Tesla Semi gets international pre-orders

Orders for the electric Tesla Semi are been confirmed by companies around the world.

Norwegian postal service Posten Norge has announced it will add the new semitrailer to its fleet as Tesla starts production in 2019.

Posten Norge chief press officer John Eckhoff says “the future is electric in all vehicle segments” for the company.

“So it’s important for us to test new technology as early as possible.

“Technology is developing extremely fast and the electric vehicles that will become available in the near future seem able to meet our needs regarding range, safety and costs,” Eckhoff says.

Tesla has also scored its first order from the Middle East with United Arab Emirates environmental and waste management firm Bee’ah.

The company has put in an order for 50 of the new trucks.

Meanwhile, food and beverage corporation PepsiCo has placed the world’s largest pre-order for the newly unveiled electric Tesla Semi trucks.

The company, which also has brands such as Mountain Dew soda and Doritos chips, has reserved 100 of the electric vehicles.

Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk says the new trucks “look like a bullet” as part of a design to reduce drag.

They can get to 96.5km/h in five seconds and have a 804.6km range and pull a maximum allowable load of 36,287kgs.