Tesla Semi still facing delays and price hikes, says customer

Ryder, a Florida-based transportation and truck rental company with around 260,000 vehicles in its fleet, has asked California’s Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) for another extension regarding the subsidies for its fleet of Tesla Semis. The reason? Tesla is still unable to deliver the trucks and is charging much more than promised.

The Tesla Semi was to be the reference in electric heavy trucks, thanks to its 500-mile (800-km) range on a single charge, Megawatt charging, and hugely powerful motors that effortlessly haul cargo over mountains if needed. And while the first ‘production’ Semis were delivered at the end of 2022, it seems that all is still not well over two years later.

Production is still not underway

As reported by Electrek, mass production of the Tesla Semi has still not started in Nevada. Those first production models delivered to PepsiCo were pre-production models to be used in pilot programs by transport partners, similar to what other truckmakers do right before launching a new model to iron out the final kinks with real-world testing.

While Tesla had promised to produce tens of thousands of semiconductors by now, the figure is closer to dozens. The specific high-volume production facility next to Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada will only be finished this year.

To recall, Tesla first unveiled the Semi in 2017, with production plans for 2019. These were quickly delayed to focus on the mass production of the Model 3 and Model Y, which have become bestsellers for the American EV manufacturer.

It seems Tesla’s transport customers are starting to lose patience. Although the details of these contracts are usually kept behind closed doors, one of Tesla’s semi-customers is now shedding some light on the situation.

The customer asks for another delay in public funding

Ryder, a Florida-based transport and truck rental company with around 40,000 employees and over 260,000 vehicles in its fleet, has sent a letter to California’s Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC), asking the agency for a 28-month delay for funding to deploy dozens of Tesla Semis and the required Megachargers at its locations in Fontana and Riverside, California. This letter was subsequently published by Electrek, which also contacted the MSRC for further details.

In the letter, Ryder mentions, “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.”

Less than half of the trucks for the same price

More specifically, Ryder is fielding fewer Tesla Semis due to the delays and price hikes that Tesla is pushing to its customers. Rather than the initial 42 units, Ryder is now only buying 18 Tesla Semis for the same $7.5 million commitment, excluding the funding from the MSRC but including the six 600 kW chargers (also changed from the 750 kW units that were initially needed).

Ryder now plans to have its 18 Tesla Semis by June 2026, meaning that Tesla promises to start production by the end of 2025. As for the pricing, Tesla initially promised an estimated $150,000 purchase price for a 300-mile-range Semi and $180,000 for the 500-mile version. Now, it seems those prices have nearly doubled.

Too late now?

With all of these delays and the much higher price, the Tesla Semi does not seem as good of a deal. Indeed, the traditional truck manufacturers have caught up, with Daimler Truck (Mercedes) having recently launched the eActros 600 with a 500-km range, and Volvo Trucks/Renault Trucks are set to unveil their long-range electric truck later this year, with a promised 600-km range.