Tesla Hands Over First Electric Semi Trucks to Buyers in Nevada

Tesla has started handing over its electric Semi trucks to a first group of buyers at its factory in Sparks, Nevada. This move happens nearly nine years after company boss Elon Musk first showed off the electric big rigs. The Semi is built for long-haul cargo transport. It helps Tesla enter the commercial freight market beyond its usual electric cars and SUVs. This launch arrives while diesel prices in the United States have climbed to record highs. During a webcast event on Thursday, Tesla did not share details about its production volume plans or the price of the trucks. However, the company repeated its goal to build 50,000 Semis every year at the Nevada factory. Elon Musk did not go to the event in person. In a recorded video message, he advised people to place more orders because the waiting list is already quite large. Buyers like PepsiCo, DHL, and US Foods joined executives on stage, and trucks featuring their company logos sat parked outside. The long-range version can travel 500 miles on a single charge when fully loaded. Dan Priestley, who directs Semi truck engineering at Tesla, stated that customers have tested and confirmed those 500 real-world miles. A standard version offers a driving range of 325 miles. Tesla first showed the Semi to the public in 2017, and production was initially expected to begin in 2019. The first truck eventually came off the high-volume production line in April, and volume production was planned for this year. Yet, Tesla mentioned in a July shareholder letter that full production would start in 2026, dropping an earlier timeline. Tesla previously started limited deliveries to clients like PepsiCo in the US in late 2022. Since then, delays, growing competition, and changing electric vehicle policies in the US have sparked worries about demand. Even so, Tesla recently secured an order for 2,500 Semis from a group of major cargo shippers, including Microsoft and PepsiCo, as reported by the clean transportation nonprofit Catalyst Mobility. The nonprofit noted that this order is nearly double the current US fleet of electric Class 8 trucks. Furthermore, Swedish freight technology firm Einride AB announced an agreement last month to add 500 Semi trucks to its fleet.