Asko First Norwegian Trucking Firm To Reserve Tesla Semi
Asko Norway is the largest grocery wholesaler in Norway, with more than 600 vehicles in its fleet of cargo trucks. On December 22, it became the first company in Norway to place an order for the Tesla Semi. It reserved 10 of the all-electric semis just hours after Tesla announced it was accepting orders from Europe.
“We are working towards a goal of using only renewable energy,” Tore Bekken, CEO of Asko Norway tells E24 News. “We think that electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles are the future. “Although there are some unanswered questions, Asko wants to be ahead of the curve. Our reservation is conditional. The trucks must of course first be efficient and reliable use.” (Translation via Google.) Tesla is quoting a price of 1.6 million krone — equivalent to $190,000 — for each truck.
Asko has been an early adopter of electric trucks. “We have an electric truck today from a Dutch company which we have had for almost two years. We think that Tesla is the one who has come the furthest with the technology so far. Therefore, we choose to book ten trucks,” Bekken says. He indicates that the trucks are likely to be delivered in 2020, but he’s hopeful Tesla will actually get them into the hands of his company in 2019.
First, the Tesla Semi needs to be certified for road use in Norway. “We need to know more about the truck than what we do today before we conclude the transaction, as has been the case with Tesla’s passenger cars as well. We are curious and excited and we hope this will trigger other manufacturers to bet on electric or hydrogen trucks in the future, ” says Bekken.
At first, the Tesla Semi will be used for short- to medium-haul trips, which means it won’t be relying on high-power chargers away from a company’s main terminal. The trucks will likely be recharged overnight during the time it takes to load the products scheduled for delivery the next day. While Tesla says it will build a network of new Megachargers to supply the needs of its electric trucks, it has not said when the first public chargers will be available.
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