"Tesla Semi suffers more delays and 'dramatic' price increase"

This is the headline from an article on the site "Electrek" dated 04/04/25. Production beyond a few test programs was supposed to begin in 2025. Actually when the company first announced the truck in 2017 they claimed it would go into production in 2019. Then that slid and slid and here we are. The company Ryder was given a grant from the state of California to kick things off with 42 units and charging stations etc. But now there is this from the article:

"California’s Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) awarded Ryder funding for a project to deploy Tesla Semi trucks and Megachargers at two of its facilities in the state.

Ryder had previously asked for extensions amid the delays in the Tesla Semi program.

In a new letter sent to MSRC last week and obtained by Electrek, Ryder asked the agency for another 28-month delay. The letter references delays in “Tesla product design, vehicle production” and it mentions “dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics”:

This extension is needed due to delays in Tesla product design, vehicle production and dramatic changes to the Tesla product economics. These delays have caused us to reevaluate the current Ryder fleet in the area."

The truck that was originally thought to price out around $150,000 to a bit higher than $200,000 is now getting a major price boost based on the article. Toward the end of the article the author describes in general terms why the concept of this truck was favorable. But maybe not so much anymore. Ryder is noted as cutting their number of trucks under the grant from 42 to 18 but keeping the funding level the same. This would seem to suggest a large price increase and the article mentions all of this further.

"If Tesla can produce class 8 trucks capable of moving cargo of similar weight as diesel trucks over 500 miles on a single charge in high volume at a reasonable price point, they have a revolutionary product on their hands.

But the reasonable price part is now being questioned.

After reading the communications between Ryder and MSRC, while not clear, it looks like the program could be interpreted as MSRC covering the costs of installing the charging stations while Ryder committed $7.5 million to buying the trucks.

The math makes sense for the original funding request since $7.5 million divided by 42 trucks results in around $180,000 per truck — what Tesla first quoted for the 500-mile Tesla Semi truck."

But gadzooks it might be a case of sticker shock according to the article.

"Now, with just 18 trucks, it would point to a price of $415,000 per Tesla Semi truck. It’s possible that some of Ryder’s commitment could also go to an increase in Megacharger prices – either per charger or due to the two additional chargers. MSRC said that they don’t give more money when prices go up after an extension.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the 500-mile Tesla Semi ends up costing $350,000 to $400,000.

If that’s the case, Tesla Semi is impressive, but it won’t be the revolutionary product that will change the trucking industry."

So the "production" is now said to be next year. Holding your breath is ill advised.


https://electrek.co/2025/04/04/tesla-semi-suffers-delays-dramatic-price-increase/