Tesla Semi — Updates in 2022

Ever since November 2017, the Tesla vehicle I’ve been most looking forward to has been the Tesla Semi. I’m sure Tesla legend Jerome Guillen has been in the same boat, as well as countless Tesla fans. It’s been a long wait. However, here in 2022, we’ve got a number of updates that inspire confidence we will start seeing Tesla Semi trucks on roads near us before long.

Tesla Semi coming soon. It’s going to disrupt the trucking industry. 🤯🤯🤯 @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/MsYRyvSTkj

— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) September 5, 2022

On the most superficial level, a few Tesla Semis were recently spotted out and about. Yes, one of those was at the Cyber Rodeo, so it’s not new, but seeing a flock of Tesla Semis is certainly not common.

More notably, Tesla opened up actual order books for the Tesla Semi in May, and it was reported in June that Tesla had installed a Megacharger at a Frito Lay and PepsiCo facility in Modesto, California, in preparation for some of the first Semi deliveries to customers. Megachargers were also installed at Tesla Gigafactory 1 (Giga Nevada) back in January of this year.

Another noteworthy update on the topic is that as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, an electric semi truck could get your business a $40,000 tax credit. Yowzas! That’s one clear way to support the rollout of electric semi trucks, both from Tesla and from others (ahem, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Freightliner).

After the Semi was revealed in 2017, company after company placed reservations/pre-orders for the truck. That included PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch, Walmart, DHL, Sysco, Frito Lay, Titanium Transportation Group, and many others. Presumably, as soon as Tesla has enough of a battery supply, it will start producing Semi trucks in high volume and delivering them to these customers. When we see a Semi driving around with the logo of one of these companies on it, or at least somewhere on the driver or cargo, that’s when we can really cheer the arrival of the Semi. Will it happen in 2022?

Details regarding the Tesla Semi are available on Tesla’s website.

Featured photo by Kyle Field | CleanTechnica.