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Tesla Semi Prototype Makes Rare Daytime Appearance in California

Tesla's electric Semi truck still has plenty of time to kill until it enters production, with Elon Musk's (usually optimistic) estimation being toward the end of 2019.
Tesla Semi prototype 1 photo
Photo: Instagram screen capture
That makes it nearly two years in which the company can sort out any issues with a prototype that looked not only functional - it rolled on the stage and left it on its own, as well as showcase its ridiculous acceleration skills, so there was no question about that - but pretty production-ready.

Tesla has made a habit out of this approach which you could say was pioneered by the Model 3. The electric sedan was revealed in March 2016 in prototype form and then entered production toward the end of this summer with very few modifications. Tesla doesn't do concepts, but then again it doesn't really need to considering its prototypes are so exciting.

They say the Semi's design was inspired by bullet trains, and looking at the vehicle, you can clearly see that. It certainly doesn't look like any other truck out there, and the shape of the cabin enabled some other unique features such as the central driving position - though its usefulness has been brought into question.

It remains to be seen how much Tesla changes about the truck in its final form, but we sincerely doubt it's going to be much. After all, lots of very important companies have already placed orders for the world's first electric semi, with 90 of them coming within the same day (50 from Sysco and 40 from Budweiser).

The clip below, caught by Instagram user roymilloy, shows the truck cruising along at a slow pace before finally entering a Tesla private compound. Roy follows the Semi for as long as he can, and even though we mostly get to see its behind, the video does bring some interesting revelations.

For instance, we knew - based on the handle position - the doors would open in reverse, but we never really got to see them in action. They look quite massive, meaning entering and exiting the vehicle should be a breeze. And speaking of breezes, we can also see the two side windows can indeed open - not by rolling down, but by popping out instead.

Too bad that was a 5 mph zone, or we could have witnessed a short burst of acceleration as well - we doubt the drivers can help themselves unless told otherwise. Even so, every spotting of the Tesla Semi is still a novel thing since we've only really seen it during the nighttime reveal in November.
 

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A post shared by Roy Greenberg (@roymilloy) on Dec 7, 2017 at 12:00pm PST

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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