electric engine compared with a gas-burning one, and the Tesla starts to look like a no-brainer. As previously reported in this blog, Tesla’s advantages go beyond cost to include speed and safety innovations.
Michigan-based retailer Meijer is looking to Tesla to potentially improve its fleet’s efficiency and reduce costs. The company ordered four trucks, giving it the chance to be among the first to test the electric vehicles.
“This new Tesla truck technology, (sic) has the potential to not only reduce our carbon footprint but also realize cost savings that will allow us to keep prices low for our customers,” the company’s spokesman Frank Guglielmi reported to milve.com.
Meijer, which has 235 stores across the Midwest, currently uses Freightliner Cascadia trucks featuring fuel-efficient, reduced-emissions engines. The company made a $5,000 per vehicle down payment and will decide after testing whether to complete the purchase. Tesla expects to begin Semi production starting in 2019.
Zip Xpress will be following news from both Tesla and Meijer as the electric freight fleet makes its way from test track to highway. Keep up with what’s driving change in trucking at Zip Xpress.
