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Tesla Semi truck production would showcase lessons gained from Model 3
Being the electric car maker’s first entry into the trucking industry, the stakes are high for the Tesla Semi. Just like the Model 3, Tesla could revolutionize the trucking industry if the Semi proves to be a success. The company is aiming to start production of the Semi sometime in 2019 — a target that exhibits Elon Musk’s tendency to adopt aggressive manufacturing timelines. That said, if Tesla’s progress in the Model 3 ramp is any indication, there is a good chance that the Semi could be Tesla’s first vehicle to not run into major problems when it starts production.
Tesla is no stranger to missed production deadlines. In 2007, Tesla announced that it has plans to build 10,000 of the then-mythical Model S sedan annually starting in 2009. Production was ultimately delayed, and the vehicle was introduced in June 2012. The Model X experienced an even more significant delay, with deliveries starting on September 2015 instead of its initially planned early 2014 release. Tesla’s latest vehicle, the Model 3, has experienced delays as well — an ordeal that CEO Elon Musk aptly dubbed as “production hell.” When the handover of the first 30 Model 3 was held last year, Musk announced that Tesla is aiming to produce 5,000 units of the electric sedan a week by the end of 2017. Tesla was only able to hit that target at the end of Q2 2018.
Considering Tesla’s history and reputation for delays, does this mean that the Semi would follow the same fate? Most likely not. On the contrary, the Semi might very well be the first Tesla vehicle that would not experience a delay as bad as its predecessors. Tesla might miss its 2019 target for the truck given that the timeline was announced by a very optimistic Elon Musk, but once manufacturing begins, there is a good possibility that the Semi would not take the company to “production hell” like the Model 3.
When Elon Musk unveiled the Semi last November, he pitched the vehicle as an electric truck that can disrupt the trucking industry. With stunning performance specs such as a 0-60 mph time in 5 seconds flat, a capability to haul 80,000 lbs of cargo, and a range of 500 miles per charge for the Long Range version, the Semi is a serious long-hauler. These impressive specs aside, one thing that made the Semi quite remarkable was the fact that it shared components with the Model 3, from its four electric motors to the two touchscreens on the driver’s console. A video of the Semi shared earlier this year on YouTube even showcased how the truck features an air vent similar to the Model 3.
Tesla is not done with the Semi either. As testing of the vehicle continues, Tesla is rolling out improvements to the truck’s design. Back in May, Elon Musk stated that the Semi’s range would be closer to 600 miles per charge. During the Q2 earnings call, Elon Musk also teased a new battery module “that’s actually lighter, better, (and) cheaper.” These new modules are expected to start production sometime in Q1 2019, which could result in vehicles being lighter and having more range — advantages that are pertinent for the electric long-hauler.
Tesla’s production ramp for the Model 3 proved to be a classic tale of trial and error, with a dash of automation-driven hubris thrown in. Over the past year, the company learned a lot of lessons as it evolved from an upstart automaker into a more mature car company. When Tesla starts the Semi’s production, there’s a good chance that it would no longer be a company that adopts unrealistic release timelines. Instead, it would be an automaker that has gained experience over years of missed deadlines. The fact that the Semi shares components with the electric sedan would be a given plus, but the real boost in the manufacturing of the electric truck would likely be caused the expertise that Tesla gained when it tackled the challenge of the Model 3 ramp.
The market for the Tesla Semi is vast, and so far, reactions from the market are encouraging. During the company’s Q1 2018 earnings call, Elon Musk and CTO JB Straubel noted that Tesla has around 2,000 reservations for the vehicle. Tesla has also acquired orders from companies such as PepsiCo, FedEx, and UPS in the United States and Bee’ah from the United Arab Emirates, to name a few.
Elon Musk
Tesla Cybercabs narrowly miss deadly Amazon cargo plane crash
An Amazon cargo plane crash near Miami’s airport stopped feet from dozens of Tesla Cybercabs.
An Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767 cargo jet overran the runway at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon, killing five people and injuring five more. The jet, operated by North Carolina based carrier 21 Air as Flight 7598, touched down around 2 p.m. after arriving from San Juan, Puerto Rico, then crossed the airport perimeter, plowed across NW 67th Avenue and struck multiple vehicles before catching fire, according to the Associated Press.
Photos and video from the scene show the aircraft’s nose stopped within meters of a fenced staging lot holding dozens of gold painted Tesla Cybercabs, the steering wheel free robotaxi Tesla began putting on public roads in Austin last week. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue has confirmed the plane struck “multiple vehicles” but has not said whether any Cybercabs were among them, and neither Tesla nor airport officials have addressed the fleet directly.
The Cybercabs had not yet entered commercial service in Miami. Tesla’s existing Robotaxi operation there runs on modified Model Y vehicles and has been unsupervised since Ashok Elluswamy confirmed the detail on X in July.
Footage of the plane crash from earlier today | #ONLYinDADE pic.twitter.com/iGoOtnd6cD
— ONLY in DADE (@ONLYinDADE) September 6, 2026
Elon Musk offered the briefest of reactions. Replying to a Zero Hedge post about the Cybercabs sitting so close to the wreckage, he wrote a single word: “Weird.” He has not commented further, and Tesla has not issued a statement.
The timing puts Tesla’s newest vehicle near an unrelated but highly visible tragedy just days after its Austin debut, a launch that had already drawn scrutiny from federal regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an audit how Tesla certified the Cybercab as compliant with federal vehicle safety standards, a process Teslarati covered after the vehicle’s September 3 launch event. That inquiry concerns the car’s lack of a steering wheel and pedals, not the Miami crash.
Investigators from the FAA and NTSB are focused on the plane, not the parking lot beside it. Flight data reviewed by outlets including Simple Flying show the 767 touched down around 170 knots, well above the 135 to 140 knot range typical for the aircraft, though investigators have not determined a cause. Amazon said it is working with authorities and that its priority is the safety of everyone affected.
Whether any Cybercabs were damaged, and what Tesla plans for the fleet parked near one of the country’s busiest airports, remain open questions.
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Tesla crosses major Unsupervised Self-Driving milestone
Tesla has reached a notable benchmark in its autonomous driving program after its Robotaxi fleet surpassed one million miles of unsupervised operation. The company made the announcement during its Cybercab event in Austin on September 3.
Tesla Vice President of AI Ashok Elluswamy told attendees he was happy to report the fleet had achieved one million miles of unsupervised Robotaxi operation as a testament to safety.
The new total marked a sharp increase from the 380,000 unsupervised miles Tesla disclosed during its second-quarter 2026 earnings update in late July.
In roughly six weeks, the company added about 620,000 miles. That acceleration followed Tesla’s decision to remove in-vehicle safety monitors from most of its operations outside the San Francisco Bay Area.

Credit: Tesla
Tesla first launched Robotaxi service in Austin in June 2025 with safety drivers present. It later began fully unsupervised rides and expanded into Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. The San Francisco Bay Area remains the exception, where a safety monitor still rides in the vehicle under California permitting rules.
The company has not released a city-by-city breakdown of the one million unsupervised miles.
The milestone arrived as Tesla began offering public Cybercab rides in Austin. The purpose-built vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals and is designed only for autonomous ride-hailing. Production versions joined the existing fleet of modified Tesla vehicles already operating in the service.
Tesla’s unsupervised mileage is growing at a double-digit weekly rate according to earlier company comments, yet its fleet size remains modest compared with established competitors. Waymo has accumulated more than 200 million fully autonomous rider-only miles. Tesla has described its own unsupervised operations as having recorded zero notable incidents in the period leading up to the July update.
The one-million-mile figure reflects Tesla’s shift from supervised testing to broader driverless service in multiple states. It also highlights the company’s strategy of using both existing Model Y vehicles and the new Cybercab to scale its network.

Credit: Tesla
Whether the rapid recent growth continues will depend on further city expansions, regulatory approvals, and the performance of the purpose-built Cybercab in everyday paid rides. Tesla has not specified how many of the latest miles involved the new vehicle versus the rest of the fleet.
The announcement underscores Tesla’s progress toward a larger robotaxi network while illustrating the remaining gap in total autonomous experience relative to longer-operating rivals.
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Tesla Robotaxi will be a 24/7 service: here’s when
Tesla AI lead Ashok Elluswamy said this week that 24-hour Robotaxi service is close. Replying on X to a rider who wanted Cybercab trips all night, he wrote that the capability would arrive “next month or so” once “the next tech to merge on the v15 plan” is ready.
The comment landed on September 4, one day after Tesla opened public Cybercab rides in Austin. It is the clearest near-term timeline yet for overnight unsupervised operation. Tesla’s paid Robotaxi network currently runs from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week across Austin, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa.
next month or so. the next tech to merge on the v15 plan will enable it.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) September 4, 2026
That 16-hour window is shorter than the 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. schedule the company used for much of the prior year.
Elluswamy did not name the specific feature or say whether the change would apply first to purpose-built Cybercabs, the existing Model Y fleet, or both. He also offered no city-by-city rollout list. The link to Full Self-Driving v15 is nevertheless significant.
Tesla has described v15 as a step-change architecture with seven parallel improvement tracks and roughly ten times more parameters than earlier builds. Early versions of that software already operate on the Robotaxi fleet and contain about 40 percent of the planned gains.
By July 2026, the unsupervised fleet had logged more than 380,000 miles across six cities in two states with what the company called an impeccable safety record and no notable incidents caused by the vehicles themselves. Tesla has repeatedly argued that camera-based end-to-end neural networks, rather than extra sensors, are the core of the solution.
Overnight service would test that claim in lower-light conditions and would also raise vehicle utilization, a key variable for Robotaxi unit economics. The company has already begun using public Superchargers at night and is building dedicated Robotaxi charging sites.
Riders have asked why software must change if the cars already drive in the dark. The practical answer appears to be reliability and scale: Tesla has held back mass expansion until more of the v15 stack is merged, citing the need for higher confidence before putting thousands of unoccupied vehicles on streets around the clock.
If the next module arrives on the timetable Elluswamy sketched, 24-hour service could begin in October 2026 in at least some markets.
That would mark a shift from a daytime-bounded pilot to a service that can run whenever demand exists, including the late-night hours that have so far remained out of reach.