The Tesla Semi showed off what it’s capable of Wednesday. Tesla posted a video on its Instagram of the rig noiselessly hauling a container down a highway en route to the suburb of Santa Rosa.
The all-electric truck has been heralded with the ability to completely revolutionize the trucking and railway industries. The vehicle has all of the power of diesel-powered truck while allowing companies to save millions in fossil fuel costs. The video seen above is a perfect example of this technology at work: Instead of the trademark hissing of diesel engines, all you can hear is the faint droning of Tesla’s electric motor.
During the Semi’s unveiling at the Tesla Design Studio in Hawthorn, Calfornia, last November CEO Elon Musk announced the vehicles could hit the pavement en mass as early as 2019. Since then, prototypes of the truck have been spotted a few times parked at the company’s “mega supercharger” and as it geared up for a test run.
But this is the first time we’ve caught a glimpse of the Semi cruising down a road in all of its glory. A matte-black version of the truck was spotted sailing past a California UPS Customer Center in January, but with no cargo attached to its rear.
Tesla’s Instagram video made waves online, but the Semi has attracted even more attention from big-name customers. PepesiCo has ordered 100 of the rigs in December, while delivery company DHL had ordered 10 vehicles.
All in all, 250 Semis were ordered only a month after Musk announced them. So get ready to see a lot more of them hauling shipments very soon.
