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First Tesla Semi Rolls Off High-Volume Production Line
- alterom 6mo ago"High volume"? Coming from Tesla, I'll believe it after they actually ship a high volume of those units.
- doctorwho42 6mo ago>0 is a high volume for something that was supposed to start rolling off the production line back in 2019....
- nubinetwork 6mo agoUsually I'd say better late than never, but you have to wonder why anyone would buy anything from tesla because of the promises and delays...
- ben_w 6mo agoPersonally I'm surprised there's enough such people to keep the share price where it is and not shift one or two decimal places.
- Zetaphor 6mo agoBonus points if the body panels don't fall off and it can drive through a puddle
- rayiner 6mo agoThe Model Y is neck-and-neck with the Toyota RAV4 as the most widely sold car model in the world.
- adrian_b 6mo agoWhenever such claims were made, it was correctly pointed that Tesla makes very few models, so their sales per model may be higher than for other vendors even when the total number of sold cars is higher for their competitors, where the sales are distributed over many models. There are Chinese vendors who sell more electric cars than Tesla.
- mgoetzke 6mo agoWhich ones ?
- tomjakubowski 6mo agoBYD and Geely both clear Tesla in electric vehicles sold. BYD sells more than double Tesla. VW isn't Chinese but they are right on Tesla's heels now. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/top-electric-vehicle-manufacturers/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/top-electric-vehicle-man...
- SapporoChris 6mo agoI am not convinced this is true. But perhaps you are using different criteria than this source. For example the Toyota Corolla has sold 50 million, the Model Y, slightly over 2 million. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_automobiles#World's_bestsellers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_automobil...
- rayiner 6mo agoThe Corolla has been on sale since 1966. The Model Y has only been on sale since 2020. Annually, the Model Y outsells the Corolla. https://www.accio.com/business/corolla-best-selling-car-in-the-world https://www.accio.com/business/corolla-best-selling-car-in-t...
- SideburnsOfDoom 6mo ago> Toyota RAV4, the most widely sold car model in the world. Nope. Widely sold cars are the likes of e.g Toyota Corolla, VW Golf, Honda Civic, Ford Fiesta, Toyota Camry and Hilux. The other reply gives the link. The RAV4 isn't ones of these.
- rayiner 6mo agoOut of those, only the Camry and the Corolla even make the top 10: https://www.statista.com/statistics/239229/most-sold-car-models-worldwide/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/239229/most-sold-car-mod...
- SideburnsOfDoom 6mo agoAnd as the other commenter has already pointed out, you didn't say "for year 2025" only. That said, I'm surprised that the RAV4 is that popular, in the year 2025.
- rayiner 6mo agoWhy do you think the ranking changes that much from year to year? Model Y had the top spot 3 years in a row since 2020.
- SideburnsOfDoom 6mo ago> Why do you think the ranking changes that much from year to year? I did not say that. Why do you think that I did say that? (I'm surprised that the RAV was #1 in 2023-24 too. I don't see many or even any around here. But even 3 years clearly isn't "all time").
- orwin 6mo agoI don't believe you. Can we have some numbers?
- oa335 6mo agohttps://www.statista.com/statistics/239229/most-sold-car-models-worldwide/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/239229/most-sold-car-mod...
- SapporoChris 6mo agoOkay, sure, for one year. But "for year 2025" was not a qualification the grandparent poster made.
- rayiner 6mo agoIt’s been three years in a row: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/tesla-model-y-emerges-worlds-100109308.html https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/tesla-mode...
- SideburnsOfDoom 6mo ago"for the last three years" was another strong qualification the grandparent post did not make.
- iknowstuff 6mo agono you're right sorry it's not up to your standards of selling as many cumulative units as cars that have been sold longer than most readers of this website have been alive
- orwin 6mo agoI mean, just don't lie and make outlandish and idiotic claim then. If the claim was "most unit sold since 2020", no one would've bat an eye.
- donkyrf 6mo agomeanwhile Freightliner, Volvo, and BYD already have active fleets.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- claytongulick 6mo agoI don't understand the point you're making, are you saying that because there are already electric semi's on the market, Tesla shouldn't compete? Or are you being critical that Tesla didn't enter the market first? If it's the second point, are you accurately comparing the vehicles and their capabilities?
- donkyrf 6mo agoIt's not newsworthy. There are more than a dozen companies shipping electric semis in low quantities, and at least three who have been shipping and supporting them for years. Anybody who thinks this the Tesla Semi is notable should go learn about the existing market. Tesla announced this thing a decade ago and they rolled one off of a theoretical line. Who cares? There's nothing new here. There's no new information about this late-landing product. There's no story of huge guaranteed bookings, or new unexpected capabilities. It's a non-story. As for your demand that I provide an accurate product comparison -- driver reviews routinely indicate that the 'driver at the center' seating position makes it harder for truckers to actually do their work, because they can't easily reach out their window to access terminals, perform document exchanges, etc. So, I'll augment my position: not only is this a non-story... it's a non-story about a vehicle with a notable design flaw.
- mgoetzke 6mo agoOf course its newsworthy if the company making the most electric cars in the world has setup a factory to produce semis and produced at least one after years of testing with actual customers that say they are very happy at seemingly very competitive pricing. To say its NOT newsworthy betrays a bias against Tesla which I would assume has nothing to do with actual facts.
- Animats 6mo agoNice. Tesla claims they will "ramp up" production to 50,000 units per year. When does the 100th unit roll off the line? Let's see some actuals. Tesla's volume and delivery time estimates do not have a good history of reliability. Volvo has 5,000 electric semitrucks on the road right now. Tesla also announced that MDB Drayage is using Tesla tractors to haul container chassis around the Port of Los Angeles.[1] But the pictures show a Tesla tractor hauling an ordinary box semitrailer, not a container on a container chassis. The MDB Drayage is just a three-week test, too. Drayage is almost the ideal use. [1] https://electrek.co/2026/04/29/tesla-semi-drayage-operator-mdb-pilot-port-freight/ https://electrek.co/2026/04/29/tesla-semi-drayage-operator-m...
- narrator 6mo agoThe Tesla semi is the only truck with a 500 mile range. So it does have an advantage over other electric trucks for long-haul trucking.
- 7e 6mo agoTesla has a history of exaggerating the ranges of their vehicles to an extent that competitors do not.
- jerlam 6mo agoTrucking seems like an industry where exaggerating the range will lead to contracts being cancelled and companies being sued. I'm assuming that a Tesla Semi can't just stop off at the nearest Supercharger.
- SadErn 6mo ago[dead]
- aidenn0 6mo agoA 30 minute charge means each charger can service a maximum of 48 tractors per day, and realistically probably less than that. I wonder how many trucks fill at a typical diesel filling station per day.
- tiffanyh 6mo ago~10 min to fill diesel semi. So electric can only service 1/3 of semi, when truck stop is at full capacity.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- mzi 6mo agoBut you can go 1500 miles on a full tank, so with electricity you have to account for three times as many vehicles as well (given the stated range is correct)
- aidenn0 6mo ago300 miles between charges if you are limited to a 30 minute charge, but semis probably refill much more often than every 1500 miles, particularly since they are required to stop every so often anyways.
- Teever 6mo agoMy first job was pumping gas at regular neighbour gas station and one day a semi rolled in because he was low on gas. He insisted that we use both diesel pumps on the pump so that it would take faster and it still took forever. I can't remember if he filled both side of his truck but if he did that would have required him to go around the island to get the other side tank. I've only been to a cardlock station a few times but the pumps seem like regular pumps. I just looked it up and apparently regular gas station pumps in Canada are limited to 38 L/min (10 US gal/min) but some cardlock stations can have larger pumps with a higher rate on them. If a semi truck has two saddle tanks that's 200-300 gallons, but some trucks can apparently carry more? I'm not an expert on this, But I can reach out to a friend who owns a crane and trucking company if someone else doesn't chime in with a more detailed response. So at 200-300 gallons and 10 gallons per minute it can take 20-30 minutes to fill a truck.
- xyst 6mo agoI am willing to bet this semi underperforms in all relevant categories. Just like the rest of their overpriced consumer products.
- OccamsMirror 6mo agoI wonder how truckers are going to like having to get up and walk over to the door to talk to gate security or hand over paperwork. Feels like a dumb design to me.
- delichon 6mo ago> Tesla enters high-volume production with a meaningful lead on price and range. I'll take that bet on price and range. And I'd bet it'll have lower cost of ownership than diesel.
- danaw 6mo agoi'll take that bet
- chopete3 6mo ago<This is not a Tesla bashing note. Genuine information questions > 50,000 vehicles per year capacity is a lot. Is there really demand for so many vehicles?. >> This makes the Tesla Semi the lowest-priced Class 8 battery electric tractor on the market, How much is the difference?. Critical details left out. >> specs confirm a 500-mile range Aren't there trucks with this range already? >> "Tesla Semi as a Service" model is needed to eliminate the capital expenditure barrier entirely, Good but how is this novel?
- danaw 6mo agoas we know from tesla none of these claims will actually come to fruition once these reach customers
- Mashimo 6mo agoAt least the Mercedes-Benz eActros a6000 has only 500 km range.
- masklinn 6mo agoLonguest I know of in Europe is Volvo’s claims of 700 on the new FH Aero ER. Renault and Iveco are at 600. And that would be at 90kph. However manufacturers of euro models may not bother extending range given given the driving regulations: drivers can only drive 4.5h before a mandatory 45mn rest break, so as long as the truck does 400km[0] and can charge fast enough in 45mn to do that again afterwards[1] it’s probably going to do the job for long range trucking. On the other hand, the eu allows electric semis to weigh 4 tonnes more than diesel, in the US it’s just 2000lbs and not every state has implemented that. [0] 4.5h * 90kph [1] assuming the fastest charge rates are 10~80, that means a 0-100 range of 580km to hit the sweet spot of 400km on 80~10, which matches Renault and Iveco, Volvo's FH Aero ER page talks about 20~80 which gets you to 670km
- orwin 6mo agoYeah, EU regulations for truck drivers definitely make the switch from diesel to EV easier than in the US.
- 7e 6mo agoTesla is trying to escape launching the semi TEN YEARS after announcing it. Instead, they are attempting to launch a mere nine years after announcing it. The Pepsi trials with this truck were a disaster, we’ll see if they fixed the numerous problems.
- AtlasBarfed 6mo agoCan you provide more detail on the Pepsi trials? I haven't read anything about it
- calmbonsai 6mo agoUh...does Electrek.co not do basic math or understand how factories (and markets) are valued? This is waaaay too early to judge anything. The "milestone that matters" is $/defect/volume. Until this factory has measurable volume and measurable costs for defects on that volume, it's not an actual factory.
- milleramp 6mo agoI hope so. Regardless of who does it, generations of children in Los Angeles growing up in the corridors of the 5,10,110,210,405,605,710 freeways have asthma, likely caused from the soot of diesel trucks. Edit, couldn't leave out the worst experience in the US, i405.
- comrh 6mo agoYou can't discount the dust from the tires either unfortunately
- levocardia 6mo ago(which electric cars and trucks also reduce, because of regenerative braking)
- tzs 6mo agoDoesn't regenerative braking reduce brake dust, not tire dust?
- real0mar 6mo agoCorrect. And tire dust increases because electric vehicles are usually heavier
- apexalpha 6mo agoI doubt that's the case in America where gas-powered cars (/ trucks) are also huge and heavy. A Model 3 weighs less than a Ford 150.
- xboxnolifes 6mo agoAnd a mini cooper weighs less than a semi. The thread you are in is about Semis.
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- ZeroGravitas 6mo agoThe Chinese EV truck market is already bigger than the entire US truck market. Tesla has some lofty goals but sometimes it feels like that story about the pottery class where the teacher offered to grade by weight alone. The moral of that story is that churning out lots of something is a good way to learn what you are doing and get better at it.
- ben_w 6mo agoIndeed. Two ironies: I was just thinking about this with SpaceX getting all the practice with launches. Also, China being theoretically communist and the US theoretically capitalist, yet the US is the one with limited choice while China has so many brands.
- bigtex 6mo agoDoesn't this need a 2019 added to the headline?