Elon Musk Wants Tesla to Build a Self-Driving, Electric Semi Truck

Elon Musk's grand plan of moving beyond passenger cars to truly revolutionize transportation just got a bit grander. In addition to developing an electric 18-wheeler that Tesla plans to unveil next month, Musk wants to make the thing drive itself. Tesla is working with Nevada authorities to begin testing a robo-rig prototype at some point in the not-too-distant future. "Our primary goal is the ability to operate our prototype test trucks in a continuous manner across the state line and within the States of Nevada and California in a platooning and/or Autonomous mode without having a person in the vehicle," Tesla's Nasser Zamani told officials with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, according to Reuters. Assuming Tesla can figure out how to make battery tech work for long-haul trucking (no easy feat), adding autonomy to the equation makes perfect sense.