AUSTIN, Texas — Tesla confirmed on April 29 that it has rolled the first Semi truck off its new high-volume production line at a dedicated 1.7-million-square-foot factory adjacent to Gigafactory Nevada in Sparks, completing a journey from concept to mass production that began in 2017.
The automaker shared an image of the truck on its official Tesla Semi account, marking the transition from a hand-built pilot operation to a full manufacturing line designed for an annual capacity of 50,000 vehicles.
Nine Years in the Making
Tesla first unveiled the Semi in November 2017, with Elon Musk promising production would begin in 2019. What followed was one of the most closely watched — and most delayed — vehicle programs in the company's history. Production timelines shifted to 2020, then 2021, then 2022, as Tesla prioritized battery cell allocation for its higher-volume passenger cars.
A small fleet of hand-built trucks was delivered to PepsiCo in December 2022, proving the vehicle's core technology. Over the next three years, Tesla refined the design, cut approximately 1,000 pounds from the truck's weight, and constructed the dedicated Nevada factory. In February 2026, the company confirmed final production specifications: two trims, two price points, and a charging network to support them.
Specifications and Pricing
The production Semi is available in Standard Range and Long Range configurations. The Standard Range offers 325 miles of real-world range at a fully loaded 82,000-lb gross combination weight, priced at approximately $260,000. The Long Range extends that to 500 miles at the same payload, priced at around $290,000 — making it the lowest-cost Class 8 battery-electric tractor on the market.
Both variants share an 800-kilowatt tri-motor drivetrain producing 1,072 horsepower and support Tesla's 1.2-megawatt Megacharger system, which can restore 60 percent of the battery's range in roughly 30 minutes — a timeline that aligns conveniently with a driver's mandatory rest break under federal regulations.
Vertical Integration Eliminates the Old Bottleneck
A key advantage of the Nevada campus is its tight integration. The 4680 battery cells that power the Semi are manufactured on-site at Gigafactory Nevada, eliminating the supply chain constraints that had forced Tesla to repeatedly defer the truck in favor of passenger car production.
