In December 2017, it rolled out on stage, Tesla’s much talked about electric truck Tesla Semi. CEO Elon Musk said that it will have a range of up to 800 kilometers. The reactions from the outside world were not long in coming – and Scania made a famous statement that it will certainly be good to transport chip bags with, but will hardly be able to handle heavier transports.

Originally, the production of the truck would start 2019 but that promise has been forced by Tesla to move into the future several times since.

The order books open for Tesla Semi

Four and a half years have now passed since the presentation and a few days ago Tesla opened the order books for Semi.

The range is still 480 and 800 kilometers respectively, depending on the size of the battery pack. The price tags in the US say 150,000 and 180,000 dollars, respectively, which in the case of direct currency conversion to kronor means another zero at the end. A reservation costs $ 20,000.

Production 2023?

It is not clear when deliveries will start, however according to information at Tesla’s Annual General Meeting 2021 is the hope that production will start in 2023.

However, the world has had time to change quite a lot in the almost five years that have passed since Tesla presented Semi. Freightliner plans to start production of the electric trailer tractor Ecascadia during the year and both Volvo and Scania have been selling electric trucks for several years now. In addition, there are a number of upstarts, including Swedish Einride, which wants to have 300 electric trucks in operation by the end of the year.

How a company that has become accustomed to being a pioneer handles this remains to be seen.