
Senior Tesla officials confirmed during the company's latest earnings call that its Class 8 Semi will finally enter series production at the end of 2025.
“We just closed out the Semi factory roofing walls last week in Reno…but we’re prepping for mechanical installation of all the equipment in the coming months,” said Lars Moravy, Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering. “The first builds of the high-volume Semi design come late this year in 2025 and begin ramping early in 2026."
Tesla is rapidly working to complete construction of a new Nevada factory dedicated to Semi production that will reportedly be capable of churning out 50,000 units annually.
[Related: Tesla reveals render of Nevada's upcoming Semi factory]
The battery-electric Semi was unveiled back in 2017. Production was initially set to get underway in 2020 though this was delayed until late 2022 and even then it was on a very limited basis.
To date, an estimated 70 units have been produced with a majority going to PepsiCo and DHL. Testing has been taking place in the Modesto and Sacramento areas of California. It's rumored that Walmart and Costco have also received a limited number of units for internal testing purposes.
DHL is another early-build Semi recipient. The global shipping giant
There's been immense hype surrounding the Semi. Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors during the earnings call that the Semi's technologies, specifically autonomous driving, will prove to be "incredibly valuable" in helping to resolve an ongoing industry problem: driver shortage.
“When you consider there’s more people leaving truck driving as a profession than entering it, well, we’re going to have a real logistics problem as time goes by, so autonomy will be very important to meet that need,” added Musk.
[Related: Tesla Semi program manager gives most detailed update on its BEV to date]
Semi customers were required to place a $20,000 deposit per vehicle, and Tesla stopped taking reservations several months ago. Aside from major corporations, small- and medium-sized fleet owners have been forced to wait without a precise delivery date.
Pricing for the base model with a 300-mile range is expected to begin at $150,000 while the 500-mile version increases to $180,000. Tesla has yet to confirm final figures.