Tesla Semi production will begin soon, but for now, the company is actively testing trucks, using them for its own needs. A silver Semi was just spotted on the highway in San Jose with a trailer, reported Drive Tesla Canada.
There is a Mabury Tesla store in the area, so there is a possibility that the electric truck left this place in order to deliver some kind of cargo. Earlier, during the Q2 2020 Earnings Call, Tesla's Automotive President Jerome Guillen said the company is already using two Semis for its own needs.
Source: Drive Tesla Canada
A few days ago, the Tesla Semi was spotted at a factory in Fremont. The electric truck carried out the transportation of cargo, along with other trucks working in the service of Tesla.
Tesla Semi Truck Spotted at Fremont Factory, Moves Cargo While Preparing for its Own Productionhttps://t.co/Yjb3hdXTye
— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) November 18, 2020
In June, a leaked email from Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed that the company would soon begin mass production of the Semi. "It's time to go all out and bring the Tesla Semi to volume production. It's been in limited production so far, which has allowed us to improve many aspects of the design," wrote Musk.
During the Q2 2020 Earnings Call and in Tesla's Shareholders Letter, the company confirmed its intentions. And Musk said that the new factory, near Austin, Texas, will produce Semi. The construction of this new U.S. factory has already begun.
Tesla Semi deliveries will begin in 2021, meaning that the company has a clear plan to complete Phase 1 of the new plant in 2021, though it is not specified exactly when. According to the documents that Tesla included in the “Travis County Colorado River Project Partner Pre-Qualification Presentation,” the first substantial completion is scheduled for May 1, 2021.
We know that two Semi trucks were used by Tesla for deliveries in Q2 and Q3 2020. Apparently, the company continues to actively use them. This demonstrates that they are ready for full functionality. If the company starts to use its trucks for transportation, then it will significantly reduce logistics costs in the future.
Analysts predict that US electric truck (freight/semi) sales should surpass 54,000 units by 2025. The high demand will certainly be met by Tesla Semi.
When Musk introduced Semi in 2017, a battery-powered semi-truck was projected to be 20% less expensive to operate than diesel trucks and more profitable to use than trains. Since then, battery technology has improved, and energy costs have declined as natural gas and renewable energy sources supplanted coal as a source of generation. The facts speak for themselves: As a result of these changes, the cost of energy per mile for electric battery MDV/HDVs can be 80% less than for diesel trucks.
© 2020, Eva Fox. All rights reserved.
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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
