Imagine Looking Over Your Shoulder and Seeing a Tesla Semi With No Driver LoL
Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report is set to unveil its "unreal" semi-trailer truck in late October, Elon Musk said.
Imagine seeing an autonomous, electric Tesla big rig behind you in the rear-view mirror? TheStreet's founder and Action Alerts PLUS portfolio manager Jim Cramer had a little fun on this topic Thursday.
"It's funny, I had CEO Brad Jacobs of XPO Logistics (XPO) - Get Report on [Mad Money] last night and said I thought it would be preposterous you could be driving on the road, look over and see a semi truck with no driver -- but Jacobs said it isn't preposterous, and that he expects it."
Musk tweeted late Wednesday night that the much-anticipated truck may be unveiled and test driven on Oct. 26 in Hawthrone. "Worth seeing this beast in person. It's unreal," the Tesla CEO tweeted.
Musk teased the electric tractor-trailer at the 2017 TED Conference in April with a rendering that shows a mysterious, glowing vehicle. Musk introduced the idea of creating all-electric heavy-duty trucks and urban transport vehicles in a July 2016 blog post. At the time, Musk said the Tesla Semi would reduce the cost of cargo transport and increase safety, while being "really fun to operate."
In April, Musk said the semi truck would be revealed in September.
The vehicle could be a huge disruptor in the trucking industry. In a note to clients late on Wednesday, Sept. 6, Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker said the Tesla Semi could potentially "set off separation" between leaders and laggards among carriers and shippers, truck original equipment manufacturers and suppliers.
Shanker predicted that Tesla will price the Semi at about $100,000 (about 70% cheaper to operate than a regular truck, he noted) and start taking orders for the truck at the NACV event, with the vehicle shipping by 2020.
"We believe this could set off competition for intelligent trucks in the industry," Shanker explained. "If the order books fill up quickly, any carrier that holds back placing its order could potentially have to wait several years to get its hands on a Tesla truck -- years during which its competitors could be running with up to a ~70% cost advantage."
He added, "A rush by truck carriers to place Tesla truck orders and other OEMs to launch similar trucks could also be viewed by the market/investors as a key catalyst to the intelligent trucking thesis becoming 'real.'
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