The biggest catch is Musks overpromise on everything. At some point you have to buckle down and deliver. Freightliner has 500 usa and Canadian deliveries while Volvo has more than 700 usa and Canadian electric semi deliveries. Volvo has as of October 2025 delivered their 5,000th ev semi worldwide. Can Tesla ramp up quick enough?
Tesla Finally Has Its First Semi-Truck
- Thread starter buster
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They said the test fleet is over 13M miles now. Lots of tech details here: https://electrek.co/2026/03/23/tesla-semi-jay-leno-garage-new-details-production-specs/
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
Well, truckers have pretty nice sleeper cabs these days. Truck stop adds chargers - hot shower and some food inside …
Then what Willie sang !
Not even a dual jet fighter seat layout for your dog?
I think it makes a ton of sense for local deliveries. Especially if you can build a charger into the docks. (Even better if the warehouse is covered in photovoltaics) Most pollution happens in cities, so cutting that out would be a good thing.
Long distance, coast to coast trucking....that's where oil burners win out (or a hybrid setup).
Long distance, coast to coast trucking....that's where oil burners win out (or a hybrid setup).
I was an OTR flatbed driver for a while. The company I drove for partnered with a EV startup company called Nikola and they were supposed to deliver 100 of these Nikola trucks to our company. They ended up getting 1 prototype as a lease that wasn’t capable of hauling anything for any realistic distance, and was basically just used as a promotional tool. Turned out Nikola was an enormous fraudulent company that swindled inventors by lying about the capabilities of their trucks and claiming they had technology that they actually didn’t. They ended up going bankrupt and the founder wound up in prison.
Nikola and that company I drove for blew so much smoke up our rear ends about the “future of trucking” and how EV trucks are “so close” to becoming the standard. I didn’t buy it then, and I still don’t. I’ll believe it when they get past hyped-up prototypes and tests and get to actually delivering production models with published range and performance figures to real customers.
Nikola and that company I drove for blew so much smoke up our rear ends about the “future of trucking” and how EV trucks are “so close” to becoming the standard. I didn’t buy it then, and I still don’t. I’ll believe it when they get past hyped-up prototypes and tests and get to actually delivering production models with published range and performance figures to real customers.
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Nikola was a scam, or at least their owner wasn't the most honest guy out there, and they had never sold a viable vehicle.
Tesla's boss doesn't seem much different, but the best selling vehicle in the world for the last three consecutive years is the Model Y. Little differences.
Just like for passenger EVs, overpromising and overhyping are the semi's worst enemy. I don't think for a second that the Tesla Semi will replace regular trucks any time soon, but it could have its place for specific applications. Just like with passenger EVs, forcing them on everyone will be just as bad as blanket-rejecting them.
Tesla's boss doesn't seem much different, but the best selling vehicle in the world for the last three consecutive years is the Model Y. Little differences.
Just like for passenger EVs, overpromising and overhyping are the semi's worst enemy. I don't think for a second that the Tesla Semi will replace regular trucks any time soon, but it could have its place for specific applications. Just like with passenger EVs, forcing them on everyone will be just as bad as blanket-rejecting them.
If Musk was really as involved as he claims he would have likely known that an ev semi wasn't going to happen in two years. I'm curious the penalties that Tesla has likely paid for being a decade late. Walmart, usps, ups, and Amazon had very large orders.
