All of the news from Tesla’s electric semi truck event

There was a lot of pomp and circumstance at SpaceX’s Hawthorne, California, headquarters for the big Tesla Semi truck unveiling. There was even a surprise cameo from the ghost of Tesla’s Christmas past: the second generation of the Roadster. But at no point did CEO Elon Musk mention the car on which the fate of his entire company still hinges: the Model 3.

It’s not totally shocking. After all, the Model 3 had its own party earlier this year. But since then, Tesla’s first high-volume, mass-market vehicle has hit a number of snags.

Hot on the heels of Tesla’s big event last night, Walmart says it has preordered 15 of the electric automaker’s new semi trucks, according to CNBC. The deal was likely in the works before Tesla unveiled its new truck to the public, but interest from the world’s biggest retailer in battery-powered transport is still a huge boost of confidence for Elon Musk and his mission to electrify the industry.

The pilot is planned for the US and Canada. Five of the preordered vehicles will be for Walmart’s US business, and 10 will be for its Canadian routes, the company said. Walmart's fleet has about 6,000 trucks.

Last night, Tesla had a bit of a celebration for itself, unveiling its new Semi truck and (in a surprise) a second-generation Roadster. It was a typical Tesla event, full of twists, shocks, and plenty of smoke and mirrors. The soundtrack rocked, the starry-eyed fans lapped it up, and now you can watch the highlights in this supercut we made for you. You’re welcome.

The Semi was as foreboding and the Roadster was enticing. The fact that Musk paired the two together shows he hasn’t lost his flair as a showman, even with his company facing what’s probably its biggest challenge in its short existence.

During Tesla’s semi truck event tonight, CEO Elon Musk had a surprise up his sleeve: a new version of the Tesla Roadster. And now we know how much it will cost. The base model will start at $200,000, with a $50,000 deposit required upfront. Interested parties can place their deposits today.

The first 1,000 models sold will be the Founder’s Series models which will cost you $250,000 upfront. Production isn’t slated to begin until 2020, but if Tesla can match its claimed specs for the Roadster, it should strike fear in the hearts of every supercar maker currently building cars. The only comparable cars to the Roadster are the hybrid supercars built by McLaren (P1), Ferrari (LaFerrari), and Porsche (918 Spyder), which all cost around $1 million. And the upcoming Aston Martin Valkyrie and the Mercedes-AMG Project One will each cost around $3 million for cars that may end up being slower.

Elon Musk promised a surprise during the Tesla semi unveiling event, and boy did he deliver: the return of the Roadster. But it’s no repeat performance. The stunning four-seater roadster boasts jaw-dropping numbers, that if they measure up to Musk’s claims, will make it the world’s quickest production car. In his remarks, Musk described it as a “smackdown” to the fossil fuel-addicted auto industry.

The finale to his semi truck reveal was all about driving home that point. As the opening guitar licks of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” blasted over the loud speaker, a beam of red zipped across the parking lot. The second-generation Tesla Roadster came to an abrupt halt, and a grinning Elon Musk came back on the mic to introduce his latest baby, which will likely cause Porsche and Ferrari to break a sweat.

The Tesla Semi truck is a hulking and menacing hauler, with the presence of Darth Vader lurking from above when cast in the black hue, or more like an apparition in metallic silver-white. In other words: it’s exactly what we expect to see from Tesla, as it attempts to make a semi truck that lives up to the brand’s DNA of making the future seem cool.

I sat in the driver’s seat hours before the truck was revealed at Tesla’s Hawthorne, California facility on Thursday. Apart from the glass area and the two screens on either side, it feels as badass as any big truck. The center-mounted seat, however, does feel weird. I noticed several elements from the Model 3, including a turn signal and gear lever, but it had a different steering wheel since it doesn’t require an airbag.

About halfway between Los Angeles and the Bay Area, right off Interstate 5, is the tiny town of Kettleman City. It’s home to a cheese factory, a hazardous waste facility, and as of today, the largest Tesla Supercharger station in the country. It has solar rooftops and a lounger for vehicle owners to hang out while their Tesla car recharges. And if you look closely, you’ll notice that the layout of the station mimics a truck stop, which sure is interesting when you consider that Tesla is unveiling its first semi truck this evening.

While the Kettlemen station isn’t the largest in the world — that honor goes to the 50-stall Supercharger station currently under construction in Shanghai — it certainly represents a departure for Tesla. The company recently hinted that it was interested in building bigger charging stations with retail and convenience stores attached. Yep, Tesla wants to build gas stations (minus the gas, of course).

On the evening of November 16th, the world will get its first look at Tesla’s next big project: an all-electric semi truck with a rumored range of up to 300 miles. The big question is, does the world actually need this?

Elon Musk certainly thinks so. Earlier this week, he tweeted that the truck would “blow your mind clear out of your skull and into an alternate dimension.” Which seems like a totally fine and not at all hyperbolic way to manage expectations.

Tesla is set to show its long-discussed electric semi truck tonight. The unveil caps a big year for the electric car maker and marks the introduction of its technology in a totally different market. We’ll be at the presentation live later today, but you can watch it here.

The event is being held in Hawthorne, California and is scheduled to start at 8PM PT / 11PM ET. Tesla’s website should have a livestream, while a separate product page has already been set up for the new truck at tesla.com/semi.

Tesla’s big year (the good and the bad) isn’t over yet. The company is set to unveil its Class 8 semi truck prototype Thursday night at its Hawthorne, California facility. While perhaps not as critical to the automaker as its new mass-market Model 3, the Tesla semi truck announcement will mark yet another turning point and big test for the company.

But why is Tesla’s next act a semi truck? That question has become more important as the second half of 2017 for Tesla has appeared to be about mitigating damage control over the Model 3’s production hurdles. Tesla is scrambling to build a lot of cars quickly in order to start delivering to thousands of waiting customers. Tesla first began accepting deposits on that car when it was unveiled in March 2016. Compounding those delays are criticism tied to labor-related lawsuits, some of which are related to a stream of October firings and layoffs at Tesla and SolarCity, as well as allegations of racism and anti-LGBT harassment at the Fremont assembly plant.

We’re less than one month away from the day when Tesla plans to unveil its first electric semi truck, and of course that means it’s time for speculation and sleuthing to skyrocket. Today’s fodder is a picture of what could be the Tesla big rig that was posted to, deleted from, and reposted to Reddit overnight by a user who nabbed the photo in time. Intrigue!

In it, we see a silver truck with a swept, aerodynamic design sitting on a flatbed in god-knows-where California looking like it’s waiting to pounce on the gas-powered big rig in front of it. A second piece at the far left of the frame appears to be the fairing that goes on the roof of a truck to help cut down on wind resistance.