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.
First semi truck accident. Kills a married couple sends a third in serious condition to the hospital.
The semi truck is supposed to have an emergency breaking system. No one knows why it plowed into the rear of a car stopped at a traffic light.
https://electrek.co/2026/07/01/tesla-semi-first-fatal-crash-nevada/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/tru...-crash-that-killed-married-couple/ar-AA275vtv
The semi truck is supposed to have an emergency breaking system. No one knows why it plowed into the rear of a car stopped at a traffic light.
https://electrek.co/2026/07/01/tesla-semi-first-fatal-crash-nevada/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/tru...-crash-that-killed-married-couple/ar-AA275vtv
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That dweeb is only involved in front of a camera to pacify the investors...
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Pretty much all I have seen mentioned is the driver falling asleep, which is somewhat common. To rely on anything Tesla claims is an emergency/backup braking system is a bit of a pipe dream.
Supposedly they are equipped with an emergency brake system.
Anyway, by the time the facts come out, it probably will not make the news, but who knows?
I don’t know if you read the whole story on it, but this is a direct quote from the story -
“That leaves the question of automatic emergency braking: why didn’t the truck slow or stop itself before hitting stationary vehicles at a lit intersection? AEB is designed for exactly this scenario — it detects vehicles or obstacles in the truck’s path and applies the brakes when a collision is imminent, regardless of driver input.”
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There should be a full stop sale . If you crash an aircraft like the ups md-11 crashed it gets grounded. So Tesla 1 Freighter and Volvo EV semis no deaths after millions of miles.
For real? Pretty much any modern vehicles has automatic emergency braking... but that can't stop every accident. NOT the vehicles fault or the automakers fault. The drivers fault!
I've been following this guy but he quit making English language videos
He has a Mercedes E-Actros electric truck and drives all over Europe, at speeds that would probably be unacceptable to US truckers, but anyway.
He still makes German language videos:
https://www.youtube.com/@elektrotrucker
Anyway, over on the other side of the pond there appears to be more action in the EV Semi space.
He has a Mercedes E-Actros electric truck and drives all over Europe, at speeds that would probably be unacceptable to US truckers, but anyway.
He still makes German language videos:
https://www.youtube.com/@elektrotrucker
Anyway, over on the other side of the pond there appears to be more action in the EV Semi space.
No no, according to Musk "Teslas using fsd and autopilot are 10x safer than human drivers ". If the cameras are so good why didn't it see the stopped vehicles? At some point people have to hold a company that makes false claims liable. People shouldn't be defending Tesla over this. Sure the driver was likely overworked and tired. If you owned a company that promised 10x faster, 10x longer lasting 10x more hauling capacity etc you'd be held to that. Tesla shouldn't get a pass. No other automotive manufacturer makes such crazy claims.
No one is giving Tesla a pass. I swear this is the first brand in the world that we blame the manufacturer and not the operator for accidents. Welcome to opposite world I guess.
The entire Tesla brand now essentially revolves around the phrase “Full Self Driving”. I’d argue they brought this on themselves….
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If we had to pay for our opinions, we'd be more careful sharing them 
I will personally not give one one way or the other, as we know nothing at all about configurations, conditions and so on.
And mostly what we DON'T know is in what phase of driving and movement the truck was (full blown full speed with no attempt to stop at all? Heavily decelerating but couldn't stop on time?).
The one thing I DO know is that if this car is what it looks to be - an original Beetle (and not some restomod reinforced with hidden roll cages and stuff) - all it needs from ANY semi to get in the condition it's in is about a fart and a half.
This is a 50 years old tincan with 80 years old structural engineering, which would've been steamrolled flat if the truck had hit it at anything close to full speed.
For it to be recognizable as a vehicle at all, my money is on a low speed hit which could very well have been in the very last stages of deceleration from the truck's part.
As for self driving - even if it was on, it's bypassed if the accelerator is pressed. Emergency braking will kick in when an emergency is sensed, which could be too late. Too late like a hit at 30mph or less. And with a muggle asleep at the wheel, sky is the limit.
Don't want to encroach on the sacred right to bash anything Tesla, by all means, have at it, but this is a @#$@#$ original Beetle, in regular 2026 traffic. Anything larger than a delivery guy on a Chinese e-bike smashing into them at anything north of the speed of a galloping donkey would be life threatening for the passengers. RIP to them, I'm sure the world is a worst place without them, but they made their choice.
I will personally not give one one way or the other, as we know nothing at all about configurations, conditions and so on.
And mostly what we DON'T know is in what phase of driving and movement the truck was (full blown full speed with no attempt to stop at all? Heavily decelerating but couldn't stop on time?).
The one thing I DO know is that if this car is what it looks to be - an original Beetle (and not some restomod reinforced with hidden roll cages and stuff) - all it needs from ANY semi to get in the condition it's in is about a fart and a half.
This is a 50 years old tincan with 80 years old structural engineering, which would've been steamrolled flat if the truck had hit it at anything close to full speed.
For it to be recognizable as a vehicle at all, my money is on a low speed hit which could very well have been in the very last stages of deceleration from the truck's part.
As for self driving - even if it was on, it's bypassed if the accelerator is pressed. Emergency braking will kick in when an emergency is sensed, which could be too late. Too late like a hit at 30mph or less. And with a muggle asleep at the wheel, sky is the limit.
Don't want to encroach on the sacred right to bash anything Tesla, by all means, have at it, but this is a @#$@#$ original Beetle, in regular 2026 traffic. Anything larger than a delivery guy on a Chinese e-bike smashing into them at anything north of the speed of a galloping donkey would be life threatening for the passengers. RIP to them, I'm sure the world is a worst place without them, but they made their choice.
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What was the gross weight? 25 k isnt a full load unless its a very heavy truck.
