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I think that the Tesla Semi will have informed Tesla and its engineers a lot about towing and how to handle many of these issues, just like building and getting data back from the Model S and X informed them how to build the Model 3, which then was rolled back into (or will be) the Model S and X (the Model 3 reluctance motor).
As they learn more from the practicals of running a semi from San Francisco to Nevada and back, I am sure they learned exactly what it will take to run an electric Semi from one city to the next... my question is why? Trains do heavy, long haul cargo better than trucks. They have smoother roads, usually the terrain (grades, curves, tunnels, etc) has been setup to be less dramatic than highways.
Anyway, if you want to haul something with an EV, there will be solutions. Look back to when automobiles first came out. If you wanted to get a load over a mountain, in bad weather, you did not use an auto, you used horses, mules, and/or donkeys. Most cars got stuck and when they did, it was one of these animals that pulled them out.
Now we are transitioning from fuel burning in ICE to batteries and electric motors. There will be segments that will say EVs will never compete with ICE... until that is not true any more. Will that be in 5 years or 10 years? Depends on the battery tech that Tesla has been paying lots of researchers to work on the last few years... and other people trying to find new battery tech to compete with Tesla. As more and more money gets poured in to this research, the more niches EVs can fill, until it is just impractical for most people to even own an ICE.
Just as some people still ride horses, some people will still operate ICE vehicles. People still read papers and listen to radio... older technologies don't just go away, sometimes they find a new niche or become hobbies.
I agree it could be so much better and every time I see the flat backend of a semi trailer, it just makes me cringe. Some of the aero forms and flaps that are added to the back help some, but I think the industry will need to adopt a standard form that is more compatible with an aerodynamic shape. Even if it is for diesel or hydrogen semis, they will need the increase in efficiency... or someone will realize that trains are just so much cheaper and money will go into developing trains (adopting some of the tech from Europe and Asia, since they have continued to invest in trains)...
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