Elon Musk admitted this in a recent interview with Joe Rogan. If passenger electric vehicles are content with batteries with a capacity of 100 kWh, then Tesla Semi will need a 500 kWh battery. At least, if we talk about the basic version of the tractor, capable of transporting goods over a distance of 480 km, then this estimate is quite adequate. Such efficiency will be achieved through the use of battery cells of a new standard size 4680. It is the beginning of their mass production that will make it possible to put Tesla Semi on the conveyor. The first serial copies of tractors will appear this year, but mass production will not be possible until next year.

As Elon Musk previously noted, the Tesla Semi traction battery will become part of the truck frame’s power structure. The truck will also have to move a rather heavy traction battery in addition to the payload, so the most excellent attention is paid to increasing its efficiency. As Musk recently admitted, a truck will require five times more battery cells than a Tesla passenger car, so the Semi’s mass production is tied to a new 4680 size unit. In small quantities, they may begin to be produced in Nevada.