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Tesla Semi to kick off Yandell Truckaway’s transition to an all-electric fleet

The Tesla Semi visits Yandell Truckaway. (Photo: Arash Malek)

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Following its visit to Pixar HQ for the esteemed animation studio’s green day celebration for employees, the Tesla Semi headed to the headquarters of another reservation holder: veteran transportation, logistics, and warehousing company Yandell Truckaway, which as been in the trucking business since 1945. Yandell had ordered 10 units of the Semi’s 300-mile version for its fleet, as part of its efforts to fully embrace sustainable solutions.

Yandell aims to utilize its Tesla all-electric trucks for its asset-based trucking division, with the vehicles operating in Northern California and catering to the area’s temperature controlled wine transportation and storage industry. This makes the Semi’s 300-mile variant perfect for Yandell’s business, as the trucks would likely have enough range to perform their day-to-day tasks and simply charge at night. In a statement, Yandell Truckaway COO John Yandell III remarked that the Semi is a perfect match for the company’s history of embracing bleeding edge technologies. 

The Tesla Semi visits Yandell Truckaway. (Photo: Arash Malek)

“For over 70 years Yandell Truckaway has been serving the Northern California wine industry. Throughout that time we have prided ourselves by staying at the forefront of technology, making our operations more efficient and environmentally friendly. With the introduction of the Tesla Semi truck, we are looking forward to ushering in the most substantial and groundbreaking piece of technology the trucking industry has ever seen,” the COO said. 

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The executive made it clear that the 10 Tesla Semis Yandell Truckaway ordered are intended to replace the trucks that the company is currently using. Eventually, Yandell plans to transition its fleet into zero-emissions trucks. With this in mind, the trucking veteran is laying the groundwork to prepare for the deployment of its Tesla Semi fleet, as well as its succeeding sustainable initiatives. A huge part of this will be the company’s charging infrastructure, which will likely be a key factor in determining whether or not its EV trucking push will succeed. 

The Tesla Semi visits Yandell Truckaway. (Photo: Arash Malek)

To address the charging needs of its upcoming electric truck fleet, the COO stated that Yandell is looking to set up a new building that will include solar panels that will help provide the power that will charge its Tesla Semis. Other electric trucks that the company plans to use, as well as electric-powered forklifts for its warehousing operations, will be charged using this upcoming building as well.

The Tesla Semi holds the potential to disrupt the lucrative trucking market. To allow the vehicle to be competitive, Tesla designed its truck to capitalize on the strengths of EVs as much as possible. The Semi is equipped with four Model 3-derived electric motors, which allow the long-hauler to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5 seconds flat while bobtailing. With a full load, the Semi is capable of hitting highway speed in around 20 seconds, far quicker than diesel-powered trucks. The Semi will also feature a unique “Convoy Mode,” which would allow multiple trucks to semi-autonomously draft close to each other.

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The Tesla Semi was initially announced for production in 2019, though this date has been adjusted for 2020. The company has hinted at improvements in the Semi since its unveiling, with Elon Musk teasing that the production long-range variant of the truck will have closer to 600 miles of range per charge.

Watch some sleek drone footage of the Tesla Semi in its visit to Yandell Truckaway in the video below.

https://youtu.be/JLtJ7SeZehQ

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

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Credit: @SecWar/X

U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.

The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.

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Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.

“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.

Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.

Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.

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Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.

SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.

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Energy

Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

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Credit: Tesla Energy/X

Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.

The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.

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Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.

Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.

Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.

The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.

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Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.

The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.

At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.

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Elon Musk shares big Tesla Optimus 3 production update

According to Musk, Tesla is in the final stages of completing Optimus 3, which he described as one of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots.

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Credit: Tesla China

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated that production of Optimus 3 could begin this summer. Musk shared the update in his interview at the Abundance Summit.

According to Musk, Tesla is in the final stages of completing Optimus 3, which he described as one of the world’s most advanced humanoid robots.

“We’re in the final stages of completion of Optimus 3, which is really going to be by far the most advanced robot in the world. Nothing’s even close. In fact, I haven’t even seen demos of robots that are as good as Optimus 3,” Musk said.

He also set expectations on the pace of Optimus 3’s production ramp, stating that the initial volumes of the humanoid robot will likely be very low. Musk did, however, also state that high production rates for Optimus 3 should be possible in 2027. 

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“I think we’ll start production on Optimus 3 this summer, but very slow at first, like sort of this classic S-curve ramp of manufacturing units versus time. And then, probably reach high volume production around summer next year,” he said.

Interestingly enough, the CEO hinted that Tesla is looking to iterate on the robot quickly, potentially releasing a new Optimus design every year.

“We’ll have Optimus 4 design complete next year. We’ll try to release a new robot design every year,” Musk stated.

Tesla has already outlined broader plans for scaling Optimus production beyond its first manufacturing line. Musk previously stated that Optimus 4 will be built at Gigafactory Texas at significantly higher production volumes.

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Initial production lines for the robot are expected to be located at Tesla’s Fremont Factory, where the company plans to establish a line capable of producing up to 1 million robots per year.

A larger production ramp is expected to occur at Gigafactory Texas, where Musk has previously suggested could eventually support production of up to 10 million robots per year.

“We’re going to launch on the fastest production ramp of any product of any large complex manufactured product ever, starting with building a one-million-unit production line in Fremont. And that’s Line one. And then a ten million unit per year production line here,” Musk said previously.

The comments suggest that while Optimus 3 will likely begin production at Fremont, Tesla’s larger-scale manufacturing push could arrive with Optimus 4 at Gigafactory Texas.

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