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Tesla’s new semi-truck could save companies up to US$30,000 a year in fuel costs

Last updated: 08:51 27 Nov 2017 EST, First published: 03:51 27 Nov 2017 EST

tesla semi truck launch
The larger truck will be able to do 500 miles on a single charge and can do 0-60mph in just five seconds

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) reckons its recently-unveiled electric truck can save companies as much as US$30,000 per vehicle per year.

The truck’s price is surprisingly competitive with estimates suggesting it will be sold for just shy of US$200,000 for the top spec. That compares with around US$110,000 for a brand new diesel rig.

So it’s still an expensive investment and to try to encourage companies to add the new Semi – equivalent to a Class 8 truck – to their fleet, Tesla is looking to offset the higher upfront costs through lower maintenance and fuel savings.

At the launch earlier this month, Elon Musk revealed that Tesla would guarantee truckers electricity rates of 7 cents per kilowatt hour, which could work out US$30,000 a year cheaper compared to the fuel costs of an average diesel truck.

Analysts believe Tesla would have to heavily subsidise these cheap rates, estimating that the company would be lucky to pay less than 45 cents per kilowatt hour.

“There's no way you can reconcile 7 cents a kilowatt hour with anything on the grid that puts a megawatt hour of energy into a battery,” said Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst Salim Morsy.

“That simply does not exist.”

Tesla employs a similar strategy for some of its current customers, offering free electricity to most of its Model S and Model X drivers while paying the best part of US$1 per kilowatt hour. That amounts to up to a US$1,000 subsidy per car in 2017.

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