A Tesla Semi has been spotted in Germany ahead of its expected debut at the IAA Transportation convention in Hanover next month. A user from X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, spotted the Semi being transported to Hanover on a flatbed in the vicinity of Kamen, Germany. IAA 2024 will begin on Monday, September 16.
Earlier this month, a job posting was discovered seeking a Business Development Manager for the Semi program in Europe, a nearly official confirmation the battery-electric Class 8 semi is on its way to the continent.
To date, the Tesla Semi remains in the testing phase, currently running routes in the Modesto and Sacramento, California areas. PepsiCo is, so far, the only company to receive a portion of its Semi order. It is those vehicles, in apparent coordination with Tesla, that are driving those routes. An estimated 70 examples have been built so far.
At the 2024 ACT Expo, the Semi's program manager, Dan Priestley, confirmed that those Semis have been running two different types of routes: long-haul routes that transport between 250 and 520 miles per run and with a gross vehicle weight plus load of up to 82,000 lbs, along with other routes under 75 miles per day, hauling a diminishing load that leaves nearly full and lightens throughout the day as deliveries are made.
Tesla is currently constructing a brand-new factory in Nevada, next to its already up and running Gigafactory, specifically for Semi production. The goal is to produce 50,000 units annually.
[Related: Tesla reveals render of Nevada's upcoming Semi Factory]
Tesla, because it lacks an official media relations department, does not provide regular updates regarding a range of topics. Instead, CEO Elon Musk uses X to communicate some updates with his audience. This is one reason why Tesla's expected presence at IAA will be important to follow because there could be announcements regarding the Semi's future European market status.
When it debuted in 2017, Musk announced the company would immediately begin accepting reservations, which have since closed, at a price of $20,000 per vehicle. Final pricing has yet to be announced but the rumor is that the base price for the 300-mile range Semi is $150,000 while the 500-mile version increases to $180,000.
Clean Trucking recently reported about a suspected Semi scammer on the loose in California and potentially other states, targeting unsuspecting fleets with an offer to purchase non-existent reservations.
[Related: Exposed: Scammer targeting prospective Tesla Semi buyers]
