Roughly five years after it was first revealed to the public, Tesla has started to deliver the first units of its widely-awaited truck called the Tesla Semi.
The announcement by made by no other than the firm’s high-profile Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, who attended a corporate event at the company’s Gigafactory in Nevada yesterday.
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 2, 2022
It took Tesla three years more than expected to deliver the first units of the Semi. The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the reasons why the production of the Semi was delayed in addition to the supply chain crisis that took place shortly after the health crisis started.
PepsiCo is the first company in line to take delivery of the Semi. Musk walked by the factory floor and was surrounded by four trucks that depicted logos of some of the company’s top brands including Pepsi and Frito Lay.
In regards to the extreme delay that the launch of the product experienced, the head of Tesla (TSLA) humored the audience by saying “Sorry for the delay”.
“It’s been a long journey, long five years, but this is gonna really revolutionize the roads and I think make the world a better place in a meaningful way”, Musk further commented.
Not Many Details Were Provided About the Semi’s Production Timeline
Despite the positive tone of the event, Musk abstained from providing details in regards to how many vehicles the company plans to deliver per month or year or the specific features that have already been incorporated into the model. The model will go into production officially next year.
Earlier, the Chairman of Tesla, Robyn Denholm, said that the company expected to produce at least 100 units of the Semi in 2022. Meanwhile, Musk has stated that the company plans to manufacture at least 50,000 units of this model every year by 2024.
Back in 2017 when the Semi was presented by Musk, he commented that the vehicle will have full self-driving capabilities. It is unclear if that is the case with the recently delivered units.
The current cost of the Semi has also not been revealed to the public. Five years ago, Musk said that the 300-mile range model would cost approximately $150,000 while the 500-mile version would cost $30,000 more. However, Tesla’s vehicles experienced several price increases during that period as the cost of materials has risen sharply since the pandemic started.
Tesla’s Stock Value May Have Been Hurt by Musk’s Twitter Deal
Tesla stock was unmoved despite the news, trading just 0.6% higher in pre-market action at $195.95 per share. In November alone, Tesla shares experienced a 14.4% decline while the stock accumulates a 45% loss since the year started.
Investors have been getting increasingly worried about the amount of time that Elon Musk is devoting to its newly acquired company Twitter. The founder of SpaceX has made several controversial decisions and is seen as spending a lot of effort in making the social media company a profitable endeavor.
The more Musk is involved with Twitter, the less time he may have to keep things running smoothly at Tesla at a point when the company is facing one of the most severe supply chain crises of our modern times.
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The billionaire told the court in November that he was prepared to hand over the reins of the social media business once he gets things on track. His testimony took place during a proceeding related to his Tesla compensation package.
“There’s an initial burst of activity needed post-acquisition to reorganize the company… But then I expect to reduce my time at Twitter”, Musk’s testimony to the court reads.
In a tweet, Musk also emphasized that he is spending less than 5% of his time on Twitter-related activities. However, analysts have noted that Musk’s increasing involvement in the social media company may be hurting the value of Tesla stock.
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