Several Tesla Semi electric trucks have been spotted being shipped across the U.S. ahead of the long-awaited start of deliveries, according to Electrek. The Tesla Semi, an all-electric Class 8 truck, was unveiled back in 2017 and was originally scheduled for official delivery in 2019. The vehicle project was delayed for years until recently, and it was expected that the Semi electric truck would not enter production until 2023.
However, Elon Musk made a surprise announcement last month that the Tesla Semi will actually begin deliveries later this year.
Beyond that, he didn’t clarify the timing, but it now appears to be imminent, as several Tesla Semi electric trucks have been spotted being transported in the back of other trucks across the U.S.
The electric trucks are produced near the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada, however, a Tesla Semi was spotted in Kentucky this weekend.
Around the same time, another Tesla Semi truck was spotted in Arizona, and the truck driver reportedly said it was being transported to Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas.
Tesla has said that when it comes to the Tesla Semi truck, it will be its own first customer. It plans to use it in its own operations and reduce fuel costs.
The automaker is already using early prototypes in its operations, particularly between the Gigafactory in Nevada and the Fremont plant, but now the company expects to start using more production units.
But Tesla is also expected to finally deliver the Tesla Semi electric truck to customers who placed their orders five years ago, according to Elon Musk’s announcement.
Tesla has been taking reservations with deposits of up to $20,000 per truck.
The company is known to have thousands of electric trucks on pre-order, with several large companies having large orders, including Walmart and PepsiCo.
While the automaker has deployed production capacity in Nevada, production is fairly low. Tesla expects to put the vehicle into mass production at its Gigafactory in Texas next year.
The company has never announced planned production capacity, but it expects to produce tens of thousands of trucks a year.
