A former Schneider over-the-road driver who spent years openly skeptical of electric trucks drove a fully loaded Tesla Semi up an 8% grade — and called the experience "truly a dream to drive."

Adam Wingfield, a commercial driver's license holder who now works as an industry analyst at FreightWaves, tested the Semi both as a bobtail and hooked to a loaded trailer. His verdict marks a notable data point in driver-level acceptance of battery-electric Class 8 equipment, even as Tesla remains far short of the 200,000-unit production target Elon Musk set out in 2017.

The hill climb produced the most striking moment of the test. Sitting at more than 70,000 pounds on an 8% grade, Wingfield deliberately waited until the base of the hill before applying the accelerator — a technique that would be counterproductive in a diesel, where drivers build momentum ahead of grades.

"When I say it walked that hill, it walked that hill with no problems. And I even had to ask the engineer that was with me, like, hey man, you guys, is this trailer even loaded?" Wingfield said.

Inside the Nevada plant

Wingfield toured Tesla's 1.7 million-square-foot production facility, designed to build 1,000 trucks per week and heavily automated with robotics. He noted engineers made significant changes between the Gen 1 prototype and the current production model, incorporating feedback from early fleet customers such as PepsiCo. Side windows were redesigned to include a smaller pass-through slot for bills of lading, and screen interfaces were revised.

The cab now carries just three physical buttons. The production version also goes 250,000 miles before requiring an oil change, and it eliminates belts and hoses that can fail on the road — plus the differential.

For fleets, the maintenance math matters. Fewer wear items mean fewer roadside failures and lower scheduled service costs over the tractor's life, a commercial edge that compounds in high-utilization regional operations.

Regen braking and the center seat

Regenerative braking required the most acclimation. Wingfield said he used the physical brake pedal only once or twice during the entire test drive, relying instead on lift-off deceleration — a dynamic with long-term implications for brake pad wear and maintenance budgets.

The center-driving position, another early point of skepticism, took only "a mile or two" to feel natural. Cameras eliminate traditional blind spots, and backing the trailer from the center seat proved easier than expected thanks to the camera system.

The range ceiling

Range remains Wingfield's core reservation — and Tesla's own framing explains why. The company's product team told him the 500-mile rating is an intentional trade-off: extending range requires added battery weight, which cuts payload capacity. That positions the Semi for regional, local and pickup-and-delivery applications rather than long-haul lanes.

The comparison with diesel is stark. Wingfield estimated a diesel long-haul tractor covers 1,200 to 1,300 miles per tank depending on efficiency — roughly double the Tesla Semi's current range. He suggested the long-haul segment may increasingly shift toward automated solutions, while Tesla has already partnered with Pilot Flying J to expand charging infrastructure along key corridors.

"Diesel will always remain king long haul," Wingfield said, adding that electric equipment "just makes more sense" for hauls of 500 miles or less.

Still, he argued driver comfort and the overall operating experience in shorter-range applications give electric trucks a meaningful edge — one that will accelerate adoption as charging infrastructure matures and fleets reallocate tractors to lanes where the 500-mile ceiling is not a constraint.