Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know electric vehicles are a common discussion in the automotive world. As for people like us, the diesel truck community, most could care less about them and are concerned for our beloved diesel-powered trucks. Take for instance the Tesla semi truck. Could these replace diesel-powered tractor trailers?

Announced in 2017, Tesla’s semi truck was designed to take over the majority of the trucking business. Why? Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has publicly shown his interest in transitioning the world to sustainable energy. Because, according to their 2020 Impact Report, combination trucks account for 1.1 percent of total fleet vehicles on the road. Because of their fuel consumption and weight, that results in approximately 17 percent of all U.S. vehicle emissions.

“Electrifying the heavy-duty truck segment is an essential part of transitioning the world to sustainable energy,” Musk said. “With at least equal payload capabilities and more range, electric trucks can be utilized.” Per the impact report, Tesla is in the process of developing a Megacharger network at trucking rest stops across the United States and Europe where each Tesla semi-truck can top off their range.

We’ve heard their pitch, but at what cost does it come? Per Tesla, you can’t actually buy a Tesla semi — yet. However, you can reserve one. How much does a Tesla semi cost? To reserve yours, you need to make an initial $5,000 credit card payment which then needs to be followed up by a $15,000 wire transfer payment within ten days. Production is due to start in 2023 so, as long as plans stay on track, you shouldn’t have too much longer to wait.

Once they get you paying on one of their two available options, a 300-mile range will set you back $150,000. To get the extra 500-mile-range rig, plan on forking out a grand total of $180,000.

According to our research, to buy a new big rig today, you’re looking at $100,000 to $125,000. For not much more money, you can go all-electric. Unfortunately, I do not think that our infrastructure is set up for this. We don’t have the proper grid for electric semi-trucks and nobody can explain to me that battery situation. Yeah, sure, the diesel-powered trucks may emit more emissions, but what happens to all of the dead Tesla semi batteries when they die?

Tesla knows the pricing of their trucks is elevated, but it is the fuel savings that they’re pushing. You have a potential savings of $200,000 and a two-year payback period. It is unknown how they came up with this figure, per Inverse. As for range, someone came up with the idea that 80-percent of trucking is at or less than 250 miles. This would mean that either of their options will cover most jobs.

“Getting a range of 500 km [310 miles] is, I think, quite easy. And this is assuming a truck that is pulling a load of something in the order of 40 metric tons. We see a path over time, to get to about 1,000 kilometers [620 miles] of range. We think this is going to be extremely competitive and compelling to trucking companies.”- Elon Musk

The top speed for a Tesla semi truck has not been released, but using its four independent motors on the rear axles, the truck has reached 0-60 mph in just 20 seconds. This is pretty impressive for a big truck. Sure, maybe electric is the future, but I just don’t see it happening anytime soon. Do you see your family and friends swinging into a Loves or a Pilot, and it’s lined with all-electric Tesla semi trucks?

Let’s not forget to mention, that all of your diesel truck stops or diesel repair shops have to be set up for this. What about all of the equipment they’ll need to diagnose and repair these new trucks? Can they afford it? Do they have the proper disposal plans for batteries? There is just so much involved with “taking over” a diesel-powered industry.