- Elon Musk says he sees the Tesla Semi as a global product.
- Tesla Semi will likely be built in Europe for the European market.
- It was shown at two separate events in Germany this year.
Even though the Tesla Semi was conceived with the North American market in mind, company boss Elon Musk recently said he wants it to be a global vehicle. Offering the Semi outside the U.S. is probably still a long way off given that the manufacturer hasn’t even started local full-scale production yet.
Tesla brought Semi trucks to Germany and showed them off at IAA Transportation 2024 in Hannover, as well as outside its Berlin factory. The Semi that Tesla plans to eventually make and sell in Europe will feature several differences compared to the one sold in America.
These include a different front suspension setup, which has also allowed Tesla to enhance brake regeneration and a new frame for the cab that allows Tesla to transform it into a sleeper. This means the cab itself will be slightly larger than on the American version of the Semi. We wouldn’t be surprised if Tesla also introduced a sleeper option in America at a later date.
So far, all Semis have rolled off the same small production line in Tesla’s Gigafactory Nevada, but the manufacturer is currently building a dedicated facility nearby that will only build Semis. It will be completed sometime in 2025, and it’s only after its completion that Tesla will attempt to reach its annual Semi production goal of 50,000 units.
Earlier this year we reported that Tesla was behind on Semi production having only built 140 examples so far. About 100 of these were being used by Tesla itself and only 36 had been delivered.
The fact that Elon Musk stated the Semi's global scope for a fact doesn't actually mean it's going to become a common sight on highways outside America anytime soon—it has to prove itself on home turf first. Tesla needs to start Semi production at the new dedicated Nevada factory and begin delivering these trucks to customers to not only prove the demand is there but also show there's a real-world use case for it.
Tesla is also considering building the Semi at its Gigafactory Berlin in Germany. This would likely require a plant expansion, and we shouldn’t expect to see these trucks rolling off the production line in Germany any sooner than 2026.
Until Tesla begins production of the Euro-spec Semi, local truck manufacturers are already capitalizing on the still limited demand for electric trucks. Similarly to Tesla and its contracts with Pepsico and its snack division Frito-Lay (which operate the only commercial fleets that use Tesla Semis), the German truck maker MAN delivered its first electric tractor unit to the Dräxlmaier Group, which will exclusively use it on a very short supply route of just under three miles each way.
Dräxlmaier will receive two more MAN eTGX trucks by the end of the year, and all will be used exclusively on short local routes. The eTGX has a usable battery capacity of up to 480 kilowatt-hours, and it can charge at up to 375 kilowatts thanks to its 800-volt architecture. MAN says the xTGX has a range of up to 248 miles (400 km) on one charge, which is good, but it can’t match the Semi.
The Tesla Semi can be equipped with a bigger battery than the MAN with a capacity of around 900 kWh, which, thanks to impressive efficiency allows the truck to drive for up to 500 miles, according to Tesla. Range dwindles when pulling a heavy load, so real-world results vary, but the Semi’s combination of a big battery and remarkable efficiency claimed to be under 2 kWh/mile(as well as its image and advanced semi-autonomous driving systems) will help it stand out from the crowd when it eventually arrives in Europe.
When Musk said the Semi was a global vehicle, he may have been referring to China, where several important provinces have pledged to bring their bus and truck emissions to zero by the end of the decade. This means there will be increasing demand for electric tractor units, and Tesla could also be considering building Semis in China adapted to the local needs and requirements and also manufacture them locally to keep costs down.
