Tesla opened a factory in Nevada dedicated to producing 50,000 Tesla Semi Class 8 trucks each year on Thursday, and the company promises to lower total cost of ownership through drastic automation and vertical integration.
Not only that, but a fun truck that drivers and fleets will love, the company claimed.
"It's going to be the funnest truck to drive, and in the very near future we’ll be adding in the self-driving features, these will be very important for safety," said Elon Musk at the rollout event.
With diesel reaching never-before-seen highs, it's a great time for electric-truck OEMs to run the numbers.
"It's going to make a ton of sense economically because the cost of electricity per mile is much less than the cost of diesel per mile in these crazy times," Musk added.
Musk said the waiting list for Semis is "significant," even with 50,000 units planned each year.
To put that number in perspective, Daimler Trucks sold 141,000 units in North America in 2025.
There's certainly some demand documented, as an alliance of 15 operators just ordered 2,500 Tesla Semi after a competitive bidding process. The order comes from the ZET SCALE Alliance, and the procurement process organized by Smart Freight Center and Catalyst Mobility (formerly Calstart).
"The 2,500 electric trucks will be operated by participating carriers to fulfill aggregated demand from over 15 major shippers involved" in the alliance, a press release read.
Last year, just 875 zero-emission heavy electric trucks were registered in the U.S., down from 1,103 in 2024, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).
Of course, Tesla has often over-promised and under-delivered on the Semi, originally slated for full production in 2019.
But a recent study by the ICCT found that electric trucks from legacy OEMs cost more and deliver roughly half the range of the Tesla Semi Long Range, which promises more than 500 miles on a single charge.
At the launch event, Tesla Director of Semi Engineering Dan Priestly said results are in from a pilot fleet of some 200 Semis, and the range numbers are real.
Testing included hauling in the snow, desert, and all kinds of conditions. The Semi has also been seen limping up the Donner Pass during a snowstorm when some 60 other trucks spun out our had to stop.
"We've now now done 17.5 million miles" and "really listened and tried to make some improvements along the way" as customers gave feedback, Priestly said.
Tesla Semi's 500-mile range confirmed
Now Tesla is confident that the Semi can do "500 real-world miles," Priestly added. "Our customers have validated, we’ve demonstrated it, these are 80K fully loaded, we're not trying to cheat the numbers."
"You can go maybe if you’re half loaded, 600 miles," said Lars Moravy, Tesla's VP of Vehicle Engineering.
Industry reports put the Semi's pricing at around $260,000 per unit, but Tesla said it was laser-focused on bringing costs down with its new factory.
The Tesla Semi factory's focus on vertical integration
"This is not just a general assembly facility. We bring raw coils in, we do cut to length, we do stamping on site, we go all the way to final assembly," said Priestly. "Also we bring in cells, our in-house made battery cells from Gigafactory Texas, and the plan is to unload them automatically from the trailer, they get stationed, they get consumed by the line fully automated, and at no point is there any human intervention or touch point."
Cooling modules, seats, plastics, everything will be made in the factory, Tesla said.
"We want to lower the cost for you, and it's also a great way to control quality and reliability," said Moravy.
The totally automated process does have some drawbacks, however.
"You can get a Semi in any color you want, as long as it's white," said Moravy.
