After Nikola's surge, Tesla to go 'all out' for mass production of Semi trucks
Three years since it was first unveiled, Tesla Semi all-electric trucks are now expected to go into mass production. A leaked Tesla internal memo accessed by Reuters reveals Elon Musk asking his team to go ‘all out’ for ‘volume production’ of the electric truck.
The company did not officially comment on the leak. However, Elon Musk took to Twitter to confirm with a ‘Yes’ to an user’s query whether the matter of the leaked emails were true.
Also check these Vehicles
The leaked email read, “It’s time to go all out and bring the Tesla Semi to volume production. t’s been in limited production so far, which has allowed us to improve many aspects of the design. Production of the battery and powertrain would take place at Giga Nevada, with most of the other work probably occurring in other states. Jerome (Guillen, Tesla’s President of Automotive) and I are very excited to work with you to bring this amazing product to market!"
The email led to a surge in Tesla's stock prices on Wednesday, briefly surpassing Toyota to become world's most valuable car company.
The Tesla Semi trucks were unveiled in November 2017 and was scheduled to arrive in 2019. However the delivery dates were recently been pushed to 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis that made the company change its priorities.
According to Tesla, there will be two variants of the Semi truck available. Tesla claims that the distance these trucks will be able to cover with maximum load will range between 300 and 500 miles. The Tesla Semi trucks are reported to come with a warranty for one million miles. There is still no confirmation on the details of its battery size. Tesla also claims the trucks can accelerate from zero to 60 mph with 40-ton load in about 20 seconds.
Tesla’s decision to ramp up production of the Semi trucks has only heated up the electric truck battle. Nikola Corp, which marked its debut on NASDAQ last week, is being seen as a competitor to Tesla’s truck business.
Nikola Motor's CEO Trevor Milton took to Twitter to respond on Tesla's decision to go all out with Semi by "welcoming" competition, but reassuring that its FCVs will be better.
Milton founded Nikola in 2014. The Phoenix-based company designs and manufactures electric components, drivetrains and vehicles including the Nikola One and Nikola Two electric semi trucks. It’s planning to start delivering the Tre battery-electric semi truck next year, followed by two fuel cell-electric models in 2023.
Get insights into Upcoming Cars In India, Electric Vehicles, Upcoming Bikes in India and cutting-edge technology transforming the automotive landscape.