The Tesla Semi was recently spotted near one of the company’s most historic locations — the West Los Angeles Service Center — a site where Elon Musk famously met with early reservation holders of the Tesla Roadster at a time when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.
According to Mirk_idk, an auto enthusiast on Instagram, he spotted the Tesla Semi just as it was leaving Santa Monica Blvd., the same street as Tesla’s LA Service Center, on May 24 at around 10:30 a.m. local time. The auto enthusiast noted that the Semi appeared to be accompanied by two Model S sedans. There were also two people in the electric long-hauler, one of whom acknowledged him as he snapped a photo of the vehicle.
Just like the Semi’s recent sighting in Sunnyvale, CA, the electric truck was hauling a trailer when it was photographed. Its rear wheels were also equipped with covers that are reminiscent of the Model 3’s Aero Wheels.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjK5inOFv6S/?taken-by=mirks_idk
The Tesla Semi’s latest appearance is particularly noteworthy, considering that Los Angeles is the location of two important Tesla facilities — the LA Service Center and the Tesla Design Center. The Tesla Design Center, the facility where the Semi and the next-generation Roadster were designed, is just 13 miles away from the site of the recent sighting. The LA Service Center, on the other hand, has a more historical significance to the company.
Back in 2008, Tesla, together with Musk’s private space venture, SpaceX, were feeling the effects of a worsening economy. Both companies were a few steps away from folding, and Elon Musk was exhausting his options. Musk ultimately decided to raise the price of the original Roadster to help the company’s funds. The meeting with some of the Roadster’s reservation holders happened at the LA service center.
Part of the fateful meeting was featured in the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car, which featured Tesla during the development days of the Roadster. Musk later described the meeting as “very tough” and that there was anger from some people in the room.
“I cannot understate the degree of grief that I’ve personally gone through, and that many people in Tesla have gone through to make this work. I wish we didn’t have to waste prices. It sucks. I can’t carry Tesla entirely by myself. I just don’t have the resources do it. We can’t sell cars for less than they cost us to produce,” Musk said during the meeting.
Elon Musk unveils the Tesla Semi on November 2017.
As history would show, of course, Musk would eventually pull off the near-impossible after that meeting, ultimately saving both SpaceX and Tesla from going under. Tesla closed its much-needed financing round on Christmas Eve 2008. According to Musk during a Q&A session at the Paris-Sorbonne University in December 2015, the financing round concluded “on the last hour of the last day when it was possible.”
The Tesla Semi is a Class 8 electric truck that is capable of hauling up to 80,000 pounds of cargo. The vehicle is equipped with four Model 3-derived electric motors and is capable of sprinting from 0-60 mph in 5 seconds without any load. With a full 80,000-pound load, the long-hauler can hit highway speeds in 20 seconds. The Semi is expected to start production in 2019.
As the company prepares to begin the manufacture of the electric trucks, Tesla has started utilizing the vehicles for battery pack deliveries between Gigafactory 1 in Sparks, NV to the Fremont CA facility. Multiple sightings of the trucks in the middle of their transport runs have been reported since then.
The Semi has also been spotted on the site of some of its biggest buyers. Earlier this year, the electric truck was sighted in the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in St. Louis, MO. It also made an appearance in Dallas, TX, where it was demoed for PepsiCo employees. The black matte Tesla Semi was sighted on the back of a truck at a highway near Des Moines, IA as well, close to the headquarters of Ruan Transportation Management Systems.
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Tesla makes the cut on California’s newest EV Rebate program
California just signed a $270 million EV rebate into law and it starts this summer.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 168 into law on Monday, July 13, 2026, creating a $270 million EV rebate program that delivers money directly at the dealership rather than as a tax credit applied months later. The program, called MyFirstEV, is funded equally by California’s state budget and participating automakers, with each contributing $135.5 million to make the math work.
The timing is directly tied to the loss of federal support when the $7,500 federal EV tax credit ended, removing the most significant consumer incentive that had driven EV adoption in the U.S. California, which accounts for roughly one-third of all EVs sold nationally, moved to fill that gap with a state-level replacement.
The rebate structure is straightforward. First-time EV buyers can receive $3,500 off any new battery-electric vehicle with an MSRP up to $50,000. Used EVs priced at $25,000 or below qualify for a $1,750 rebate. The credit is applied at the point of sale, which removes the friction of the old federal system where buyers had to wait for tax season to see the benefit. The program goes live later this summer, with the California Air Resources Board expected to release full participation details next month.
California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law
For Tesla buyers, the implications are mixed. The Tesla Model 3 RWD at $42,490 and the Model 3 Long Range at $47,490 both fall under the $50,000 cap and would qualify for the full $3,500 rebate for first-time buyers. The Model Y, which starts at $44,990 after Tesla’s recent price adjustment, also qualifies. The Model X, Model S, and Cybertruck all exceed the cap and receive no benefit. As Teslarati has reported, the program also includes a carve-out exempting California-based automakers like Rivian and Lucid from the price cap entirely, a provision that puts Tesla at a disadvantage since it relocated its headquarters to Texas in 2021.
Other qualifying vehicles include the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Volkswagen ID.4.
The Tesla Semi is entering a new Pilot Program with Paper Transport, LLC (PTI), a Wisconsin-based transportation provider. The company will test the Semi’s Long Range configuration through “dedicated operations within the Chicago market.”
Chicago presents an interesting challenge for the Semi, as it will be a colder-weather climate that will test the Semi’s ability to operate in lower temperatures and in potentially large accumulations of snow. This is something Tesla has been testing with the Semi in Alaska and even in Northern California during the colder months, but Chicago will present a truly tough midwestern winter.
Tesla Semi spotted on journey home after winter performance testing
PTI says it is using the Semi to evaluate its strategy of reducing transportation emissions while maintaining performance, reliability, and cost efficiency. These are major arguments for the Semi being introduced into new fleets.
CEO of PTI Tyler Ellison said:
“PTI has been a leader in sustainable transportation solutions for over 15 years. We take a consultative approach to helping customers identify and implement the right transportation solution for their network. Our partnership with Tesla expands our portfolio alongside renewable natural gas and intermodal, giving customers more ways to reduce Scope 3 emissions without compromising service or economics.”
PTI is far from the first company to adopt the Semi within a fleet, as Tesla entered strategic agreements with PepsiCo. and its subsidiary Frito-Lay for a Pilot Program that extended throughout the California region.
Tesla has let companies like those utilize the Semi to determine whether it would be suitable for their operations. Additionally, Tesla gets valuable information regarding the Semi’s performance, knowing what to improve and what is ideal for companies that will utilize the all-electric truck for regional and nationwide logistics.
PTI plans to utilize the Long Range configuration, which is priced at $290,000 and features a range of approximately 500 miles, a three-motor powertrain, up to 800 kW of drive power, and consumption of just 1.7 kWh per mile.
Tesla Semi pricing revealed after company uncovers trim levels
VP of Maintenance at PTI, Bryan Ellen, added:
“We are excited to partner with Tesla, leveraging their ever-evolving technology. We are bullish in our estimation of the parallels available between our dedicated model and the efficiency of their fully electric Class 8 tractor. We anticipate a growing synergy between our businesses as we work to facilitate this sustainable solution for our customers.”
PTI has logged more than 87 million miles using sources like compressed and renewable gas, but now is looking to take it a step further with fully electric operations.
Tesla revealed on Monday that it is building a new autonomous vehicle at Gigafactory Texas, its plant just outside of the City of Austin. This particular vehicle will be geared toward those who are in need of a wheelchair-accessible car that would require no human driver for operation.
According to a new report from Wired, Tesla’s Senior Policy Advisor, India Herdman, told members of the Washington D.C. City Council on Monday:
“We are in development for a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle. We know that paratransit can be very difficult, and people who are confined to wheelchairs permanently should still be able to move around freely, so that is an active product being built by Tesla in Texas.”
This builds upon what CEO Elon Musk said last year on X, which confirmed the company was working on accessible rides within its Robotaxi platform, which currently is confined to the Model Y.
Absolutely
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2025
Tesla is also developing the Cybercab, which started employee rides last week. However, this vehicle is not necessarily geared toward wheelchair accessibility.
That leaves a major gap in the autonomous ride-sharing program that Tesla is attempting to build; the company has been pretty clear that it does not want to complicate its manufacturing lines by bringing in a wide array of body styles.
However, it seems necessary to have something larger that could help transport people to appointments when they cannot drive. For wheelchair accessibility, the Robovan, which was unveiled at the “We, Robot” event in October 2024, seems to be the most ideal solution:
Herdman did not indicate whether she was referring to the Robovan or if Tesla is building yet another body style that is geared toward full autonomy but also caters to the handicapped.
Tesla might need to develop something specifically for the handicapped in order to align with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prevents discrimination against people with disabilities in transportation services. Uber was hit with a lawsuit late last year for “refusing to reasonably modify its policies, practices, or procedures where necessary to avoid discriminating against riders with disabilities.”
Tesla would obviously like to avoid this.
It will be interesting to see what Tesla will do with this project, and whether it will introduce something new to the market or just continue with the Robovan.
Tesla makes the cut on California’s newest EV Rebate program
Tesla Semi enters new Pilot Program with interesting challenge
