Talk of Tesla’s all-electric semi-truck is gaining steam thanks to a Reddit user who posted a photo that appears to show an uncamouflaged prototype loaded on a flatbed trailer. The photo, first reported by electrik, is in an undisclosed and unknown location in California, though the Reddit user says it’s an area Tesla is known to conduct testing. Beyond that, the details are few. However, this still remains the world’s first view of what’s likely Tesla’s latest project.

Adding fuel to the flame (or charge to the batteries), the truck looks very similar to the teaser photo Tesla’s Elon Musk tweeted back in April. Front its tall height to its shapely finders and LED headlights, this truck is certainly similar to Elon’s dimly lit teaser image. Assuming this is the Tesla truck, its unconventional shape is definitely not similar to any semi-truck on the road today. Of course, that’s because the Tesla semi doesn’t have an internal combustion engine and therefore doesn’t need a huge hood or massive grille. Rather, Tesla’s truck features a long, sloping windshield that matches the sloping nose. Naturally, the truck is designed to be as aerodynamically efficient as possible. The truck even has an aerodynamic cab topper that helps divert air around the trailer. It’s seen sitting a few yards behind.

While Tesla has not released any specs on its upcoming heavy hauler, we know it will use large banks of batteries to power multiple electric motors. Its torque rating is expected to be well in excess of a conventional semi truck’s turbodiesel (which is usually between 1,000 and 1,4000 pound-feet), giving it more than enough grunt to pull the standard 80,000-pound trailer. Range will be the Tesla Semi’s biggest factor. Insideevs.com speculated the Tesla will need a 1,200-kWh battery in order to travel 600 miles. That’s roughly 12 times the size in a P100D and double its range.

Thankfully, we won’t have to speculate much longer. Tesla is scheduled to debut its semi-truck on October 26, 2017, so long as it doesn’t postpone the event as it did for the September debut. Stay tuned to TopSpeed for the latest.

References

Tesla Truck

Read our full review on the 2020 Tesla Truck.

Read more Tesla news.