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Tesla opened its first factory for high-volume production of the Semi, a heavy-duty electric truck, in Sparks, Nevada, on Thursday, as CEO Elon Musk aims to push into big rigs. The company first unveiled its Semi in 2017, and started selling the trucks in very limited quantities to early customers, including anchor client PepsiCo., in 2022. A livestream of the ribbon-cutting event aired Thursday evening. Musk wasn't at the opening, but he showed up by video recording for the audience, and called the Semi a "breakthrough product for heavy shipping." "It's almost like a sports car in truck form," said Musk, who is attending a state dinner in Washington, D.C., with President Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping. The factory opening comes as Tesla's core business of electric vehicles faces increased competition across the globe, and as soaring diesel costs present a potential opening for a transition to EVs in commercial trucking. Tesla has struggled to gain much traction with its angular steel Cybertruck, a pickup that it first delivered to customers in 2023. Tesla's stock price is down 16% this year, underperforming all of its megacap tech peers. On Tuesday, industry coalition ZET SCALE said it "selected Tesla as its primary original equipment manufacturer" for an initial order of 2,500 Semi trucks, with the aim of ordering more than 10,000 electric trucks from an array of providers. Trucking firm Einride also recently said it agreed to order 500 Tesla Semi trucks for its fleet with some deployments planned this month. Tesla doesn't list a price for the Semi, but the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reported recently that the higher-end long-range trucks have been priced at around $290,000. Lars Moravy, Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering, appeared on stage Thursday with Dan Priestley, director of Semi truck engineering, at the factory near Reno. Priestley said the company plans to produce 50,000 Semi trucks per year there, or about 1,000 per week, and to bring "more than 3,000 jobs during that ramp period" to Nevada. On Tesla's last earnings call in July, Musk told investors that the company's automated driving systems (known as FSD, or Full Self-Driving) would be available for the Semi in the near future, but he declined to give a specific date. Musk said at the time that he sees driverless systems as essential for the trucking industry. "There just aren't enough people around who want to drive trucks, which are crucial for transport throughout America," Musk said. "An autonomous Semi is actually going to be very important to address the shortage of truck drivers." Musk, who has a long history of missing his stated deadlines when it comes to driverless vehicles, added that the company expects "to get self-driving working on the Tesla Semi probably around the end of this year or early next year." Meanwhile, competitors Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI are already conducting driverless testing with their trucks and hauling cargo for partners. For now, Tesla's primary selling point for the Semi is its battery range and charging network. A long-range version of the Tesla Semi can travel an estimated 500 miles on a full battery, while its standard variant gets an estimated 325 miles, the company says. Priestley said Thursday that Semi trucks in fleet operations have demonstrated 98% uptime, and rarely needed to spend time out of service for unscheduled maintenance. The company said it's setting up a bespoke service network for Semi owners, and will be sending mobile service technicians for repairs when possible. According to ICCT, trucks and buses represent less than 10% of road vehicles globally yet account for nearly half of transport-related air pollution. Switching to efficient zero-emission commercial vehicles can reduce pollution levels and bring "savings to fleet operators through lower costs," the group said in a 2025 report. Tesla also plans to bring the Semi to Europe, where rivals like Volvo and Daimler Truck already sell battery-powered models. WATCH: Options trades are cheap ahead of October announcements
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