Chinese car giant Geely unveils electric truck that will rival Tesla’s Semi

Posted: Nov 9, 2021 02:37 GMT

The new vehicle, the company advances, will be able to perform some functions without the need for a driver, so it will be partially autonomous.

The Chinese automotive production company Geely presented this Monday in Shanghai a new electric semi-trailer, called Homtruck, which aims to to compete with similar products from other market giants, such as Tesla.

The truck (developed by Geely’s commercial vehicle group, Farizon Auto) is expected to launch massively in 2024.

“This product is designed and developed with a view to global market“Farizon Auto CEO Mike Fan told CNBC.

As he added, the main sales markets for Homtruck will be Europe, South Korea, Japan and North America.

Geely ensures that your new vehicle will be able to perform some functions without the need for a driver, so it will be partially autonomous. Additionally, trucks will be able to communicate with each other to maintain adequate speed and safe distance during longer trips.

The company plans to achieve full autonomy by 2030.

“I am confident that autonomous driving regulations and standards are in the process of being formed,” Fan said. “Based on the market demand and our own corporate development demand, [Geely], as a company, you should develop and improve certain technologies in advance, so that when the regulations and conditions are ready, we can apply our technology to the market in time. “

Chip shortage and higher raw material prices

On the other hand, automakers have had to deal in recent months with a surge in raw material prices and a global shortage of chips.

However, Fan described this price increase as a “seasonal problem” that “will gradually alleviate”, and stressed that companies are working on “alternative solutions“for the chips.

The introduction of the Homtruck comes at a time when several automakers have announced their own vehicles of this type. Tesla, for example, introduced in 2017 what would become its first electric truck, called the Tesla Semi. Then it announced that it would manufacture two versions, both with the same load capacity (36 tons), but with different autonomies: one of 480 km and the other of 800 km. However, it was unable to get the Semi’s mass assembly underway in 2019: the start of production was postponed first to 2020 and then to 2021.