- Tesla has refreshed the Semi truck's design to match the look of the revised Model Y, the Cybertruck and the Cybercab.
- It gets a full-width light bar, a new bumper and aero tweaks to bring its design up to date.
- Tesla says the truck is now more efficient, it can tow more and is "designed for autonomy."
The Tesla Semi has to be the only vehicle that we know of that received a mid-lifecycle facelift without technically being in production—only a handful have been built so far. However, that’s exactly what happened as Tesla quietly unveiled an updated Semi yesterday, which it has redesigned to receive the new family face, as well as a series of technical improvements.
Tesla revealed the Semi in 2017 with plans to start building it in 2019, but it has kept pushing back its production start date. During yesterday’s annual shareholder meeting, Elon Musk reaffirmed the company’s plan to begin volume Semi production next year, promising to put an end to what has proven to be a painfully slow rollout.
The revised Semi features a full-width light bar up front, which does away with the old headlight design that really dated its look. We only have one image to go by, but what it shows is a design change that finally makes the truck look like the futuristic movie prop that we all hoped it would be. The front bumper is also different, now featuring what look like aero channels (possibly to cool the brakes), and it also has new cameras positioned on pods behind the front wheels.
The lower part of the vehicle is obscured, so there may be some additional visual changes hiding there, like redesigned aero wheels. It may also feature higher plastic cladding on the sides of the vehicle, as there seems to be less space between the door handle and the black part compared to all other Semis we’ve seen so far.
Tesla said efficiency and payload had also been improved as part of the update and also noted that the truck was now “designed for autonomy.” Its peak charging power was unchanged—still 1.2 megawatts, allowing it to regain 70% of its range in a 30-minute charging session—and it can go 500 miles on one charge, with an average efficiency of 1.7 miles/kWh. That’s more than the 1.55 miles/kWh efficiency that the truck achieved over a three-week trial period when it hauled freight for logistics company ArcBest.
Full-scale production of the Semi hasn't started yet because the new Nevada factory where it will be built isn't ready yet. It was supposed to become operational in late 2025, but now that has been pushed to early next year. Tesla said during its Q3 earnings call that the factory was "nearing completion," but didn't share any additional details or a completion date.
