It’s a sign of the times when you stop to grab a photo in front of an electric truck charging up. That’s what happened when people spotted a prototype Tesla Semi electric truck at Tesla’s Kettleman City, California Supercharger station yesterday, Electrek reports.
Two people took photos of themselves and the siver Semi on Instagram yesterday.
Instagram user de_dood uploaded a shot of himself with arms spread standing by the Semi’s right front wheel. “At the mega supercharger and ran into the new #tesla prototype mega super truck. Do I need one?!?,” de_dood asked.
About the same time, Instagram user colindough posted an image of himself standing further in front of the truck. His comment was a bit more blasé, “Ran into one of our new rides in BFE CA this morn…#teslasemi.”
Because of colindough’s wider shot, the image shows the full length of Tesla’s freighter. The photo also shows an unidentified person walking just in front of the Semi’s left front tire. He’s looking down at two cables. According to Electrek, earlier Tesla sightings gave the impression that the truck can be plugged into multiple Superchargers at the same time. That may be the case in colindough’s photo.
In colindough’s photo, we can also see parts of two overhead structures that indicate there are at least two banks of chargers at the Kettleman City station. Tesla is building 40-charger Supercharger stations, with four banks of 10 chargers each, at some of its locations.
The Semi obviously requires more space than a car, and if it can indeed connect to multiple chargers, larger-sized Superchargers located near highway junctions may be necessary infrastructure support to encourage fleet buyers.
The Kettleman City Supercharger station is located just off Interstate Highway 5, about 210 miles south of San Francisco and 180 miles north of Los Angeles.
According to Tesla’s Supercharger locator site, the Kettleman City station has 40 Superchargers available 24/7 with up to 120kW of charging power. The site also has a 24-hour Tesla Customer Lounge with a restaurant, restrooms, and Wi-Fi.
When it is available for sale, the Tesla Semi will come in two versions, each packing Autopilot as standard. Tesla claims the base version of the truck, priced at $150,000, has a 300-mile range. The $180,000, 500-mile range version will most likely be the preferred choice for major fleet buyers. You can reserve either version with a $20,000 reservation fee.
With its previous vehicles, Tesla preceded regular production with a limited edition, premium-priced “Founders Series.” The 1,000 Founders Series Tesla Semis will cost $200,00 each, with a full-price reservation fee.
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