The big Tesla Semi overview: my ride in Europe, and all I learned

Oh man, this has been a crazy ride. Literally.

I flew to Hannover, Germany earlier this month to be among the first to see Tesla Semi debut in Europe.

And just by placing myself in the right place at the right time (with some right questions?) managed to get a ride in the Semi and break quite a few semi-viral news about Tesla’s plans that I learned from the team.

Here’s what I’ll tell you about (avoid if you don’t like spoilers haha):

• Tesla Semi is ready for Europe as it is… but isn’t coming for a few years;

• Tesla’s European Development Platform and sleeper cab;

• My ride in the Tesla Semi;

• Details I found noteworthy in its design;

• How the competition is snooping around;

• My chat with Dan Priestley (lead of Semi Program)
  including the “We will never do CCS”;

• All my notes on Dan Priestley’s keynote speech & the discussion on PepsiCo’s fleet case study over their 86 Tesla Semis;

• plus 19 images and 5 videos for you.

If you’re following me on my socials (X, LI), you’ve seen some of this when I reported live on X (went semi-viral with 2M views and whatnot), or on Teslarati and other publications. But so far I haven’t put it all together for context anywhere else, other than this article right here.

PS, all footage below is taken by myself. Except for the one where I climb in the Semi, that’s shot by a Tesla team member.

Ready to jump in?

— Jaan

So happened that I… became one of the first five people from the public to ever ride in the Tesla Semi. 

Now, in case you haven’t met me yet, I’m this dude on the “back seat” of the Semi here 👇️ 

Before the big news I learned, here’s a bit of a backstory:

Tesla arrives in Europe

Tesla brought two Semis over from the US, made some small changes, and now showed them here in Europe, on IAA Transportation show in Germany. One was on the show floor, the other one I found sitting in the far corner of the test drive garage waiting for the next day:

The Tesla Semi acceleration drive units were also showcased on the show floor:

Now, this is the biggest of the news I learned from two separate members of the Tesla team:

Tesla Semi is already fully ready for European roads as it is now

You might’ve noticed the trucks in Europe are… boxy, compared to the US trucks.

That actually comes from the regulation for length, and thus the truck makers need to basically “stack the people on top of the engine”, aka produce cabovers.

The length is what has been cited as #1 reason by everyone on why Tesla cannot enter the European market with their current design — regulations on length.

Two separate team members however confirmed to me when I asked:

Tesla only had to make a bunch of minor changes to details (modify wheel covers, signal lights etc) to make the truck fit for roads in Europe. And they did not need to change the cab design.

This comes as some new EU regulation change allows for more length if the cab is more aerodynamic. I haven’t been able to confirm if there were any changes in width (I believe the Semi is 2.6m, while regulation requires 2.55m), and am yet to look up the specific allowance on aerodynamic cab, although I’ve now heard the same from other sources.

The team member who drove me around in the Semi said they call this build the European Development Platform.

I learned that the team designed the Tesla Semi with international markets in mind from the start. Considering how little they had to change, it now shows.

Note that does not mean Semi will enter European markets right now!

As confirmed by the team and by Dan Priestley’s talk (below), Tesla is focusing on North America and ramping up first. So we can assume 2026+, and actual customer fleets perhaps even a bit later.

Tesla Semi has already ‘saved space’ for the sleeper cab version!

The team, again on two separate occasions (I try and verify everything), told me that they have a space “saved” for the sleeper version with a metal frame behind the cab.

Naturally, after I heard this I decided to climb up there from the outside and check it out (I asked permission, of course). The metal frame and space held for it is indeed clearly visible on my video here: