Tesla Semi using another Tesla Semi in a recent YouTube video.
Jay Leno’s Garage
- Jay Leno got to drive the Tesla Semi, Elon Musk’s electric big rig.
- He said it felt a lot like driving a car.
- He towed a 60,000 trailer with another Semi on it and said he could barely feel the extra weight.
Jay Leno had a field day with Tesla’s new Semi truck on the latest episode of his car show, “Jay Leno’s Garage.” And it’s one of the best looks yet we’ve gotten at what it’s like to drive.
The comedian and car connoisseur got a tour of Elon Musk’s electric big rig and even got to take it for a spin that culminated in hauling another Tesla Semi.
Tesla announced the Semi way back in 2017 as a cleaner solution to dirty diesel trucks. Production was supposed to start in 2019 but the first deliveries ended up going out to Pepsi in late 2022.
Here are some cool things we learned from Leno’s chat with Franz von Holzhausen (Tesla’s chief designer) and Dan Priestley (Tesla’s senior manager of Semi-truck engineering):
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The Semi’s shape was modeled after Japan’s bullet trains. It’s about twice as aerodynamic as regular, boxy trucks.
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Eventually Tesla will make a Semi with a sleeper cab (where truckers can sleep on long-haul journeys), but the first ones are meant for day trips.
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Tesla has made 60-70 trucks and is getting feedback from Pepsi before making tweaks and scaling production.
Leno took the Semi out on the road and remarked that it felt easy and familiar to drive. He said he liked the central seating position, camera views, and smooth acceleration.
“It’s amazing. It moves just like a car,” Leno said. “It doesn’t feel clumsy or unwieldy. You don’t feel like you’re in some huge truck.”
Then Leno and the Tesla team hooked up a trailer carrying another Semi and kept going. Leno said multiple times that the extra 60,000-70,000 pounds felt like nothing.
“You know, it’s funny. I can’t see the trailer in the mirror,” Leno said. “So if you told me we didn’t hook up, we just pulled away, I’d believe you.”
Priestley said part of the reason is that the Semi senses how much weight it’s hauling and adjusts how much power it delivers accordingly.
Then, Leno pulled a tight U-turn. Priestley said the Semi has a similar turning radius to Tesla’s Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV.
It’s safe to say Leno was impressed, saying toward the end of the drive: “This is probably the biggest revolution in trucking since trucks replaced trains, isn’t it?”
Watch the whole 43-minute episode here:
