Tesla unveils new battery-powered Semi trucks

STORY: Musk, who appeared onstage at an event at Tesla's Nevada plant, said the battery-powered, long-haul truck would reduce highway emissions, outperform existing diesel models on power and safety.

He said the Semi has three times the power of any diesel-powered truck and uses regenerative braking to improve efficiency.

"It's been a long journey, a long five years. But this is going to really revolutionize the roads and I think make the world a better place in a meaningful way," Musk said.

Tesla did not announce pricing for the Semi at the event, provide details on variants of the truck it had initially projected or supply a forecast for deliveries to PepsiCo or other customers

Musk said the Semi has been doing test runs between Tesla's Sparks, Nevada factory and its plant in Fremont, California. Tesla said it had completed a 500 mile test drive on a single charge with a Semi weighing in at 81,000 pounds in total, without giving a breakdown of cargo weights.

In 2017, Tesla had said the 300 mile range version of the Semi would cost $150,000, and the 500 mile version $180,000, but Tesla's passenger electric vehicle prices have increased sharply since then.

PepsiCo, which completed its first cargo run with the truck, had ordered 100 trucks in 2017.

Brewer Anheuser-Busch, UPS and Walmart were among other companies that had reserved the Semi.