Tesla opened its first dedicated Semi truck factory in Sparks, Nevada on September 24, marking the start of high-volume production seven years after the Class 8 electric truck was unveiled in 2017 with an original 2019 production target. The 1.8-million-square-foot plant, built next to Gigafactory Nevada, is designed to build 50,000 trucks a year, or roughly 1,000 a week, and is expected to bring more than 3,000 jobs during the production ramp.
Tesla leaned on vertical integration to hit the price point: batteries, drive axles, high-voltage distribution, cooling modules and seats are all made in-house, and the Semi has switched from 2170 to 4680 battery cells to cut weight. The Long Range version is priced at $290,000 and the Standard Range at $260,000, about $145,000 less than competing electric Class 8 trucks, according to Tesla.
Fleet customers including PepsiCo, DHL, US Foods, ABF, Einride and IMC Logistics have already placed orders. The truck-fleet coalition ZET SCALE picked Tesla as its primary manufacturer this week for an initial 2,500-truck order, the largest electric fleet deal in the US to date.