There have been several
There have been several lifecycle analysis of EVs at this point and the production of the battery adds about 1 to 3 years to the CO² payback time of the EV vs an ICE depending on the energy mix of the grid. Tesla recycles batteries into Power Walls. Semi batteries will probably end up being recycled into use at Mega charging stations. In regards to solar panel recycling, Europe is not dropping the ball like the US and is developing this technology now. Personally, I've gotten some cheap (or even free) used panels and added them to my array (had capacity on my inverters).
Before retiring, my uncle made a daily round-trip from the Fresno area down to Los Angeles and back. The Tesla model S supposedly has 75 kWh capacity and weighs around 1200 lbs. I think this puts the likely battery weight of a 500 mile range semi at around 14000 lbs. Note that at about 7lbs per gallon, a freight truck is normally carrying 1000 to 2000 lbs of fuel. The max legal weight is 80,000 lbs, not to exceed 20,000 per axel. If I recall correctly when I used to coordinate transferring wine between warehouses (over 20 years ago), 45k lbs was the max useable freight weight for a single trailer...which agrees with a quick Google search (35k pounds for an empty truck + trailer). Take about 13000 lbs off of this for the extra battery weight (vs full tank of gas) and you have 22,000 lbs or 11 tons. Definitely reduced capacity, but there are PLENTY of things to be transported that have lower weight density than 22 pallets of wine. The semi truck will be a bit niche to start, but it will definitely have a market. The 300 mile range version has less of a weight penalty for shorter trips (by 5000 lbs). Improvements in battery energy density will lessen this penalty and broaden the market... probably in no more than 5 or 6 years. However, the Tesla semi is already a valid and valuable option for short to medium distance hauling of lighter loads. Technology advances more quickly when it is actually being used and consumers demand improvements.