Tesla lined up at least 11 electric Semi trucks bearing fleet customer logos in front of its new factory in Nevada, in a display ahead of the truck’s dedicated factory launch event. The footage showed trucks bearing the brands of PepsiCo, US Foods, DHL, WattEV, ABF, Einride, IMC, and OK Produce, along with other logos that could not be clearly identified.
The scenes were captured by a drone near Tesla’s facility in Sparks, Nevada, and show eight trucks lined up beside the factory, while three other trucks move around inside the site. The footage comes ahead of a live broadcast of the event beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, which Tesla is officially presenting as the opening of the dedicated Semi factory next to Gigafactory Nevada.
Known Customers and New Names
Several of the companies shown have a previous record with the Tesla Semi. PepsiCo received its first trucks of the model in late 2022, while DHL received its first truck in December last year after a lengthy trial period. ABF Freight, a subsidiary of ArcBest, also purchased Semi trucks in June after a trial that recorded consumption of 1.55 kilowatt-hours per mile.
Einride announced an order for 500 trucks in August, while IMC Logistics revealed an order two days before the event for 50 trucks dedicated to transport operations in California. As for US Foods, OK Produce, LTS, and WattEV, the material contains no previous information about confirmed orders from them, suggesting that Tesla may use the event to confirm deals or partnerships related to them.
What Changes in Practice?
The rows of trucks bearing customer logos offer a different indication than merely displaying a prototype, as they show that several fleet operators are actually participating in the Semi’s story. However, the presence of the trucks at the factory site alone does not establish the volume of deliveries or the consistency of commercial operations, and the successful electrification of heavy transport also depends on each customer’s charging infrastructure.
Tesla says the factory is capable of producing 50,000 trucks annually, and that truck production from the high-volume production line began in April. The company offers two versions of the Semi: the Standard Range with a range of 325 miles, and the Long Range with a range of 500 miles. Both use a tri-motor powertrain with charging capacity of 800 kilowatts.
Questions Awaiting Answers
Despite a full order book, a gap remains between the factory’s designed capacity and expected production. Analysts’ estimates cited in the material indicate deliveries of between 5,000 and 15,000 trucks during the year, a range far below the factory’s stated annual capacity.
That is why the importance of the launch event centers on details that have not yet been settled: the truck’s price, current production capacity, the number of units actually delivered, the speed of production increases, and whether customer orders concern hundreds of trucks or only a limited number. Tesla was also named this week as a key supplier for ZET SCALE’s order of 2,500 trucks, backed by Microsoft and PepsiCo, with Kenworth, Volvo, and RIDE participating in the deal.