Tesla increases production of Semis for PepsiCo and other customers — signaling growth of EV fleets in transportation sector

Tesla has announced that production of its electric Semis is in progress after major delays, according to Electrek. The Semis are being produced primarily for their main customer, PepsiCo; however, they have been spotted being used by other companies as well, signaling increases in production.

At the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Las Vegas in May, the head of the Semi program, Dan Priestley, addressed the timeline. Tesla has stated it will begin volume production in late 2025, with deliveries beginning in 2026, per Electrek. The company initially planned on having the Semi come into production in 2019.

The Semi relies on the production of Tesla Megachargers, the larger versions of its Supercharger units. The Supercharger team was recently fired by Elon Musk, only adding to the skepticism about the reality of Semi production, as the BBC reported.

However, Musk reported on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Supercharger network will continue to grow, "just at a slower pace," per the BBC.

And Priestley reassured attendees of ACT Expo that the company is still committed to charging in general and Megachargers specifically, per Electrek.

Though there have been delays in the rollout of Semis, the continued promise to grow electric vehicle fleets for the transportation sector is beneficial on multiple levels.

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Semi trucks help transport essential goods to communities throughout the United States, but the large gas-powered vehicles produce even more harmful pollution than passenger vehicles. Switching to a heavy-duty truck without tailpipe pollution would improve the quality of our air.

Driving an EV also comes with plenty of perks. The vehicles can save consumers up to about $15,000 over 10 years thanks to tax credits and reduced spending on gas and maintenance. Additionally, EV drivers can curb up to 100,000 pounds of pollution over 10 years while driving an EV versus a gas vehicle.

Tesla has been working on a variety of technologies and initiatives to encourage customers to drive EVs as well as make them more accessible. Some of these include offering low interest rates when financing certain models and creating new home energy systems to charge EVs with green energy.

"I think that there are some narratives that seem to think that electric heavy trucking is still impossible," Priestley said of the delay during the ACT Expo, per Electrek. "You might hear someone say that it's really hard. Well, guess what, it's really hard. We've been doing it, but it is absolutely worth doing, and we do not enter this industry lightly."

He then explained that the Semi "unlocks the operational equivalence between diesel and electric."

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