Tesla has begun volume production of the Semi at Gigafactory Nevada with first deliveries this week, nine years after showing the truck, and rates it at 500 miles of range and 1.2 megawatts of charging. It has already installed more than 100 megawatt-capable stalls at 21 European sites, although the truck is not due in Europe until 2027.
Tesla has started volume production of the Semi at Gigafactory Nevada, with the first deliveries this week, InsideEVs reported. The Class 8 truck was first shown in 2017, nine years ago. It charges at up to 1.2 megawatts, which Tesla says adds 60% of range in 30 minutes.
The range comes with conditions.
Tesla rates the Long Range at 500 miles and the Standard Range at 325, both at 1.7 kWh per mile, and publishes the conditions alongside them. They are measured at 82,000 pounds gross, 55 miles an hour, 20 degrees Celsius, on flat ground, with a tandem axle aero kit and a compliant dry van trailer. Drive power is up to 800 kW from three motors.
Europe waits until 2027.
Tesla is installing more than 100 megawatt-capable stalls across 21 European sites in Germany, France, Britain, Sweden and the Benelux countries. The truck itself is not due here until next year. Both truck and charger use the MCS 3.2 connector.
European law asks for less.
Charging points of at least 350 kW must sit every 60 km along the core European network for heavy goods vehicles, as the ICCT has documented. The megawatt layer above that is commercial rather than required. Tesla built it before it had a truck to sell here.
The battery figures are not Tesla’s.
A filing with the California Air Resources Board gives 822 kWh of usable capacity for the Long Range and 548 kWh for the Standard, neither of which Tesla has published. The Semi uses Tesla’s own 4680 cells from Gigafactory Texas. Those cells have underperformed supplier cells in its passenger cars.
The biggest buyer is Swedish.
Einride ordered 500 Semis last month, the largest deployment announced anywhere, to run freight in California, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois and Georgia. A Swedish company is putting American trucks on American roads. Amazon holds warrants over about 12% of it.
Diesel is doing the selling.
Pump prices are averaging over $6.50 a gallon in the United States, a record driven by the wars in Ukraine and Iran. A coalition of shipping companies ordered 2,500 Semis this week, which would roughly double the American electric truck fleet. Tesla wants 50,000 a year once Nevada is at full capacity.