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Tesla finally moves to electrify trucking after a decade of work and delays

18 h ago

Tesla has finally begun delivering its all-electric Semi trucks to customers after nearly a decade of delays, marking a major milestone for the company's heavy-duty trucking ambitions. The core news point: Tesla executives, excluding CEO Elon Musk, hosted a launch event in Reno, Nevada, on Thursday night, where they detailed the truck's specifications, pricing, and production plans. The Semi, first revealed in 2017, promises a 500-mile range on a single charge when fully loaded, with a price tag of nearly $300,000 before incentives. Tesla plans to produce up to 50,000 trucks annually at its new factory adjacent to Gigafactory 1, creating 3,000 local jobs. Key facts from the event: Tesla shaved about 1,000 pounds off the vehicle compared to its original design, switched from three oils in the drive axle to one, and replaced pop-out windows with standard roll-down windows after admitting the original design was "not sufficient." The company also demonstrated its megawatt charging network, showing a Semi charge from 3% to 60% in 30 minutes. Executives Dan Priestley and Lars Moravy addressed past skepticism, including from Bill Gates, who doubted electric big rigs would ever be practical. They emphasized the truck's efficiency and lower total cost of ownership for fleet owners, noting that heavy trucks produce 16% of emissions despite being only 1% of vehicles on the road. While Musk was absent, he appeared in a pre-taped video, calling the Semi the "funnest truck to drive" and promising partial automation features in the "near future." The launch comes as Tesla pivots its mission toward robotics and AI, but the event focused on reducing trucking emissions and fulfilling the original sustainable energy mission.