Tesla is already getting orders for its new electric big rig

Tesla

Tesla Semi.

• A Michigan-based grocery chain ordered four new Tesla Semis, Bloomberg reported late Thursday night.
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the new electric semi-trucks, which can travel up to 500 miles on a single charge.
• Production is expected to begin in 2019.

Tesla is already receiving orders for its new electric semi-truck unveiled on Thursday night. According to a Bloomberg report, the Michigan-based grocery chain Meijer, Inc. placed deposits on four of the new trucks at $5,000 apiece.

Meijer fleet manager Dan Scherer told Bloomberg's Dana Hull: "Electricity is cheaper fuel than diesel, and you are less dependent on the spot-pricing of fossil fuel."

CEO Elon Musk officially introduced Tesla to the heavy duty trucking industry with what we he considers to be next-generation semis; trucks boasting 500 miles of battery range and the ability to recharge up to 400 miles in 30 minutes. The trucks can sprint to 60 miles per hour in five seconds without a trailer attached, and do the same speed in 20 seconds while hauling 80,000 pounds of cargo, according to Musk.

In an official press release, Tesla claims its Semi "is more responsive, covers more miles than a diesel truck in the same amount of time, and more safely integrates with passenger car traffic."

The semi also features some first-of-its-kind technology and design- including the removal of a traditional clutch and gears - making them unlike any conventional big rig currently on the road.

The Tesla Semi is expected to go into production in 2019.

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