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Tesla Semi returns to Des Moines, IA as road tests and customer visits continue
Just a few days after visiting UPS’ hub in Addison, IL, the Tesla Semi has been spotted in Des Moines, IA. The Semi’s interstate travels appear to be part of the company’s continued road tests, which also involve visits to some of its reservation holders.
This is actually not the first time the Tesla Semi was photographed in Des Moines. Last April, the matte black Tesla Semi, an operational prototype that has not been spotted on roads lately, was sighted being transported heading east into I-80 in the Des Moines, IA area. Des Moines hosts the headquarters of Ruan Transportation Management Systems, one of Tesla’s reservation holders for the Semi.
Ruan noted in an announcement back in January that it had been in touch with Tesla about the upcoming all-electric long-hauler even before the Semi was unveiled in November. Over the months leading up to the vehicle’s reveal, Ruan was invited by Tesla to take part in on-site meetings and discussions about the vehicle.
Ruan announced an order of 5 Tesla Semis in January, though it has not provided an update since then. Considering that the Tesla Semi has been making the rounds visiting some reservation holders like J.B. Hunt and UPS, it would not be too surprising if Ruan’s headquarters would soon get a visit from the prototype electric truck as well.
Tesla’s recent visits and sightings are quite notable, in the way that the company appears to be adopting a more open stance about the vehicle. Anecdotes from members of the Tesla community fortunate enough to come across the Semi indicate that the team accompanying the truck are incredibly willing to answer any questions about the long-hauler. Apart from this, the truck’s recent visits to reservation holders like J.B. Hunt and UPS were also a lot more hands-on and interactive. The truck’s recent visit at the Addison, IL UPS hub, for one, even involved rides (and seemingly even test drives) in the vehicle.
Tesla had around 2,000 reservations for the Semi as of the Q1 2018 earnings call last May. The company has not issued an update on the number of pre-orders for the truck since then, though Elon Musk noted during the Q2 2018 earnings call that Tesla is still in the process of improving the vehicle’s capabilities before it enters production.
The Tesla Semi could be the company’s most disruptive vehicle in its lineup, considering that the trucking industry is responsible for the transportation of up to 71% of food, retail goods, construction supplies, and other cargo delivered to customers and businesses every day. The industry is steadily growing as well, with the trucking market generating $700.3 billion in economic activity last year, a 3.5% increase compared to the $676.6 billion it made in 2016.
Just like Tesla’s other vehicles, the Semi boasts impressive specs. The electric truck is powered by four Model 3-derived electric motors, which give it instant torque. The Semi is also rated as a Class 8 truck, and is listed with a 0-60 mph time of 5 seconds flat when accelerating without cargo. The Semi is expected to be released in two variations — a 300-mile short-range variant and a 500-mile long-range version. That said, Elon Musk has noted that the long-range Semi could have closer to 600 miles of range per charge.
News
Tesla to make app change for easier communication following Service
“Looking into it. After a service visit is complete, we close the in-app messaging option after 2 hours. We will change this to 24hours or more.”

Tesla will enhance the ability to communicate through the mobile app with Service after work has been done on your car.
One of the biggest weaknesses of Tesla’s automotive division has been Service, as Service Centers are not necessarily plentiful, and wait times, in some regions of the country, are over a month in duration.
Getting in touch with Service after a car has work done to it is also difficult. Calling showrooms in some regions has proven to be difficult to enable direct communication between the customer and the company.
If something is not resolved properly, Tesla keeps the in-app messaging option active for two hours after the service visit is complete.
However, that doesn’t resolve everything, as some issues may arise again more than two hours later. Then the issue of communication presents itself once again.
Tesla is going to extend that time frame to a day or more, according to Raj Jegannathan, Tesla’s AI/IT-Infra, Cybersecurity, IT Apps & Vehicle Service VP.
Looking into it. After a service visit is complete, we close the in-app messaging option after 2 hours. We will change this to 24hours or more.
— Raj Jegannathan (@r_jegaa) August 18, 2025
Tesla has made several changes over the past few years to attempt to improve its Service. Recently, for Collision repair, it started offering a $45-per-day loaner program with free FSD, free tolls, and free Supercharging.
It also recently started sharing local and regional leader contact information so customers have the ability to reach out when they have complaints or disagree with warranty claims, changes in estimates, or initial diagnostics.
Tesla creates clever solution to simplify and improve its Service
However, this is only available at a few showrooms and is currently a pilot program.
These improvements are aimed at resolving communication breakdown, which appears to be a problem that many owners experience.
Tesla is one of the few companies that also operates a fleet of Mobile Repair vehicles, which will perform service at your house or place of business. However, the size of it has gone down by 11 percent year over year.
News
Tesla is overhauling its Full Self-Driving subscription for easier access
The subscription model is more accessible to many owners, as it is reasonably priced and offers the option to take a month off from using it if they are interested in saving money.

Tesla is overhauling its Full Self-Driving subscription and how it markets it to customers after several owners and fans of the company complained about the accessibility of the monthly access to its driver assistance suite.
Tesla Full Self-Driving is the automaker’s semi-autonomous driving suite, which is widely regarded as the most robust and capable on the market today. Owners can purchase the suite outright for $8,000, or they can subscribe to the program for $99 per month, an option it enabled a few years ago.
However, it is not super easy to subscribe to the subscription model, nor is it even recognized on the company’s Online Design Studio. Without some research or prior knowledge, a consumer might not even know they could pay monthly to experience Full Self-Driving.
That is set to change, according to Tesla’s AI/IT Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, IT Apps, and Vehicle Service head Raj Jegannathan, who said the company is planning to change that.
Instead of having customers only have the option to pay outright for the suite, Tesla is now planning to offer the subscription model in its Online Design Studio, making it easier to activate that option:
Yes, will optimize the design to offer both full purchase, subscriptions(with free trial) on the configurator.
— Raj Jegannathan (@r_jegaa) August 24, 2025
It will be the second major change Tesla makes to how it sells Full Self-Driving to customers, the first being videos of real-life operation of FSD in the Design Studio. Previously, the site only showed animations of Full Self-Driving’s capabilities.
Tesla added the videos of FSD handling some tricky situations, as well as general operation of the suite, to the Design Studio in recent weeks.
Tesla makes big change to encourage Full Self-Driving purchases
The subscription model is more accessible to many owners, as it is reasonably priced and offers the option to take a month off from using it if they are interested in saving money.
Many cannot justify paying for the suite outright, especially as it adds $8,000 to the cost of their car. After they experience its capabilities for themselves, they might.
Both moves appear to be an effort to increase the take rate of Full Self-Driving, particularly as autonomy takes center stage at Tesla.
With the rollout of Robotaxi and some teased capabilities of the upcoming v14 iteration of Full Self-Driving, Tesla is gearing up to continue advancing its self-driving technology.
News
Tesla talks Semi ramp, Optimus, Robotaxi rollout, FSD with Wall Street firm

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) recently talked about a variety of topics with Wall Street firm Piper Sandler, as the firm released a new note on Friday about their meeting with the company’s Investor Relations team.
According to the note from Piper Sandler, Tesla talked in detail about the Semi program, Optimus, and its potential valuation given its capabilities, the rollout of Robotaxi in Austin, and Full Self-Driving progress in the United States.
Tesla Semi Ramp
The Tesla Semi is set to enter mass production in 2026 at a dedicated factory near the company’s Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada.
The Semi has already been in pilot program testing, as Tesla has partnered with a few companies, like Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., to perform regional logistics. It has been met with excellent reviews from drivers, and it has helped give Tesla a good idea of what to expect when it makes its way to more companies in the coming years.
Piper Sandler said that it is evident Tesla is preparing for a “major ramp,” but it is keeping its expectations low:
“We’ve never expected much from this product, but we’d love to be proven wrong (Tesla is clearly prepping for a major ramp).”
Tesla Optimus and its value internally and externally
Optimus has been working in Tesla factories for some time, but its expectations as a product offering outside of the company internally have major implications.
Its role within Tesla factories, for now, is relatively low, but Optimus is still doing things to assist. By this time next year, Piper Sandler said Optimus should have bigger responsibilities:
“By this time in 2026, Optimus should be moving/staging parts within Tesla’s facilities.”
Outside of Tesla, Optimus could be a major beneficiary for companies as it could be a more affordable way to handle tedious tasks and manual labor. The firm believes that if Optimus can work 18-hour shifts, a cost of $100,000 per unit “would be justified.”
Tesla Robotaxi Expansion
The big focus of the firm with Robotaxi was Tesla’s expansion of the geofence in Austin this week. It was substantial, bringing the Robotaxi’s total service area to around 170 square miles, up from the roughly 90 square miles that rival Waymo is offering in the city.
Tesla Robotaxi geofence expansion enters Plaid Mode and includes a surprise
Tesla has doubled its geofence three times since its launch in late June, and it also revealed that its fleet of vehicles has expanded by 50 percent. It did not give a solid number of how many vehicles are operating in the fleet.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 launch
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite is set to have a fresh version, v14, rolled out in either September or October, and there are some pretty high expectations for it.
CEO Elon Musk said:
“The FSD release in about 6 weeks will be a dramatic gain with a 10X higher parameter count and many other improvements. It’s going through training & testing now. Once we confirm real-world safety of FSD 14, which we think will be amazing, the car will nag you much less.”
There is also some expectation that v14 could be the public release of what Tesla is running in Austin for Robotaxi. The firm confirmed this in their note by stating it “should enable Tesla owners to use software that is on par with Robotaxis in Austin.”
The only real hold up would be regulator skepticism, but Tesla can alleviate this with strong data.
The firm maintained its ‘Overweight’ rating and the $400 price target it holds on the stock.
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