Tesla is set to deliver its highly-anticipated all-electric Semi today for the first time. Will the truck live up to the hype?
Roughly two months ago, CEO Elon Musk announced Tesla would deliver the Semi to Frito Lay locations in California following the vehicle’s acquisition of an EPA Certificate of Conformity. Tesla and Musk had previously teased the ‘imminent’ arrival of the Semi for several years, but the hype of this year can only be slightly equated to the energy that Tesla and Frito Lay expressed last year: both had confirmed deliveries in December 2021, only for the trucks to never make it to their destination.
Fast forward a year, and what has changed? For starters, last year, Tesla did not earn an EPA certification for the Semi, which is required by law. The fact that Tesla finally received this certification and set up a special delivery event in Nevada can only lead Musk’s loyal believers and even skeptics to believe that the Semi is finally here, and it seems that it really is.
Excited to announce start of production of Tesla Semi Truck with deliveries to @Pepsi on Dec 1st! pic.twitter.com/gq0l73iGRW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 6, 2022
Now that the Semi is finally here, or will be in a few hours from when this article is published, the real questions begin to surface: Will it really change the trucking industry? How does the Semi match up to Class 8 EVs already on the market? How long will it take to get one?
Will it really change the trucking industry?
The Tesla Semi is no doubt a huge development in the world of EV trucking. Will it change the industry? If it can live up to its astronomical range predictions, which are rumored to be around 500 miles when pulling an 81,000-pound load, it surely can raise the bar for competitors. The currently offered EV trucks on the market from Volvo, Freightliner, and Nikola offer significantly less in terms of range on a full charge. However, many of these trucks are geared toward local or regional logistics.
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The Semi is definitely different than the others. A breakdown of the Semi vs. other trucks on the market below will break it down further. Where Tesla has set itself apart from competitors is in terms of tech, and just looking at the Semi, you know it’s different from the rest. The throne is set in the center of the cabin, dual monitors will track data and analytics for performance while offering basic features like navigation. Whether it is better or not, well, we’ll have to wait for some trucking experts drive it for a while.
How does the Semi match up to Class 8 EVs already on the market?
The Volvo VNR’s highest-range trim is its 6×4 Tractor, which packs 275 miles of range when configured with its six-battery offering. It also is capable of regenerating between 5 and 15 percent of its energy through braking. It has a top speed of 68 MPH, and is an ideal fit for “Local distribution and regional transportation with planned routes and frequent stops,” especially food service delivery, Volvo said. This may be why McDonald’s Canada ordered a few.
The Freightliner eCascadia just was delivered for the first time this week, with Penske commemorating first deliveries. This truck packs a 230-mile range rating with its top-of-the-line offering. Freightliner only offers a day cab, and with the range specs, it would also be ideal for local or regional deliveries. Its 80 percent charging in 90 minutes will keep deliveries going without much of a delay.
Nikola’s Tre offers 330 miles of range, the most impressive number thus far. Nikola has ramped up production of the Tre recently to reach 75 units in Q3. Arguably the best competitor to the Tesla Semi, the Tre may not offer charging speeds as fast as the eCascadia (80 percent charge in 160 minutes), but its impressive range ratings make it more applicable for longer routes.
The Semi offers the best of all of these, along with a 500-mile range rating, according to recent tests performed by Tesla. At first glance, the Semi just seems like a market-leading version of most Class 8 EVs on the market. Tesla still leans on self-driving and autonomous trucking as where the Semi will truly set itself apart from competitors. It may be some time before truckers can let the Semi drive them between hubs.
For what it’s worth, we received several emails from readers who were skeptical of the 500-mile claim from Musk. We were asked several times whether the trip was taken on a single charge.
How long will it take to get a Tesla Semi?
Tesla Semi production could reach 100 units this year, company Chair Robyn Denholm said. Next year, Tesla wants to build 50,000.
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The potential production rate of 50,000 units is nothing to bat an eye at. However, Tesla has some big plans for 2023, and they include ramping Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas, a potential revamp of the Model 3 in Fremont, and more production in Germany and China. The Semi will undoubtedly reach higher production rates next year, but it will be difficult to scale production of a fresh vehicle this quickly.
Battery availability also comes into question, as it was the issue that kept the Semi from being built two years ago when Musk announced volume production would kick off. Tesla is building a lot of cars and using a lot of batteries. We know Tesla isn’t using the 4680 cell for the Semi, which means the much more widely available 2170 cell will not limit the Semi’s production rate, at least not in my estimation.
How long it takes to get a Semi is purely reliant on how fast Tesla can scale production. Tesla has typically done a good job of scaling its passenger vehicles, but the Semi is a different animal.
Tesla’s Semi Delivery Event will take place this evening at Gigafactory Nevada in Reno.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
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SpaceX will report second quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, August 4, marking the first time the company has opened its books to the public since its record IPO in June. Management will host a live audio only webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET, streamed on X, with no dial in option.
The debut carries more weight than a typical first quarter as a public company. Two trading days after the release, on August 6, the first tranche of SpaceX’s lockup expires, freeing roughly 911.5 million insider and employee shares, worth well over $100 billion at current prices and the largest such release in Wall Street history. A second, larger tranche tied to the stock trading 30 percent above its $135 IPO price never triggered, since shares have spent most of July trading below that price.
Wall Street’s models point to revenue near $6.9 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $4.69 billion SpaceX reported in the first quarter, with a narrower per share loss than the $1.27 posted three months earlier, according to estimates compiled by Motley Fool. Those numbers will be the first look at how SpaceX’s three segments, Starlink, launch and AI, are performing independently.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
Investors heading into the call have a specific list of questions. How many net new Starlink subscribers did SpaceX add after ending March with 10.3 million, and is average revenue per user holding up as the service expands into lower income markets. How much of the AI segment’s revenue reflects contract signings with Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI this year, deals that combined could annualize to nearly $28 billion if fully ramped. Whether capital expenditures, which nearly doubled in the AI segment alone between 2024 and 2025, are still accelerating or starting to plateau. And whether management offers any forward guidance at all, something SpaceX has never done publicly.
The report will also land days after Elon Musk publicly denied a Wall Street Journal report describing internal planning to separate Tesla’s China business ahead of a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger. Whether Musk or SpaceX executives address that speculation on the call, even indirectly, maybe something investors will be listening for on Tuesday.
As Teslarati reported after Musk’s own warning to short sellers last week, the CEO has made clear he expects skeptics to be proven wrong over time. Tuesday will be the first chance for the numbers themselves to make that case.
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Elon Musk
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
SpaceX released new footage of Starship in space captured by the Starlink satellites it deployed.
SpaceX released a new video Friday evening showing Starship from an angle showcased by its own Starlink satellites, watching the rocket drift away in orbit.
The 65 second clip, posted on X, stitches together footage from four cameras mounted on a single Starlink V3 satellite. It opens with a close view of Starship’s 171 foot upper stage, still catching sunlight, then pulls back as the two spacecraft separate.
The footage comes from Starship’s 13th flight test, which launched July 24 from Starbase after a scrubbed attempt and an abort caused by an engine issue the week before. When Flight 13 finally flew, it carried the first batch of functional Starlink V3 satellites Starship has ever deployed, twenty of them, with six equipped with cameras meant to scan the ship’s heat shield during reentry.
View of Starship in space from a Starlink V3 satellite on Flight 13.
This composite is made of imagery from four separate cameras on a single satellite. Six of the satellites were equipped with cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to… pic.twitter.com/sNTHHz5vLr
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 31, 2026
Flight 13 checked most of its boxes. Starship deployed all 20 satellites, relit a Raptor engine in space, and splashed down softly in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. Musk’s longer term plan calls for a Starlink V3 constellation of 100,000 satellites, according to a recent FCC filing, with Starship as the only vehicle capable of launching them at the volume that requires. Each Starship flight is designed to carry up to 60 V3 satellites once the vehicle reaches routine service, well beyond what Falcon 9 can carry in a single mission.
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Starship is next expected to fly with an attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower’s mechanical arms, a maneuver SpaceX has so far reserved for the Super Heavy booster.
Tesla flexed the new features of the Model Y L with a dedicated media event at the company’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The Model Y L is the extended-wheelbase version of the all-electric crossover, which has been voted the best-selling car in the world on three occasions. The vehicle is already rolling off production lines at Gigafactory Texas, and first deliveries are slated to take place later this year.
Tesla brings Model Y L ‘Launch Series’ to the U.S. at $61,990
Teslarati was invited to the event, but due to some scheduling conflicts, we could not make it to Los Angeles. Instead, we will have our hands on a media unit sometime in August, so we’ll be able to spend some more extended time with the Model Y L.
However, plenty of those who made it to LA shared some cool features that set the Model Y L apart from the Model Y.
Multi-Row Climate Control
Tesla fitted the Model Y L with full climate control on all three rows on the front screen. It can be adjusted by selecting which row you’d like to modify on the right-hand side of the touch screen:
The Model Y L has a little row of icons on the right side of the climate screen so the front passenger can more quickly jump to whatever row they want to control. pic.twitter.com/uJS44mgCvk
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 30, 2026
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Better Rear Window Visibility
One of the strangest things about the Model Y, especially the Juniper iteration, is the rear window has extremely limited visibility when looking into the rearview mirror.
Tesla has improved upon this with the Model Y L:
This is a drastic difference. https://t.co/wTdhitD5aA pic.twitter.com/z6hFs0Jkss
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 30, 2026
PowerShare will be included
Model Y L will come with PowerShare in North America, with an 11.5kW output to your home. Tesla said it would require Powerwall 3 for operation.
Wireless Charging Pad
There has been some speculation that Tesla would upgrade the wireless charging pads in the United States, but this is not the case.
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Tesla owner fixes common feature complaint with crafty DIY retrofit
Tesla confirmed that it does not come with the cooled pads as the Y L in China does. This is because North America has not adopted Qi charging yet.
Thermal Management Improvements
These improvements in the Model Y L were seen with thermal management:
- Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
- +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather, 7 miles of real-world range gained
- 8x more solar energy reflection off of glass roof
- 30% reduction in solar energy entering the cabin
Some of the thermal management improvements in the new Model Y L Premium:
• Up to 15% faster cabin cooling
• Up to 15 min faster cabin cooling in sunny conditions
• +23% thermal efficiency gained in hot weather +7 miles of real-world range gained
• +10 miles recovered after… pic.twitter.com/jZirFWFdtO— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 31, 2026
Demand
Tesla said the Model Y L is almost sold out in the U.S. It comes with
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- 1 year of FSD Supervised
- 1 year of Supercharging
- 1 year of Premium Connectivity
- Free exterior paint color, interior, and wheel option at no additional cost
SpaceX’s biggest test yet arrives this week and it’s not a rocket launch
SpaceX’s Starship just got filmed by its own cargo
