Tesla’s Semi Is Finally in Volume Production — at Half Its Planned Capacity — With a 2,500-Truck Order to Fill

Tesla has started volume production of its battery-electric Semi. In its third-quarter update, published October 21, the company lists the dedicated Semi plant in Sparks, Nevada, with the status “production” and an installed annual capacity of 25,000 trucks — half the 50,000 the factory is designed for. Tesla did not say when the remaining capacity will follow, and it does not disclose how many Semis it builds or delivers.

The first trucks off the high-volume line rolled out in April 2026, and customer deliveries began September 24 at the Nevada plant, with trucks bearing the logos of PepsiCo, DHL and US Foods parked outside. The long-range version is claimed to travel 500 miles per charge, with a 325-mile standard-range variant alongside it, and Tesla plans more than 30 Semi charging locations with over 200 megawatt-capable posts by the end of 2026.

Demand is building. In September, the ZET SCALE alliance — launched by Catalyst Mobility and the Smart Freight Centre with Microsoft and PepsiCo as founding members — selected Tesla as primary supplier for 2,500 battery-electric Class 8 trucks, with the first due in the fourth quarter of 2026 and all 2,500 to be delivered within 18 months across ten freight hubs. Europe is next: Tesla plans customer demonstrations in the first half of 2027 and deliveries by the end of 2027, with the trucks built in Nevada.

The Semi was unveiled in November 2017 with a 2019 production target, and limited deliveries to PepsiCo began in late 2022 from a pilot line. Nine years on, the program has finally moved beyond prototypes and small fleet deployments — but the test now is whether a factory running at half its designed capacity can fill a 2,500-truck order while Tesla still declines to publish a single production number.