Tesla's Semi Factory: Big Plans, Slow Progress

Tesla's gearing up for a big leap in electric trucking. While some are not so convinced. Here's what we know so far:

• New Semi Factory planned for development next to Gigafactory Texas in Nevada

• Production target: 50,000 Semis per year once factory is in operation

• After completions, plans to produce trucks by late 2025.

 Semi Factory progress and render of final building. The @Tesla construction team is awesome. pic.twitter.com/HyPSvxJd19— Dan Priestley (@danWpriestley) July 26, 2024 

While, Dan Priestley, head of the Tesla Semi program is excited for the development of this new factor, freight guru Craig Fuller is a believer of EV technology in the future, but cites that that time is still a ways away, especially with such a limited amount of Tesla's trucks in operations. You can here his full tweet here:

 Only 140 Tesla Semis have been produced and less than 100 of these currently haul freight - primarily for Tesla itself.

The largest third-party customer for the Tesla Semi is Pepsico, which currently runs 36 in California. The State awarded Tesla a grant to operate a 100%… https://t.co/DpVFcAUGAh— Craig Fuller 🛩🚛🚂⚓️ (@FreightAlley) July 28, 2024 

TLDR:

• 1.5M diesel trucks produced since 2017 (compared to Tesla's 140, less than 100 of which is haul freight only for Tesla

• Only 1,000 heavy-duty electric trucks on US roads

• 4M+ diesel trucks still dominate

PepsiCo's experience with Tesla:

• 30% failure rate in initial batch

• Ordered 50 more after Tesla addressed issues

• Still bought 3,000+ diesel trucks since first Tesla Semi delivery

"In the long term, EV technology will be more dependable, but we are still ways out," Craig Fuller says.

The big picture: 

Tesla's ambitious, but progress is slow. The Semi Factory could be a game-changer, but it's facing an uphill battle in a diesel-dominated industry.

Source: Electrek | Craig Fuller |Dan Priestley