Tesla is opening its first high-volume Semi truck factory in Sparks, Nevada, on Thursday, as CEO Elon Musk pushes the automaker into heavy-duty trucking. The company has already secured large fleet orders and plans to add self-driving capability to the Semi, but rivals Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI are already running driverless trucks on public roads.
Tesla opens its first Semi factory
Tesla is officially opening its first factory for high-volume production of the Semi in Sparks, Nevada, as CEO Elon Musk pushes the company into heavy-duty trucking. A livestream of the ribbon-cutting event is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET Thursday.
The company unveiled the Semi in 2017 and began selling the trucks in limited quantities in 2022, with PepsiCo as an anchor customer. The factory opening comes as Tesla's core electric vehicle business faces increased global competition, and as rising diesel costs create a potential opening for a shift to electric trucks in commercial hauling.
Fleet orders already in hand
Industry coalition ZET SCALE said on Tuesday it selected Tesla as its primary equipment maker for an initial order of 2,500 trucks, part of a plan to order more than 10,000 electric trucks from several providers. Trucking firm Einride also recently said it agreed to order 500 Tesla Semi trucks for its fleet, with some deployments planned this month.
For now, Tesla's primary selling point for the Semi is its battery range and charging network. A long-range version can travel an estimated 500 miles on a full battery, while the standard variant gets an estimated 325 miles, the company says.
Self-driving still on the roadmap
On Tesla's July earnings call, Musk told investors the company's Full Self-Driving system would be available for the Semi in the near future, though he declined to give a specific date. According to CNBC, Musk said driverless systems are essential for the trucking industry: "There just aren't enough people around who want to drive trucks."
Musk, who has a long history of missing his stated deadlines for driverless vehicles, said the company expects to get self-driving working on the Semi probably around the end of this year or early next year. Competitors Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI are already conducting driverless testing with their own trucks and hauling cargo for partners.
Global expansion and emissions case
Tesla also plans to bring the Semi to Europe, where rivals Volvo and Daimler Truck already sell battery-powered models. According to the International Council on Clean Transportation, trucks and buses represent less than 10% of road vehicles globally yet account for nearly half of transport-related air pollution. The group says switching to zero-emission commercial vehicles can bring savings to fleet operators through lower costs.
Source: CNBC
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