This is a Tesla Semi prototype we haven’t seen before. Could it be closer to the production version?

A different Tesla Semi truck prototype has been spotted in the wild. This time in Truckee, CA (near Lake Tahoe). We recently saw this other prototype also in California. 

This shouldn’t come as a surprise because Elon Musk has already said the engineering has been completed and some production models are scheduled for late 2021. About a year and a half after Musk made his announcement. 

If you compare the Tesla Semi from these recent prototype videos and photos, you can clearly see the components on the back of the cab are different. This new one also has different black wheels compared to the shiny alloy of the one in the videos. You can’t see much of the front of the new prototype but it looks very similar to others we have seen. 

SacTesla, who spotted the new prototype, included the hashtag Interstate80East on his Instagram post. Giga Nevada is located in Sparks, NV, off of Interstate 80, east of where the Semi was spotted. That’s likely where it was going. 

This could be the first of several new Prototypes we will see this year considering production is less than a year away. Hopefully, we will see some towing trailers soon and not being trailered around. 

Last week, we reported that the 300-mile range version of the Tesla Semi will have a 500-kWh battery pack, but expect a larger pack in the 500-mile range model. The Semi will use the company’s 4680 cells and needs a steady supply of them before production starts. 

Last year, we detailed how some Tesla prototypes already use 4680 batteries and how Panasonic could be producing them as soon as this year. Also, Giga Berlin could potentially start producing them in two years. 

The Tesla Semi will be built in Texas, at the Giga Austin facility that’s still under construction. 

Source:Electrek via SacTesla

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