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Tesla officially begins mass production of Semi electric trucks, says they “require almost no maintenance”

Image: Tesla

Tesla has confirmed it has begun high-volume production of Tesla Semi electric truck, just months after the company starting commercial production at its gigafactory in Nevada, and almost 10 years after the vehicle’s first unveiling.

Tesla announced the news in a post on X, and shared new details around some of the technologies that have gone into the Semi manufacturing facilities and how the vehicle has been redesigned for global markets.

According to Tesla, the recently opened Nevada Gigafactory can produce up to 50,000 trucks per year. It will be the first powder coated Class 8 truck in the world and will e built at one of the most automated plants.

There have been multiple other innovations on the Semi from using Tesla’s in-house designed 4680 battery cells to a much improved drivetrain that has been using some of the technologies developed for the Cybertruck, which will deliver better range when loaded.

The HVAC system is using Tesla’s next-gen heat pump that runs drivers’ cab HVAC and powertrain heating/cooling systems at the same time. This will reduce all the losses in engine heat from diesel trucks running today, while keeping the driver quite comfortable.

On the driver comfort front, acoustic glass has been used throughout with huge amount of visibility, along with the ability to stand up in the cabin.

Image: Tesla

Tesla has also used software to make the driver’s job easier by automating part of the pre-trip inspections, with electronic logs for all inspections done.

On top of that, the company shared that the Semi ā€œrequires almost no maintenanceā€ and in 2026, year-to-date uptime was greater than 98%.

Earlier this year, Tesla Semi’s key specs were also released with the Semi coming in two variants. The first is a Standard Range variant with a 548 kWh battery pack. This entry-level variant will deliver over 500 km of range.

There is also a larger Long Range variant with an 822 kWh battery pack that delivers over 800 km of range with a 37-tonne load on board.

Both use Tesla’s 4680 cells with NMC chemistry, which can be charged at up to 1.2 MW with Tesla’s Megachargers, designed specifically for the Tesla Semi.

In July 2026, Tesla deployed its first Semi Megacharger station, with up to 1.2 MW of charging power per stall, helping Semi truck operators charge on the go.

Then, in August 2026, the company said it was installing pre-fabricated Megachargers, improving deployment times while saving on-site costs.

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RizĀ is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.

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