The drivers would not let us inside. Not me, not Jerry, not Ruben. So at the Montebello Tesla grand opening, the three of us did the next best thing, spent close to an hour walking around the Tesla Semi, poking at everything we could see from the outside.
This was a strange piece of access. The Semi was just sitting there in the lot, but it was still treated like it was top secret. No interior shots, no charge port pop. Cool. We’re on the outside, man.
The Cab: Center Seat and Suicide Doors
First thing you notice up close, the doors open opposite each other, suicide-door style. The card sensor sits flush on the B-pillar, and from outside you can clearly see the center driving position with the screen right where you’d expect it on a Model 3 or Y. Same UI, same vibe, just sitting eight feet in the air.
There are no ultrasonic sensors anywhere on this truck. This is full vision through and through, with a camera mounted dead center in the front. For a truck this size, leaning entirely on cameras is a pretty bold call. Up top there’s what looks like a mini Starlink dish already integrated, not aftermarket, factory.
Charging: The Conversation We Kept Having
This was the rabbit hole. My first guess was 480 volts. One of the drivers laughed and said “it’s over 800.” Probably closer to 1,000 if you look at what’s been spotted at the Ontario Megacharger site.
Here’s where it gets uncomfortable. If you ran a half-megawatt charger, 500 kW, half of what these things are actually designed for, you’re still looking at about 20 to 21 hours to fill an empty pack. At a 240V/100A home wall charger pulling 24 kW, you’re at 40-plus hours for a full megawatt-pack truck. So, can you charge a Semi at home? Mathematically, yes. Practically, only if you have all week and nothing else plugged in.
The smarter play is what every fleet is going to do anyway: charge it on Tesla’s purpose-built network. These aren’t NACS, by the way. Completely different port, sized like a double of what we’re used to. If you’ve been spoiled by supercharging your daily driver, get ready to think in entirely different units.
Underneath: Drive Units, Air Suspension, and Familiar Bits
Walk to the back and the engineering story changes. This thing is slammed on airbags, front and rear. Massive differential on the rear drive axle, and what looks like a matching unit on the intermediate axle. The motors are right there, exposed, weatherproofed but not hidden behind any kind of cover. You don’t need to cover what doesn’t get hot.
Behind the cab is a surprising amount of empty real estate. Jerry called it immediately, there is absolutely a day cab or sleeper version coming. The room is right there, waiting. In California rates, a one-bedroom inside that envelope would rent for $5,000 a month, easy.
What’s familiar is everything Tesla didn’t bother reinventing, DOT lines, airlines, brakes, the axle after the motor. The trucking industry’s plumbing standards survived intact.
Range Reality
The driver quoted 500 miles. That’s flat, optimal, wind at your back, loaded to 60,000 pounds. Try that going uphill to Barstow or pushing into Utah and you’re cutting that number meaningfully. But honestly? 500 max for a fully-loaded electric Class 8 truck is still a pretty serious milestone. Diesel ICE Class 8 trucks have spent decades getting to where they are. The Semi shows up and is already in the conversation on day one.
My battery placement guess, watching the underside, they’re stacked vertically behind the cab, not skateboarded under the floor like a passenger car. Makes sense. You don’t want to road-rash a megawatt pack on a curb.
Final Take
We didn’t get to sit in it. We didn’t get to plug it in. But staring at a Tesla Semi for an hour with two guys who know trucks made it clear how much Tesla has packed into the package that isn’t visible until you’re standing next to it. The full vision call, the Starlink integration, the air ride, the way the fifth-wheel area was clearly designed with future sleeper config in mind, none of that reads in a press photo.
If you missed the Anaheim Hills Tesla grand opening last month, Montebello had a similar energy with a different lineup. Full Montebello video drops shortly, and if you want to be part of the next Tesla ownership chapter, my referral link still gets you free Supercharging credits.
Let me know what you think in the comments, what would you want to see on the Tesla Semi walkaround when we do finally get inside?
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