Tesla semi electric trucks were spotted around the country as the deliveries are going to start. All-electric class 8 truck was first unveiled back in 2017, when it was planned to be launched into the market by 2019. The vehicle program delayed and it wasn’t expected to go to production till 2023. However, it appears that the vehicles will be delivered soon by this year end.
Elon Musk surprisingly announced last month that the Tesla Semi would actually start shipping later this year. He didn’t clarify the timing beyond that, but it now looks like it is imminent as several Tesla Semi electric trucks have been spotted around the US being shipped on the back of other trucks. The electric trucks are being produced in Nevada near Tesla’s Gigafactory, and yet, one Tesla Semi was spotted all the way in Kentucky this weekend.
Saw a Tesla Semi on the way to the National Drive Electric Week – Louisville this morning! There was plastic sheets blocking view from the outside so no pics of the inside pic.twitter.com/2wZ0YuVR34
— Tesla Owners of Kentucky (@KentuckyToc) September 24, 2022
Around the same time, another Tesla Semi was spotted in Arizona, and the truck driver reportedly said that it was heading to Tesla Gigafactory Texas. Tesla has said that it would be its own first customer when it comes to the Tesla Semi. It plans to use it in its own operations and reduce fuel costs. The automaker has already been using early prototypes in its operations, especially between Gigafactory Nevada and Fremont Factory, but now the company is expected to start using production units in higher numbers.
But based on Musk’s announcement, Tesla is also expected to finally deliver Tesla Semi to customers who have placed orders up to five years ago. Tesla has been taking reservations with deposits for up to $20,000 per truck. The company is believed to have thousands of reservations for the electric truck with several large companies having big orders, including Walmart and PepsiCo.
Increading production capacity
While the automaker has production capacity deployed in Nevada, it is fairly low volume. Tesla is expected to bring the vehicle to volume production at Gigafactory Texas next year. The company has never announced a planned production capacity, but it is expected to be in the tens of thousands of trucks per year.
Tesla Gigafactory Texas has produced 1,000 cars in a week. $TSLA pic.twitter.com/Ub2eWCpLqj
— Whole Mars Catalog (Supervised) (@WholeMarsBlog) August 20, 2022
The plant is envisioned for significantly higher output, above 250,000 Tesla Model Y per year, according to the 2022 Q2 report, so it’s just the beginning. The main obstacle to producing more cars in Texas appears to be the availability of the 4680-type cylindrical battery cells, which were used in the all-new “Tesla Model Y AWD” version. This seems to be the main reason why Tesla has started to produce in Texas also the Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD, powered by 2170-type cylindrical battery cells (the same as in Fremont, California).
