Elon Musk Confirms Tesla’s Electric Semi Truck Has Started Production

Elon Musk announced on Twitter that Tesla’s long-delayed semi-truck has begun production and that deliveries will begin as soon as December 1st. When Tesla unveiled the Tesla Semi in 2017, it expected to begin manufacturing the electric big rigs in 2019.

While that obviously did not happen, Musk informed employees in early 2020 via email that the vehicle was already in limited production and that it was “time to go all out and bring the Tesla Semi to volume production.”

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However, in April of that year, the automaker announced in an earnings call that it was delaying deliveries yet again until 2021.

Unfortunately, 2021 was not the Semi’s year either. In another earnings call, Tesla informed shareholders that deliveries would be delayed until 2022 due to global supply chain shortages affecting the tech and auto industries, as well as the company’s then-limited production capability for the vehicle’s 4680 style battery cells.

Elon Musk did not explicitly state that the company’s component shortage issues for the semi-truck have been resolved. However, if it has begun production and a delivery date has been set, Tesla must have at least enough parts to build Semis for its first customer.

Pepsi, which ordered 100 Semis from the company in December 2017, will receive the first batch of Semis. According to TechCrunch, other major corporations, such as Walmart and UPS, had also ordered trucks from the automaker.

Excited to announce start of production of Tesla Semi Truck with deliveries to @Pepsi on Dec 1st! pic.twitter.com/gq0l73iGRW

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 6, 2022

In May of this year, the automaker opened reservations to more customers for a $20,000 deposit. A Semi costs between $150,000 and $180,000, depending on range, and can travel up to 500 miles on a single charge.