Surprise twist: Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduces semi-truck, launches a sports car too!

Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a break from the complicated rollout of the Model 3 sedan and introduced an electric heavy duty truck, aptly called, ‘Tesla Semi’ and a new roadster at its design studio in Hawthorne, California. The event was live-streamed from the company website as well.

The unveiling of two products, including the unexpected Roadster, drew roars of applause from a selected crowd at an airport hangar near Los Angeles while highlighting the ambitions of the luxury electric car maker, which is piling on projects as it struggles to roll out a more affordable sedan on which the company’s future depends.

Musk described electric trucks as Tesla’s next effort to move the economy away from fossil fuels through projects including electric cars, solar roofs and power storage. Musk said that the truck can go up to 500 miles (800 km) at maximum weight at highway speed, Musk said, without giving the size of the payload. Tesla said the Class 8 vehicle, the heaviest weight classification for trucks, in 30 minutes can recharge the battery enough to go 400 miles.

The truck also has Tesla’s latest semi-autonomous driving system, designed to keep a vehicle in its lane without drifting, change lanes on …read more