Chinese competitor to Tesla Semi plans US assembly facility for electric trucks

Chinese electric truck startup Windrose is reportedly planning to set up an assembly plant in the United States for its electric semi-trucks, billed as a direct competitor to the Tesla Semi.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Windrose is eyeing up plans to set up a US assembly plant in the state of Georgia, a rare move for a Chinese company.

According to Windrose CEO Han Wen, speaking in an interview to Reuters, the assembly plant would piece together chassis and other vehicle parts that were manufactured in China to better serve the company’s US customer base.

US customers supposedly account for a majority of Windrose’s existing order book of 6,400 trucks, which the company is aiming to deliver over the next three years.

Han gave no indication of how much his company would invest into the United States plans nor provide any specifics on how many orders originate from the United States.

“The U.S. market is friendly towards Chinese heavy electric trucks based on the fact that the tariffs on imported trucks are much lower than those on cars,” Han told Reuters.

“Many of our clients are U.S. firms, for example, Nike… and we can serve them in their home market.”

The Windrose EV heavy-duty truck is expected to compete directly with the Tesla Semi. Powered by a battery pack measuring in at 729kWh, the truck boasts total range of 670 kilometres on a single charge fully loaded at 49 tonnes.

For comparison, the Tesla Semi boasts a range of between 480km to 800km fully loaded at 37 tonnes, with experts guessing the battery pack measures in at around 900kWh. Tesla aims to start volume production of the Semi by the end of 2025, with initial deliveries expected for the start of 2026.

Windrose completed a nearly 1,600km test run in China earlier this year. World leading sporting goods retailer Decathlon has also partnered with Windrose, starting testing of the electric semi earlier this year in France.

The Windrose EV heavy-duty truck is reportedly priced at the same price as the Tesla Semi of around $US250,000 ($A380,000, converted).