DHL tests Tesla Semi and confirms the electric truck’s impressive performance

DHL revealed the result of a Tesla Semi trial it recently did and the company came out impressed by the electric truck’s performance.

Logistics giant DHL announced that it ordered 10 Tesla Semi electric trucks back in 2017.

But that was right after the unveiling of the prototype and the vehicle was supposed to come to production two years later. After many delays and 7 years later, it looks like DHL is still in the picture when it comes to Tesla Semi.

They announced today that they tested out the electric truck during a trial over the summer with their US supply chain partners:

Over a two-week trial period this summer, DHL Supply Chain USA took a thorough look under the hood of the Tesla Semi, integrating the e-truck into 3,000 miles (5,000 km) of normal operations out of Livermore, California. The trial included one long haul of 390 miles (625 km) – fully loaded with a gross combined weight of 75,000 pounds (34 metric tons) – confirming the Tesla Semi’s ability to carry typical DHL payloads over a long distance on a single charge.

DHL says that it was able to confirm that the Tesla Semi is capable of 500 miles on a single charge with a full load.

But more importantly, DHL confirmed that it achieved an efficiency of 1.72 kWh/mile on average during its two-week trial:

During the trial, the trial vehicle averaged 1.72 kWh/mile operating at speeds exceeding 50 mph (80 km/h) on average for over half its time on the road. The result exceeded our expectations and even Tesla’s own rating. 

That’s exactly what Tesla has been predicting, and in fact, Tesla says that it now does a little better with 1.6 kWh per mile.

kWh per mile means that this is the amount of energy it needs to travel a mile. Considering that 1.7 kWh of electricity can cost as low as $0.15, it opens up the opportunity to greatly reduced the cost of operation of semi trucks.

DHL says that it is “ready to roll” with the Tesla Semi after this trial. It is currently planning the integration of the vehicle with its US division.

The company has much larger operations in Europe and Tesla recently said that it plans to bring the vehicle to Europe. For now, it is building a factory in Nevada to bring the vehicle to volume production next year.