While it may be nowhere near as quick as the Roadster or any of the other road cars, Tesla’s Semi can still run circles around any diesel-powered hauler on the market.
In fact, Tesla says the Semi can hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in just 5 seconds as long as it’s not dragging a trailer behind. Otherwise, it would typically need 20 seconds, which is actually still very impressive.
Thanks to this footage shot during Tesla’s Semi and Roadster unveiling event, we can see how quickly the truck disappears into the distance once it builds up speed.
Unlike the road cars, it doesn’t quite jump off the line in an instant, but after a couple of seconds, the burst of speed becomes noticeable. Also, its previously-mentioned 0-60 time of 5 seconds is similar to what you can do in an FIA Race Truck, and those things have well over 1,000 HP.
Of course, Elon Musk didn’t intend for this thing to be all about straight line speed, which is why the Tesla Semi can cover as much as 500 miles (800 km) on one charge, and tow an 80,000 lbs (36 tonne) load.
