Tesla is beginning Semi electric truck deliveries
SAN FRANCISCO: Tesla is beginning deliveries of its Semi trucks to a first set of customers this week, executives said at its plant in Sparks, Nevada, almost nine years after chief executive officer Elon Musk unveiled the electric big rigs.
Tesla has commenced the delivery of its electric Semi trucks to its first batch of customers this week, according to executives speaking at the company's manufacturing plant in Sparks, Nevada. This marks almost nine years since Tesla's chief executive officer, Elon Musk, first unveiled the electric trucks. The Semi trucks, designed for long-haul freight, aim to expand Tesla's market from its renowned electric vehicles into commercial freight haulers, an area where diesel prices in the US have reached record highs.
Tesla did not reveal its production volume or pricing plans for the trucks during a webcast event held at the Nevada plant on Thursday. The company reiterated its commitment to manufacturing 50,000 Semis annually at the Nevada facility. Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, did not attend the event but released a recorded video message where he encouraged existing customers to place more orders, noting that the waiting list was already substantial.
Some prominent customers, including PepsiCo, DHL, and US Foods, were invited to the event and were seen with trucks bearing their logos outside. The long-range variant of the Semi can travel 500 miles on a single charge, a figure validated by Tesla's head of Semi truck engineering, Dan Priestley. A standard variant of the Semi has a range of 325 miles.
The Semi truck project, initially announced in 2017, faced delays and was expected to begin production in 2019. However, Tesla's July shareholder letter revealed that the company had postponed the start of volume production to 2026. Despite these setbacks, Tesla started limited deliveries to customers, including PepsiCo, in the US back in late 2022.
However, concerns regarding demand have been raised due to delays, increased competition, and changes in US EV policies. On the positive side, Tesla recently received an order for 2,500 Semis from a consortium of the world's largest cargo-owning shippers, which includes Microsoft and PepsiCo. This order nearly doubles the current US fleet of electric Class 8 trucks, according to clean transportation nonprofit Catalyst Mobility.
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