Tesla Confirms Production Target of 50K Semi per Year, Calls for Tougher Environmental Standards for Heavy Trucks

Image: Tesla

Tesla confirms a production target of 50,000 Semi trucks a year. Meanwhile, the company is demanding tougher environmental regulations for trucks from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Tesla called on the Biden administration to finally approve significantly stricter limits on heavy-duty vehicle emissions than were proposed in April, according to Reuters. The company claims that larger vehicles are electrifying much faster than anticipated, and this will result in greater emissions reductions.

In comments posted Tuesday on the EPA proposal, Tesla said the requirements should be as strict as California's truck emissions regulations. The company also said it needed to eliminate credits that make it easier to comply. Tesla urged the EPA to “actively embrace a more rapid transition to (battery electric vehicles),” adding “the time for doing so is now.”

The manufacturer also wrote that if the EPA rule is not tightened, it will not be able to put the heavy-duty sector on the path to full electrification or sufficiently reduce emissions in the US and therefore “would not meet the legal benchmark of the Clean Air Act to protect the nation's public health and welfare.”

In April, the EPA said it estimated that by 2032, 50% of new professional vehicles such as buses and garbage trucks should be electric vehicles. In addition, 35% of new short-haul freight tractors and 25% of new long-haul freight tractors should go electric. The medium-duty vehicle regulation is forecast to reduce emissions by 44% compared to 2026 requirements. The EPA says its heavy duty proposal would result in net benefits ranging from $180 billion to $320 billion and is projected to avoid 1.8 billion tons of CO2 through 2055.

In its comments on this, Tesla cited its Semi production in support of tighter emissions regulations. The company noted that it anticipates production levels of its Class 8 Day Cab tractor at 50,000 per year with significant production volumes beginning in late 2024.

“Reaching the 50,000 annual production level would amount to 20% of all annual sales in (model year) 2027. This means Tesla's production goal alone would far exceed the 5% EV sales deployment EPA anticipates in 2027,” Tesla wrote, noting other companies are planning to build heavy-duty EVs.

Conversely, the American Trucking Associations, an industry group, said Tuesday in comments that the EPA's proposal is too aggressive and “relies on technology that is at early-stage and lacks the real-world demonstrated maturity compared to proven internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) technologies.”

© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

_____________________________

We appreciate your readership! Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Article edited by @SmokeyShorts; follow him on Twitter

Follow @EvaFoxU