Tesla Semi: analyst warns truck makers not to laugh, Tesla’s electric truck is going to be disruptiv

The idea of an all-electric class 8 truck is being met with a lot of skepticism in the trucking industry. With the current status of electric passenger cars barely breaking the 300-mile range, they have difficulties envisioning a truck capable of towing tens of thousands of pounds of cargo and still achieving a decent range.

It’s in this context that Elon Musk announced in a tweet last week that Tesla plans to unveil ‘Tesla Semi’, its all-electric truck, as soon as September 2017. An analyst now warns the industry that they shouldn’t laugh at Tesla’s plan.

Piper Jaffray analyst Alex Potter, who helped Tesla’s stock reach new highs last week by giving it a new $368 price target, downgraded other truck makers today partly due to the Tesla Semi announcement: “Commercial vehicle makers – and their suppliers – would be wise to stymie their laughter and take these tweets seriously. We are downgrading truck stocks CMI and PCAR (both from Overweight to Neutral) partially because we think their valuations already reflect cyclical optimism, but also because we think TSLA’s impending arrival could pressure valuations.”

read the full article on electrek.co