As EV Sales Slide, Tesla Will Adopt Its Own Semi Electric Trucks

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The waiting is finally over. Tesla CEO Elon Musk first teased the idea of producing a Tesla-branded heavy-duty electric truck back in 2017. After much delay, volume production of the new Tesla Semi will finally arrive next year. The question will then be one of sales. That’s a challenge for any electric truck maker, Tesla or otherwise. The EV market is in pretty tough shape here in the US following the evaporation of the federal tax credit, and multiple stakeholders are already jostling for elbow space in a crowded field.

We Have Met The Buyers, And They Are US

Not to worry. If Tesla’s Cybertruck strategy is any indication, another company under the Musk umbrella will help relieve Tesla of unsold Semi inventory. As reported by AutoBlog in October, both SpaceX and xAI have taken delivery of numerous Cybertrucks.

“New reporting says SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket-ship company, has taken delivery of hundreds of Cybertrucks. It’s believed the Austin-based SpaceX will accept delivery of thousands more as well. XAI, Elon’s artificial intelligence company focusing on building large language models and chatbots, also reportedly took delivery of “several truckloads” over the past week,” observed AutoBlog on October 26.

Fair enough. It’s unclear what an aerospace firm can do with such an enormous ground fleet, but that’s on SpaceX.

Meanwhile, our friends over at Teslerati are among those reporting that Tesla’s first full-volume production customer for the Semi will be itself. That makes sense, in a way. To date only PepsiCo has been piloting Semi trucks at scale, though initial plans for a fleet of 100 Semis eventually resolved to just a few dozen as of last year, confined to PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay operations in California. A broader demonstration of the truck’s performance, overseen by Tesla itself, could help convince Semi-curious haulers in other parts of the US to add the truck to their fleet.

Who Will Buy The Tesla Semi Electric Truck?

In advance of volume production, Tesla has collected additional commitments. Last year, PepsiCo announced plans to add another 50 Semis to its fleet, bringing the total closer to the 100-truck mark. As of last year, UPS, FedEx, and Walmart were reportedly among early adopters still planning to add the truck to their fleets, when it eventually materializes. J.B. Hunt, Sysco, and DHL have also surfaced in Semi news (see lots more Semi background here).

Among the more promising off-takers is thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services, which has been a Tesla logistics partner for the past 10 years. In June, the company reported that it has tested a Tesla Semi in California.

“During this 3-week demo experience in the winter, thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services delivered goods over nearly 5,000 miles in a variety of conditions, while also regularly traversing Altamont Pass. Plans are underway to integrate a fleet of the electric Semi soon,” thyssenkrupp noted.

The company was apparently satisfied with the performance of the Semi under challenging conditions. However, in the same report thyssenkrupp also indicated that it has a more holistic fleet decarbonization plan up its sleeve. “The pilot also is the latest in a series of strategic moves by thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services to solidify its position in Renewable Energy Logistics,” the company explained. “As an early adopter of alternative fuels, the company continues to explore technologies that drive sustainability and innovation in logistics.”

Electric Trucks Are Coming For Your Fossil Fuels, Eventually

The prospects for a blowout sales year for the Semi in 2026 already look dim, and for that matter, electric truck makers of any sort have yet to make an appreciable mark in the US. In June, the transportation organization ICCT reported that electric trucks have continued to gain market share in recent years. However, even with vigorous support from federal policy makers up through 2024, that share remained vanishingly small.

“Approximately 2,810 zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) trucks and buses were registered in the United States in 2024,” ICCT reported. That figure followed the year-on-year improvement trend, but the share of registrations only reached 0.56% of the overall MHD market.

On a brighter note, new EV-centric business models are emerging that make a stronger case for haulers to electrify their fleets. Last summer, for example, CleanTechnica profiled the electric fleet management startup Nevoya. Instead of wedging new electric trucks into existing diesel-based logistics systems, Nevoya provides a soup-to-nuts makeover that takes full advantage of the bottom line benefits of fleet electrification.

Nevoya launched with a fleet of eCascadia electric trucks under the Daimler North America umbrella. In July the company told me that it also placed orders with Tesla and Volvo. Things could get even more interesting now that the Chinese firm Windrose Technologies has launched itself into the US market. Over the summer, reports surfaced that Nevoya ordered “several hundred” electric trucks from Windrose, with initial delivery beginning later this year.

The Brand Reputation Factor

I’ve reached out to Nevoya for confirmation on the Windrose order and an update on their truck acquisition plans, too. In the meantime, other players in the fleet electrification-as-service field have emerged to help push the truck market. The US startup Zeem Solutions, for example, has been scouting far and wide for trucks of all sizes. In the Class 8 field, the company lists Volvo and The PACCAR trucks Peterbilt and Kenworth on its roster, along with Daimler among others.

If you can name any CEO at any of these companies, run right out and buy yourself a cigar. The point is that the auto industry tends to play personal reputation close to the vests. Slate Auto backer Jeff Bezos is the only investor in the automotive space who even comes close to the name recognition cultivated by Elon Musk, who has tied himself to the misfortunes of US President Donald Trump hook, line, and sinker.

Musk emerged into Trump world with full force at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and never looked back, dropping a $277 million donation into Trump’s 2024 campaign before helming the DOGE train wreck.

That series of choices entangled the Tesla brand in one high profile controversy after another leading up to new revelations about Trump’s relationship with the convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein (deceased) and Ghislaine Maxwell (alive and reportedly flourishing at a minimum security federal prison Texas).

Musk was carelessly slinging the “pedo guy” insult around social media back in 2019, only now it appears he may have hit the wrong target. If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread…

Photo (screenshot, cropped): The new Tesla Semi heavy-duty electric truck will finally be ready for volume production in 2026, but other truck makers are already competing in the same space (courtesy of thyssen-krupp).