The Tesla Semi is expanding the company’s electric vehicle business into long-haul freight. Tesla executives announced the latest deliveries at the company’s plant in Sparks, Nevada. Tesla did not disclose production volumes or prices during an event at the facility. It repeated plans to eventually produce 50,000 Semi trucks a year at the Nevada plant. Musk did not attend the event but appeared in a recorded message. He urged customers to place additional orders, saying the waiting list was already significant. Companies including PepsiCo, DHL and US Foods attended the event. Trucks carrying their logos were displayed outside the plant. Tesla says the long-range Semi can travel 500 miles on a single charge when fully loaded. The standard version has a claimed range of 325 miles. Dan Priestley, Tesla’s director of Semi truck engineering, said customers had validated the 500-mile real-world range. South Africa vs Australia Maharaj and Breetzke inspire 67-run ODI win The Semi was first unveiled in 2017, with production originally expected to begin in 2019. Tesla has since pushed back its production plans several times. Limited customer deliveries began in the US in late 2022, including deliveries to PepsiCo. Tesla later reported that the first Semi had rolled off a high-volume production line in Nevada in April. The company’s July shareholder update said Semi production would begin in 2026. It also removed an earlier forecast for volume production during the year. The delays have raised questions about demand as competition in the electric heavy-truck market grows. Changes in US electric vehicle policies have also added uncertainty for manufacturers. Tesla has nevertheless secured major new orders. Clean transportation nonprofit Catalyst Mobility said a coalition of large cargo owners, including Microsoft and PepsiCo, had ordered 2,500 Semis. Catalyst Mobility said the order was nearly twice the size of the existing US fleet of electric Class 8 trucks. Swedish freight technology company Einride also announced a deal last month to add 500 Tesla Semis to its fleet. Tesla is now also looking beyond the US market. The company has announced plans to introduce the Semi in Europe, where electric heavy-duty trucks from established competitors are already available. The European expansion comes as Tesla works to turn a truck first unveiled in 2017 into a larger commercial operation. Post navigation AI Oversight Sanders and Bannon unite over calls for stronger safeguards
