Tesla has confirmed that production of its electric Semi truck has been delayed into 2026, despite earlier statements suggesting the vehicle was already in production.
The company had previously delivered a few units to select customers, including PepsiCo, as part of a limited pilot program, but large-scale manufacturing has yet to begin.
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Originally unveiled in 2017, the Tesla Semi was slated for production in 2019. In late 2022, Tesla introduced the “production version” and delivered a small number of trucks, but the program has remained in low-volume pilot production at its Nevada facility.
A new high-volume production line is now under construction adjacent to Gigafactory Nevada, with the company guiding a start of official production in 2026.
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Dan Priestley, manager of the Tesla Semi program, said during Tesla’s Q3 earnings call: “The factory is going on schedule. We’ve completed the building and are installing the equipment now. We’ve got our fleet of validation trucks driving on the road. We’ll have larger builds towards the end of this year, and then our first online builds in the first part of next year, ramping into the Q2 timing, with real volume coming the back half of the year. So that’s going quite well, and that’s the first step, obviously, getting autonomous trucks on the road.”
In summary, Tesla now expects the first official Semi builds to be delivered to customers in the first half of 2026, with volume production beginning in the second half of the year, marking a further shift from prior timelines.
