Musk Says Tesla Will Be U.S.’s 2nd Largest Semi Builder by 2024

The primary Tesla Semi has been delivered to PepsiCo., however we nonetheless don’t know a lot in regards to the fully-electric large rig. Tesla’s all-electric business truck stays unproven, and the corporate has not shared many particulars or specs. And but, Elon Musk has instructed shareholders he expects the corporate to construct 50,000 Tesla Semis in 2024. That quantity would put Tesla forward of each Class 8 truck producer within the U.S. market apart from Freightliner — that means Tesla must rocket to the number-two gross sales slot in the big-rig market in simply over a 12 months after the very first Semi was delivered.

Throughout Tesla’s third quarter earnings name in October, Musk predicted Tesla might construct 50,000 Semis in 2024 whereas discussing the way forward for the electrical large rig EV, as transcribed by Motley Idiot:

And we’ll be ramping up Semi manufacturing via subsequent 12 months.

As I believe everybody is aware of at this level, it takes a few 12 months to ramp up manufacturing. So, we anticipate to see important — we’re tentatively aiming for 50,000 items in 2024 for Tesla Semi in North America. And clearly, we’ll develop past North America. And these would promote — I don’t wish to say the precise costs, however they’re rather more than a passenger automobile.

Needless to say this name got here earlier than the supply of the primary Tesla Semi, and that Elon Musk is saying this to traders — regardless of the numerous delays the Semi encountered earlier than the very first instance was delivered. 

The daring declare shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody by now — no less than, not anybody who pays consideration to Musk.

If Tesla plans to construct 50,000 Semis in 2024, it’s secure to imagine the corporate anticipates promoting all of these vans. Examine that to latest gross sales numbers for Class 8 automobiles (a category that encompasses tractor-trailer rigs in addition to issues like cement vans and high-capacity dump vans). The newest gross sales knowledge exhibits that in 2019, the most important gross sales 12 months for Class 8 vans in latest historical past, Freightliner led U.S. gross sales with simply over 100,000 vans offered. Kenworth and Peterbilt took second and third, respectively, with roughly 42,000 vans every. Worldwide took fourth place with simply over 37,000 gross sales, and Volvo Vehicles was fifth with round 25,000.

The business truck makers Musk hopes to compete with have been constructing Class 8 automobiles for many years. And most main prospects for these large vans nonetheless don’t know what the Tesla Semi will provide by way of value, real-world driving vary, automobile weight, and recharging instances.

The place was Tesla on the checklist in 2019? Properly, it might have been in some distant place with a complete of 0 vans offered. Quick ahead to 2022, and Tesla could have jumped forward with 1 Tesla Semi offered, and, crucially delivered. Which is why it’s laborious to take Musk at his phrase that Tesla will likely be constructing, and thus delivering, 50,000 fully-electric business vans by 2024.