According to Zhitong Financial News, nine years after the 2017 unveiling, Tesla's (TSLA.US) Semi electric truck has finally begun production: in September of this year, the company completed its first production line in Sparks, Nevada.
Semi-specific factories: ZET SCALE, Einride, WattEV, QX Logistics, and IMC Logistics
The order has been added to the queue. Also this week, a Semi caught fire on California State Route 880, closing one direction of the highway for approximately 10 hours, casting doubt on the newly launched uphill curve.
The production level has not yet been determined.
The Sparks facility, adjacent to Tesla's largest battery factory—the Gigafactory Nevada—covers approximately 167,000 square meters. Dan Priestley, head of the Semi project
He said, "This is not an ordinary assembly plant, but the closest thing we can achieve to 'raw materials in, finished products out.'"
Priestley's designed production capacity is 50,000 units per year; Tesla's Q3 report on October 21 listed the installed annual capacity for the Semi at 25,000.
Ten thousand units; the company has not yet disclosed actual production figures. The first truck rolled off the line in April, and a mass production delivery event was held on September 24; the battery cells in mass-produced vehicles have been switched from externally sourced 2170 cells to internally produced 4680 cells.
Price: Balanced by operational costs
Semi’s “reported prices” are approximately $260,000 for the 325-mile Standard Range version and approximately $290,000 for the 500-mile Long Range version, excluding subsidies; comparable new diesel tractor-trailers typically sell for $150,000 to
$200,000. It should be noted that Tesla has never officially disclosed the price of the Semi; the $290,000 figure comes from a customer quote reported by Electrek in February this year.
The spread compensates for operational costs: the long-range version has a rated range of 500 miles at a full load of 82,000 pounds, with an energy consumption of 1.7.
kWh per mile; Tesla's comparison presented at its production event showed that diesel heavy-duty trucks have an operating cost of approximately $0.50 to $0.80 per mile, while the Semi maintains a stable cost of $0.20 to $0.25.
USD.
On the competitor side, the Freightliner eCascadia boasts a maximum rated range of 230 miles and a peak charging rate of 270 kW, while the Volvo VNR Electric offers 275 miles and 250 kW.
Kilowatts; Kenworth and Peterbilt, like PACCAR (PCAR), also offer electric models for sale. The Semi leads in range and charging power, but all three have products on the road for several years and established aftermarket networks.
Two restrictions within an order of 2,500 units
The largest transaction came from the ZET SCALE alliance on September 22—2,500 units, known as the North American Electric 8.
The largest single purchase in trucking history, reportedly backed by Microsoft and Pepsi.
However, this order has two limitations: Tesla is a "primary OEM," not the exclusive supplier; Kenworth, Volvo, and RIDE are listed as secondary suppliers; the alliance also did not specify
How many of the 2,500 will actually be delivered as Semis? In other words, this is a procurement framework, not a firm order locked in with Tesla. Of the remaining orders, Einride placed an order for 500 in August, and WattEV for 5
This month, 370 units were ordered (primarily for short-haul operations at the Port of Auckland), and IMC Logistics ordered 50 units.
Sudden collision event
On Tuesday local time, a Semi truck near Hayward, California on I-880
The southbound lane caught fire. There was no collision and no other vehicles involved; the driver safely evacuated and told the patrol car, “It just caught fire,” without knowing why. The California Highway Patrol closed both directions due to the risk of hazardous chemical fumes.
I-880, approximately 10 hours前后; patrol officers initially warned that the battery might continue burning for 15 to 18
Hours; actual disposal was faster than estimated. The vehicle operator's identity has not been confirmed, and Tesla has not responded; the cause is still under investigation.
This is the second Semi fire in two years to cause the closure of a California interstate highway. In August 2024, a Tesla-owned Semi caught fire near Emigrant Gap on I-80, prompting an NTSB
It was later determined that the vehicle left the road, collided with delineators and trees, and ignited the battery; firefighters used approximately 50,000 gallons of water, and the lane remained closed for 15 hours.
hours. The difference is that there was no collision, so the investigation has shifted focus to the vehicle itself—the battery pack, high-voltage system, drive unit, or tire/brake fire spread.
According to data from the National Fire Protection Association, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 15,462 large truck fires per year from 2018 to 2022 (approximately 42 per day).
At the start, the fleet consisted mostly of diesel vehicles; Tesla claims its vehicles experience one fire per 140 million miles. However, for a model that has just entered mass production and still has a small number of units on the road, a single fire without collision is itself a high-weight sample.
Morgan Stanley: Expenses are allocated to software subscriptions.
Institutions are more interested in Semi’s software side. According to Morgan Stanley analyst Andrew Percoco’s September report, the estimated cost is $0.85 to $1.00 per mile.
With an autonomous driving subscription fee for trucks and a monthly mileage of 18,000 miles, an autonomous Semi can generate $12,000 to $18,000 in software revenue per month; if 8.2 million are deployed by 2040...
Ten thousand units, with software revenue alone reaching $17 billion (excluding vehicle and charging revenue). Based on this, Morgan Stanley raised its bull-case target price from $820 to $840, while maintaining its base-case target at $400.
USD, rating "neutral compared to the market." The logic assumes the implementation of autonomous driving—Elon Musk has stated the goal is to offer an autonomous Semi by 2027, which remains an option value for now.