Tesla has started volume manufacturing of its battery-electric Class 8 Semi truck in Nevada as it prepares to increase US commercial deliveries and launch European customer deliveries in 2027, FreightWaves reported. The company disclosed the milestone in its third-quarter earnings report, putting installed annual capacity at the Nevada facility at 25,000 trucks.
That capacity figure does not establish how quickly trucks are currently leaving the factory. Tesla supplied no quarterly production or delivery totals for the Semi, according to FreightWaves. Chief executive Elon Musk told analysts that production began during the third quarter, while the earnings presentation highlighted the vehicle’s performance and the factory’s high-volume manufacturing line.
Tesla said the highest-range version can travel 500 miles at a gross combination weight of 82,000 pounds, consuming 1.7 kilowatt-hours per mile. Musk claimed this would allow it to carry an equivalent payload using one-third of the energy required by a comparable diesel truck. He linked that efficiency to an operating advantage for fleets, given energy’s substantial contribution to transport costs per mile.
For Europe, Tesla is targeting customer demonstrations in the first half of 2027 and initial deliveries by the end of that year. Semi programme head Dan Priestley outlined those plans at September’s IAA Transportation conference in Hannover, FreightWaves reported. The first European vehicles will come from Nevada. Priestley previously said no decision had been taken on a European Semi factory, citing capacity available at the US site.
Tesla also plans to start deploying more than 100 European Megacharger stalls in 2027, each offering charging capacity of up to 1.2 megawatts. Its latest earnings presentation neither updated the European delivery timetable nor specified how many trucks would be assigned to that market.
The production announcement follows Tesla’s selection as lead supplier for a 2,500-truck battery-electric Class 8 order announced in September. The order is being coordinated through ZET SCALE, a shipper-carrier electrification alliance organised by Catalyst Mobility and Smart Freight Centre. Separately, Tesla revised its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to approximately $20 billion as it invests across manufacturing, artificial intelligence, robotics and energy infrastructure.