Elon Musk has said that “it is time to bring” Tesla Semi electric trucks to volume production in a memo to all Tesla employees.
In a new email to employees last night, Musk that he wants to go “all out”:
“It’s time to go all out and bring the Tesla Semi to volume production. It’s been in limited production so far, which has allowed us to improve many aspects of the design.”
It’s unclear what he means by “limited production”, but there have so far been only two Tesla Semi prototypes spotted on public roads.
Musk continued in the email:
“Production of the battery and powertrain would take place at Giga Nevada, with most of the other work probably occurring in other states.”
Electrek previously reported that Tesla secured a lease on a large building at the Gigafactory Nevada site to help with Tesla Semi production.
In the email, the CEO didn’t address a timeline for production.
At the unveiling of the Tesla Semi in 2017, the automaker said that the electric truck would be coming in 2019, but the vehicle has since been pushed to “low-volume production in late 2020.”
With the release of its Q1 2020 results, Tesla gave its usual product update.
The automaker stated that all its programs are still on pace — except for Tesla Semi slipping into 2021:
We expect that production of both Model Y in Fremont and Model 3 in Shanghai will continue to ramp gradually through Q2. We are continuing to build capacity for Model Y at Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory Shanghai and remain on track to start deliveries from both locations in 2021. Lastly, we are shifting our first Tesla Semi deliveries to 2021.
Musk added at the end of the email to employees:
Jerome and I are very excited to work with you to bring this amazing product to market!
Musk is referring to Jerome Guillen, Tesla’s President of Automotive who has also been leading the Tesla Semi program since 2016.
Electrek’s Take
I am happy about the renewed focus on bringing Tesla Semi to production, but I have to say that this announcement is vague.
Elon says that he wants to go “all out” and it’s “time to bring” Tesla Semi to production, but he only talks about battery and powertrain at Gigafactory Nevada, which we already knew about, and then that “probably” the rest will happen in other states.
You’d think that the plan would be clearer than “probably” by now.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
If anyone knows more about the Tesla Semi program, please reach out via Fred@electrek.co, via Wickr: Fredev, or through my social media: Twitter and Instagram.
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