Tesla will finally being deliveries of the first Semi trucks to customers later this year. The electric truck was first unveiled in 2017 and originally scheduled to enter production in 2019.
CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter late Tuesday night that the electric Semi will begin shipping “this year”, and that the first variant to be built will be the one with 500 miles (804km) of range.
This new timeline is ahead of the one given recently in which Musk said the Semi wouldn’t enter production until 2023.
Tesla 500 mile range Semi Truck starts shipping this year, Cybertruck next year
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 10, 2022
The driving factor behind the multiple delays has been battery cell supply constraints. Musk didn’t confirm if the Semi would be delivered with 2170 cells or the expected 4680 cells that are currently only available on the Model Y.
Musk also didn’t provide any pricing details on the Semi, but according to the company’s website the 500 mile variant was expected to cost $180,000 USD.
However, it would be surprising if Tesla is able to maintain a price that has been on the website for several years given the current state of the economy and rising levels of inflation.
Just last week Musk said the Cybertruck, which was unveiled two years after the Semi, would be increasing in price when it enters production next year.
Also not provided was who the first customer to receive a Tesla Semi will be. A likely candidate is PepsiCo, which has already installed a Megacharger at a Frito-Lay facility in Modesto, California.
Tesla has been building the Semi at a temporary facility at Giga Nevada since late last year. In recent months the Semi has been spotted several times testing on public roads making long distance trips through California.
Many of these sightings have been without the Semi hauling cargo, but Tesla recently used one of the pre-production units to deliver prefabricated Superchargers to the Laguna Seca racetrack.
