Tesla's electric lorry

Tesla has unveiled its first electric articulated lorry, designed to challenge diesel trucks as king of the road. The long-anticipated Tesla Semi has a range of 500 miles on a single charge. Tesla says the vehicle - known in the US as a semi-trailer truck - will go into production in 2019.

Chief executive Elon Musk also unexpectedly revealed a new Roadster, which he said would be "the fastest production car ever" made. The red sports car was driven out of the trailer of the electric lorry during Tesla's presentation on Thursday. The Roadster will have a range of close to 1,000km (620 miles) on a single charge and will do 0-100mph in 4.2 seconds.

Mr Musk described it as "a hardcore smackdown to gasoline cars". He said riding in traditional cars would be like driving "a steam engine with a side of quiche". The new Roadster becomes available in 2020.

What's he got against quiche ? Makes me want to take a selfie on a steam train eating some quiche and make a meme out of it...

However, the charismatic Mr Musk faces continued pressure from investors and customers as the firm struggles to meet demand for its Model 3 car. The Model 3 is behind schedule due to factory delays, a situation Mr Musk described recently as “production hell”.

The 46-year-old had been camping at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada, to oversee battery production for the new cars. However, while the company had predicted it would make 1,500 Model 3 cars in the third quarter of 2017, in reality it only managed 260.

Tesla will not be able to compete on diesel’s range, and battery specialists doubt Tesla can produce a powerful enough battery at a reasonable price. “A 300-mile-capable battery pack costs about $200,000,” a Carnegie Mellon study concluded. “Which is much higher than a diesel-powered semi-truck, which costs about $120,000, on average, for the entire vehicle.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42021713