Elon Musk just let us know when we’ll get a look at the electric semi truck that he’s teased in the past: The Tesla transport vehicle will be revealed in September, the CEO said on Twitter on Thursday, noting that the team has “done an amazing job” and that the vehicle is “seriously next level.”
Plans at Tesla for an electric semi truck have been in the works for a while now: The vehicle was first mentioned back in July of 2016, when Musk revealed part 2 of his fabled “master plan” for his electric vehicle company. The Tesla Semi, as Musk called it, is designed to help reduce the cost of cargo transportation, and improve safety for drivers, according to the CEO at the time.
Tesla’s not the only company targeting electric drivetrains for transport vehicles; Nikola revealed its One vehicle last year, too, though that’s a hybrid that also uses compressed natural gas in addition to its electric battery.
Tesla’s goal overall is to “expand to cover the major forms of terrestrial transport,” according to Musk’s “master plan,” and the transport truck is part of that goal. It addresses commercial goods transportation, which represents a significant portion of the commercial transport market; Musk has also teased that the company will eventually reveal a shuttle bus-type of vehicle that will address the other major aspect of that market.