Elon Musk has announced that the Tesla Semi electric truck has gone into production and Pepsi is the first customer.
Deliveries of the Tesla Semi electric trucks will slowly increase from December and are targeted to produce at least 50,000 units by 2024.
The North American market is currently the initial priority for the awaited electric truck, but the company is also looking to expand with new truck factories in Europe and Asia.
The Tesla Semi electric truck comes with a range of 500 miles (fully charged). The company will also present a model with a lower 300-mile range will be available at a later stage. Although Tesla did not reveal the battery capacity, it is estimated to be around 1 MWh (1,000 kWh).
Tesla currently produces 39 GWh of batteries in Nevada and targets production capacity to be 43 GWh by 2024. That production includes all of the US annual Model 3, Model Y, Model X, and Model S.
If Tesla succeeds in producing 50,000 trucks by 2024, it will become the second largest Class 8 truck manufacturer in the US after Kenworth and Freightliner.
Semi deliveries begin in December with the 300-mile model starting at $150,000 and the 500-mile truck starting at $180,000.
Both Tesla Semi electric truck models qualify for the new $40,000 federal EV tax credit. This makes electric trucks more affordable tempting many companies and operators will be tempted to switch to electric trucks.
