Tesla Semi Deliveries Start After Nine Years, 500 Mile Truck Nears $300,000
Tesla begins customer deliveries of its $300,000 Semi, targeting 500-plus miles, 50,000 trucks a year and a new megawatt charging network from its Reno plant.
Summary
Tesla has begun handing customers its electric Semi nearly nine years after the truck’s 2017 unveiling and missed 2019 production target. Customers may take delivery when ready, although charging infrastructure remains a hurdle. The longest-range version is expected to travel at least 500 miles depending on load and cost just under $300,000 before incentives, but Tesla has not disclosed a final sticker price. Shorter-range variants are planned.
Tesla’s new Semi factory beside its first Reno Gigafactory targets 50,000 trucks annually, about 1,000 weekly, and 3,000 local jobs. During the 30-minute launch event, a megawatt charger raised a Semi’s battery from 3% to 60%; Tesla is building a network of these stations. Pandemic disruption, parts and semiconductor shortages, and pilot-customer feedback prolonged development. Dan Priestly and engineering leader Lars Moravy detailed changes including roughly 1,000 pounds of weight reduction, an axle simplified from three oils to one, and standard roll-down windows replacing impractical pop-out windows.
Priestly said heavy trucks generate 16% of emissions despite representing 1% of road vehicles. Elon Musk missed the event while attending President Trump’s state dinner with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, but promised partial automation, currently absent from the Semi, in the near future. Tesla argues lower electricity costs, reliability and emissions will reduce fleet ownership costs, even as Musk recasts the vehicle-funded company around robotics, AI and a mission to build a world of “amazing abundance.”
Positives
- The longest-range Semi is expected to cover at least 500 miles on one charge, depending on its load.
- Tesla’s Reno factory targets 50,000 trucks annually and 3,000 local jobs.
- A megawatt charger raised the Semi’s battery from 3% to 60% during the 30-minute event.
- Tesla removed roughly 1,000 pounds and simplified the drive axle from three oils to one.
- Standard roll-down windows replace pop-out windows that could not properly access toll booths, badge readers and call boxes.
- Electric operation could lower fleet energy costs while addressing trucks responsible for 16% of road-vehicle emissions.
Risks & concerns
- Charging infrastructure remains a hurdle even as customers become eligible to take delivery.
- Tesla has not disclosed the final sticker price, although the longest-range model is expected to cost nearly $300,000 before incentives.
- Production arrived years after its 2019 target following pandemic disruption, supply shortages and changes prompted by pilot customers.
- Partial automation remains absent despite nearly nine years of development, with Musk promising it only in the near future.
- Tesla’s 50,000-unit annual production target depends on scaling its new factory to roughly 1,000 trucks per week.