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Sometimes, I wish I were a truck driver. It isn’t a glamorous life, that much I understand, but still. When I get the chance to haul gravel in my 1966 Ford F600, it’s one of the highlights of my life. That’s why I don’t blame whoever built this tandem-axle Ford “Economac” that’s for sale on Bring a Trailer.

I stumbled across a video of this little big rig on social media last week, and today, I saw it on every time waster’s go-to car auction site. It’s registered as a 1967 Ford, but there’s a lot of custom fab work going on here. For example, the listing says it rides on a bespoke frame, which houses a mid-mounted 351 Windsor V8. Said pushrod engine screams through a pair of stacks mounted behind the cab.

And speaking of the cab, it’s a trucker’s dream. Not only does it tilt forward like you’d expect a COE semi to, but it’s also furnished with tons of switches to control features like the air suspension. It even has a shifter like you’d find in a true tractor-trailer, although this one is mated to a four-speed automatic rather than a 13-speed. Criticize it if you want, but when you’re building a cruiser, comfort is king.

Only one of the rear axles is driven, which isn’t all that surprising, and there’s an 8.8-inch differential with a Trick Flow cover. They’re hung with a triangulated four-link suspension setup, whereas the front utilizes a MacPherson strut. Power steering makes it a dream to putter around in, and on a sunny day, you can bet the chrome 17-inch American Racing wheels catch everybody’s eye.

Additional creature comforts make it a better place to be, including an aftermarket HVAC system. If you have kids (or grandkids), they’re sure to “ooh” and “aah” at the 140-mile-per-hour speedometer. I don’t know about you, but I personally get a kick out of the 8,000-rpm tach. Dream big, I guess.

The Mighty ECONOMAC, 6-Wheeled, V8 Powered Custom Ford Econoline!

If you ask me, this is way cooler than recreating a Peterbilt on a tiny scale. I’ve seen people build their own “semis” that are so small that they have to cram into the driver’s seat. Instead, what we have here is an awesome Sunday driver that’s sure to make everyone smile—including whoever buys it before the auction ends on Tuesday, April 7. The high bid at the time of publication sits at $21,000, but who knows if that exceeds the reserve. I can almost guarantee it cost double that price to build it.

Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@thedrive.com

Tesla has been a pivotal part of changing the perception of EVs by getting millions of zero-emission vehicles on the roads. 

The Tesla Semi is one of these less-discussed vehicle programs from the brand, but it promises to do much the same in the world of transport logistics and long-distance trucking.

Now, footage of the new Tesla Semi being tested has been made public. The latest video was showcased by Jay Leno on his unique vehicle-focused YouTube channel, highlighting key upgraded features of the Semi that had previously been under wraps.

In the video, which is over 47 minutes long, Leno is shown the progress of the Semi program and how well Tesla’s electric trucks are performing.

Dan Priestley, Tesla’s Semi program lead, shared that the truck now uses a 48 V architecture and delivers a fully electric steering system. Previous versions of the Semi used a hydraulic system.

According to the company, the Semi is also much cheaper to run than equivalent Diesel trucks. Data shared shows that it is 50% cheaper to run in California than diesel semi trucks.

Leno also got behind the wheel of the truck and compared the key differences between normal diesel trucks and electric trucks. The Tesla Semi’s ride was smooth, efficient, and quite comfortable.

Tesla Semi first began deliveries as part of a trial with a large food and beverage company, PepsiCo, back in late 2022.

After taking delivery of the Tesla Semi, PepsiCo announced in 2024 that it had ordered additional units, doubling its fleet to 50 electric trucks operating out of its manufacturing and distribution facility in California.

In recent months, Tesla unveiled an updated design of the Semi with several key upgrades. This included improved range and charging specifications.

For charging, 1.2 MW ultra-fast charging will be available to logistics operators, and the Semi will be able to use Tesla’s supercharging hardware to achieve those speeds.

In recent months, there has been news of the first Megachargers coming online, paving the path for dozens of sites in the coming months.

The updated Semi also has improved aerodynamics for better efficiency and increased payload capacity, along with updates to its charging capabilities.

This has now allowed the truck to deliver over 800 km of range with an 800 kW drivetrain and energy consumption as low as 1.06 kWh/km.

Earlier this month, it was reported that mass production of the Tesla Semi at the company’s currently being constructed factory in Nevada was expected to begin soon.

With Tesla Semi’s production around the corner and diesel prices remaining high, many freight and logistics companies may consider adding electric trucks to their fleets. 

The new Semi appears to have made big upgrades, as seen in Jay Leno’s video, which would save fleet operators huge amounts of money during operations. That’s something many fleet operators would not argue with.

• Tesla opened its third-ever Megacharger for recharging Semi trucks. 
• The Los Angeles-based station is the first Megacharger station that isn’t on site at a Tesla factory.
• These chargers have the ability to charge Tesla’s EVs up to a whopping 750 kW. 

Tesla has long been the king of the DC fas charging infrastructure in the U.S. One could even argue that its Supercharging network was one of the key factors in Tesla becoming the top-selling EV brand on its home turf, since it made plug-and-go charging so incredibly easy. Now it’s cranking things up with its budding Megacharger network.

The newest toy in Tesla’s charging arsenal is specifically geared to the Tesla Semi, a commercial truck with a massive battery. When making its long-distance trips, the Semi needs a ton of power delivered quickly in order to make commercial hauling achievable with a battery-electric vehicle. That’s where the Megacharger comes into play.

 

Tesla announced over the weekend that it had opened a new Megacharger at a Travel center in Ontario, California. It said that the station is accessible to the few customers who actually have taken delivery of a Semi. This is the first of at least 64 planned public Megachargers across the U.S.

Tesla lists two other Megachargers as already up and running. However, one of those locations is the Tesla Megapack facility in Lathrop, California, and the other is Tesla’s Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. There’s also a private Megacharger at Pepsico, one of Tesla’s earliest Semi customers. This would make the Southern California location possibly its first public Megacharger.

 

It’s also the slowest Megacharger of the bunch. The new Ontario location offers 750 kilowatts of power compared to the two other locations (which provide up to 1.2 megawatts). For context, Tesla’s newest Superchargers push up to 350-kW while its older stalls offer just 150-kW. 

The Semi can travel up to 500 miles on a single charge. That might seem like a lot, especially when you consider that the 1.2-megawatt chargers can top off its Long Range battery to 60% in just 30 minutes. However, its massive battery means charging to 60% is enough juice to charge six Standard Range Model 3s—fast charging at these massive megawatt-speeds is necessary if Tesla wants to make even short-haul trucking successful with an electric powertrain.

Last week Tesla shared an updated of the factory posted by a user on X, noting that its Semi factory was “nearing completion.” That means Semis could be just months away from hitting the road in larger numbers. Tesla unveiled the Semi nearly a decade ago in 2017, but never graduated past the pilot stage of production. 

Just as Tesla’s consumer cars got a jump start from ease of charging access, the automaker’s commercial offerings will need the same. Tesla knows that if it wants the Semi to be widely adopted, charging needs to be uncomplicated and readily accessible. Deploying as many Megachargers as possible in carefully-planned areas will be key as it readies to launch volume production.

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Sometimes inspiration comes from the most unexpected places. In 1973, Edwin J. Saltzman, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (now the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center) was bicycling to work when he noticed how the aerodynamic wakes of passing semi trucks would first push him and his bike toward the shoulder and then suck him back toward the road. What would have been a scary moment for most cyclists was a Eureka moment for Saltzman.

As recounted in a recent post by the American Truck Historical Society, Saltzman realized that trucks were fighting airflow and brainstormed ways to help them slice through it more easily, improving fuel efficiency in the process. He recruited some colleagues and an old Ford van from the Dryden motor pool, which was transformed into a test bed—and a pretty radical-looking one at that.

The engineers started by covering the van in flat sheets of aluminum with 90-degree corners. According to a more detailed official recounting of the project, this was to provide a baseline drag measurement while also simulating the boxy motorhomes of the period. The team then methodically altered the shape to reduce drag, first rounding off the front vertical corners, then other surfaces, and finally sealing the underside of the vehicle. These changes created a smoother path for air flowing around the vehicle compared to trucks of the period. A typical truck would plough through the air with its broad front end, leaving that air to flow around the vehicle unevenly, as well as congregate in a low-pressure area at the back—all of which created drag.

The van was retested after each modification. Engineers recorded a 52% drag reduction from rounding off all four front edges, and a further 7% reduction from sealing the van’s underside, which they estimated would increase fuel economy by 15-25% at highway speeds. Dryden researchers later tried similar modifications to a leased cab over engine semi truck. The blunt front end was smoothed with sheetmetal curves, and a fairing was added over the cab. Again, rounding off all front edges reduced drag by over 50%. Later tests with underbody fairings and a boat tail showed a 15% drag reduction.

This test truck looks crude, but not any more bizarre than the products of the Energy Department’s SuperTruck program, which challenges manufacturers like Navistar and Kenworth to build more-efficient rigs. And NASA’s research has had a real impact on the shape of new trucks.

Today, aerodynamic fairings and rounded corners are common features on semi trucks. Some trucks and trailers also have Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution-style vortex generators marketed under the Airtab brand name, a direct result of later NASA research. It’s an example of how the agency’s considerable engineering resources are used for more than just space exploration.

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