Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk announced from Giga Nevada that Semi-truck volume production has started at the factory (video below).
At the same time, through its official account on X, the EV maker confirmed that customer deliveries have already begun.
These announcements came on Friday 25th September, as the automaker received a historic order of 2,500 Tesla Semis from a Microsoft- and PepsiCo-backed venture.
Musk originally unveiled the company’s Class-8 electric semi in 2017. After around 9 years, Tesla has finally started volume production and customer deliveries.
On Thursday, September 24, Tesla held an event at Giga Nevada, named Semi Rollout. Tesla Semi Program Lead Dan Priestly and Tesla Lead Engineer Lars Moravy took the stage in Musk’s absence to carry out the presentation.
“It’s going to be a really revolutionary truck that is capable of carrying the heaviest loads over very long distances with ease of recharge, Megacharger, that is capable of megawatt of power,” Musk said in a video message to the Semi Rollout event attendees at Giga Nevada.
Delayed Production and Deliveries
Over the last few years, Musk has predicted multiple timelines for Tesla Semi volume production, but it didn’t happen. Three main reasons caused the delay in the rollout of the Tesla Semi over the years:
- Customized construction and tooling of the Tesla Semi factory inside Giga Nevada
- The required improvements in battery tech to deliver the promised 500- and 300-mile ranges.
- Development of the 1.2-megawatt-output-capable Megacharger system and Semi-truck charging stations
Tesla achieved the battery technology and pack sizes needed to deliver the advertised Tesla Semi ranges, as revealed in a regulatory filing earlier this year.
The factory has started production, and the Megachargers also support megawatt-level charging now. A vast network of Megacharging stations is under development to support long-haul logistics operations using the electric Tesla Semi. However, short-haul operations like port drayage have already begun in California.
Large Order Backlog
Musk also pressed that you should order a Tesla Semi as soon as you can, because Tesla already has a large backlog of Tesla Semi orders to fulfill.
I used to maintain a Tesla Semi order tracking page on XAutoWorld.com. Until December 2025, small businesses and corporate customers like PepsiCo, DHL, Walmart, UPS, and others had ordered 798 Tesla Semis.
However, most of these are publicly known orders. Although the Tesla Semi factory has a 50,000-unit annual production capacity, production will ramp up gradually.
Tesla’s official Semi-truck web page doesn’t take you to an order page like other vehicles. It asks you to fill out a contact form, and a salesperson will contact you with further details.
However, another public filing reveals that the estimated price of the 300-mile Tesla Semi Standard Range is $260,000 and $290,000 for the 500-mile Long Range variant.
This is our first factory built for Semi.
— Tesla Semi (@tesla_semi) September 25, 2026
– 50,000 units/year
– Every variant built on the same production line (Standard, Long Range, European spec)
– 1.8M sq ft pic.twitter.com/LqWfZDEq7K
Tesla Semi vs. Diesel Truck Efficiency
Tesla shared the following line graph of the Tesla Semi’s electricity consumption per mile, according to its testing data over the years.
From 2022 to 2026, the Tesla Semi‘s running cost per mile consistently stayed between $0.20 and $0.30. For diesel trucks, this cost started above $0.40 and has crossed $.80 per mile with the recent rise in fossil fuel prices.
Tesla Semi runs at roughly half the cost per mile of a diesel truck in the United States.
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Related Tesla Semi News
- Tesla begins Semi-truck deliveries with a large order backlog, compares fuel economy with diesel trucks
- Tesla (TSLA) receives a historic order for 2,500 Semi-trucks from ZET SCALE (Microsoft and PepsiCo)
- Tesla Semi-truck handles the jackknife situation on icy roads (video)
- Tesla Semi spotted with autonomous validation equipment as the automaker prepares the truck for FSD
- Tesla Semi battery pack sizes revealed in a California regulatory filing
- Tesla Semi begins port drayage pilot program with MDB Transportation in California
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