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Tesla Semi developers reflect on first deliveries: ‘Out the door. For the world.’

Credit: Tesla

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Following the first deliveries of the Tesla Semi to Frito Lay last night, the program’s developers are reflecting on the past five years as the vehicle has finally reached the end stage of its initial production run.

First unveiled in 2017, the Tesla Semi was delayed on several occasions. Initial delivery projections from Tesla have spanned from 2019 to this year, being put off due to a variety of reasons, from supply chain bottlenecks to a commitment to not move the company’s product roadmap forward this year.

However, Tesla came through and delivered the first units to Frito Lay last evening at Gigafactory Nevada. While it is five years past its initial unveiling date, it may have made the destination a little sweeter for those responsible for the Semi’s development.

First look inside the Tesla Semi Delivery event

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“5 years of 16 hr days, overnighters, packed weekends, nonstop push, with a singular focus on [getting] to this point,” Staff Systems Design and Architecture Engineer for the Semi Satyan Chandra said. Since the Semi’s unveiling in 2017, Chandra has assumed three different positions at Tesla. When the vehicle was announced, he worked as a Sr. Hardware Design Engineer for the Model S, Model X, and Model 3. He then moved to a Staff Hardware Technology Engineer, where he helped develop Dojo.

Now, Chandra is managing and leading systems design, integration, and architecture programs for the Semi across battery voltage, chassis, and pneumatic applications. For him, the long road was worth it. “Our Semi’s out the door. To the world. For the world.”

For others, the product was more of the focus than the journey. Roger Casado, a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer for Cells, has been at Tesla for over a year. His work with the Semi was more about the why.

Casado’s first point about the Semi in a LinkedIn posting was the Semi’s extensive market application, which will help it attack 36 percent of U.S. vehicle particle emissions. Its versatility and streamlined operation make it as easy to drive as the Model 3, and the power, speed, and torque are evidently the main advantage Tesla Semi has over its competitors. Not to mention the 500 miles of range it drove on a single charge.

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Yesterday, we discussed whether the Semi would live up to the hype Tesla created for it. Its initial application undoubtedly will have to prove its advantages over competing options. However, Tesla proved its 500-mile range in a crafty drone video, and its speed and acceleration have been displayed on the company’s test track and other, more recent examples. The vehicle’s success may depend on the number of clients it attracts, but is there really any reason for it to fail at first glance?


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.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla revises new Intervention Reporting system with Full Self-Driving

It is the second revision to the program as Tesla is trying to make it easier to decipher driver and owner complaints, but also to make it easier to report issues within the suite for them.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has revised its new Intervention Reporting system within the Full Self-Driving suite that now categorizes reasons that drivers take over when the semi-autonomous driving functionality is active.

It is the second revision to the program as Tesla is trying to make it easier to decipher driver and owner complaints, but also to make it easier to report issues within the suite for them.

With the initial rollout of Full Self-Driving v14.3.2, Tesla included a new reporting menu that gave four options for an intervention: Preference, Comfort, Critical, and Other. A slightly revised version of Full Self-Driving with the same ID number then came out a few days later, changing the “Other” option to “Navigation” after numerous complaints from owners.

It appears Tesla has listened to those owners once again and has not only made it smaller and more compact, but also easier to report the issues than previously.

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The new menu is now embedded within the request for a Voice Memo from Tesla, and does not block the entire screen, as the second rollout of the menu was:

There will likely be one additional revision to the Interventions Menu, as we have coined it here at Teslarati.

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Unfortunately, at times, there are no reasons for an intervention at all, but the menu does not give an option to simply disregard the reporting and forces the driver to choose one of the options. We, as well as other notable Tesla influencers, indicated that there is not always a reason for an intervention.

For example, I choose to back into my parking spot in my neighborhood at least some of the time for the reason of charging. I usually hit “Preference” for this, but it sends a false positive to Tesla that there was a reason I took over that I was unhappy with.

Tesla begins probing owners on FSD’s navigation errors with small but mighty change

Instead, I’m simply performing a maneuver that is not yet available to us. When Tesla allows drivers to choose the orientation at which their car enters a parking spot, I and many others won’t have to deal with this menu.

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Others are still skeptical that it will help resolve any issues whatsoever and prefer to disregard the menu altogether. It does seem as if Tesla will issue another revision in the coming days to allow this to happen.

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California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law

California just gave police power to ticket driverless cars, including Tesla’s Cybercab fleet.

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Concept rendering of Tesla Cybercab being cited by CA Highway Patrol (Credit: Grok)

California DMV formally adopted new rules on April 29, 2026 that allow law enforcement to issue “notices of noncompliance”, or in other words ticket autonomous vehicle companies when their cars commit moving violations. The rules take effect July 1, 2026 and officially closes a regulatory gap that previously let driverless cars operate on public roads with nearly no traffic enforcement consequences.

Until now, state traffic laws only applied to human “drivers,” which meant that when no person was behind the wheel, police had no mechanism to issue a ticket. Officers were limited to citing driverless vehicles for parking violations only. A well-known example came in September 2025, when a San Bruno officer watched a Waymo robotaxi execute an illegal U-turn and could do nothing but notify the company.

Under the new framework, when an officer observes a violation, the autonomous vehicle company is effectively treated as the driver. Companies must report each incident to the DMV within 72 hours, or 24 hours if a collision is involved. Repeated violations can result in fleet size restrictions, operational suspensions, or full permit revocation. Local officials also gained new authority to geofence driverless vehicles out of active emergency zones within two minutes and require a live emergency response line answered within 30 seconds.

Tesla Cybercab ramps Robotaxi public street testing as vehicle enters mass production queue

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California’s new enforcement rules arrive at a pivotal moment for Tesla. The company is ramping Cybercab production at Giga Texas toward hundreds of units per week, targeting at least 2 million units annually at full capacity, while simultaneously pushing to expand its Robotaxi service to dozens of U.S. cities by end of 2026. Unsupervised FSD for consumer vehicles is currently targeted for Q4 2026, and when it arrives, Tesla’s fleet may not have a human to absorb legal accountability, under the July 1 rules.

Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its Robotaxi service to seven new cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, with the service already running without safety drivers in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.

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Tesla Model X shocks everyone by crushing every other used car in America

The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.

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Credit: Tesla Asia | X

The Tesla Model X was the fastest-selling used vehicle in the United States in the first quarter of the year, crushing every other used car in America.

iSeeCars data for the first quarter shows that the Model X was the fastest-selling used car, lasting just 25.6 days on the market on average, two days better than that of the second-place Lexus RX 350h. The Cybertruck, Model Y, and Model S, in seventh, ninth, and thirteenth place, respectively, also made the list.

The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.

Tesla brings closure to flagship ‘sentimental’ models, Musk confirms

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Bringing closure to these two vehicles signaled the end of the road for the cars that have effectively built Tesla’s reputation for luxury and high-end passenger vehicles.

Relying on the sales of its mass market Model Y and Model 3, as well as leaning on the success of future products like the Cybercab, is the angle Tesla has chosen to take.

Teslas are also performing extremely well as a whole on the resale market. iSeeCars data shows that, “while the average price of a 1- to 5-year-old non-Tesla EV fell 10.3% in Q1 2026 year-over-year, the average price of a used Tesla was essentially flat at 0.1% lower across the same period. Traditional gas car prices dropped 2.8% during this same period.”

Additionally, market share for gas cars has dropped nearly 3 percent since the same quarter last year. Tesla has remained level, while the non-Tesla EV market share has increased 30 percent, mostly due to more models available.

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Nevertheless, those non-Tesla EVs have seen their value drop by over 10 percent, while Tesla’s values have remained level.

Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said:

“Used electric vehicles without a Tesla badge have lost more than 10% of their value in the past year. This compares to stable values for Teslas and hybrids, and a modest 2.8% drop for traditional gasoline vehicles.”

Teslas, as well as non-luxury hybrids, are displaying the strongest resistance in the face of faltering demand, the publication says. But the more impressive performance is that of the Model X alone.

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Tesla’s decision to stop production of the Model X may have played some part in the vehicle’s pristine performance in Q1. With the car already placed at a premium price point, used models are already more appealing to consumers. Perhaps second-hand versions were more than enough for those who wanted a Model X, and only a Model X.

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