Tesla Semi Charging Infrastructure Costs Can Undercut Competition By 50%, Says Senior Company Executive

Tesla Inc. TSLA can deploy fast charging for its Semi truck at about $500/kW given its experience in developing and deploying charging infrastructure, company executive Dan Priestly said on Saturday while acknowledging the relevance of charging infrastructure to boost demand for the upcoming vehicle.

What Happened: “By leveraging the in-house built hardware common with Tesla Charging and experience from deploying >60k DC posts, we can often deploy fast charging for Semi at ~$500/kW (fully landed cost to customer). Not uncommon for competing installations be >2x that,” Priestly said in a post on social media platform X.

“Tesla's vertical integration, economies of scale, and developed construction techniques enable this [sic] savings and help make Semi even more compelling,” he added.

We work closely with our customers to ensure they have the appropriate charging solution for their operations. By leveraging the in house built hardware common with @TeslaCharging and experience from deploying >60k DC posts, we can often deploy fast charging for Semi at ~$500/kW…
— Dan Priestley (@danWpriestley) October 26, 2024

Semi Production Timeline: Tesla unveiled the Semi in 2017 and though production was initially slated to start in 2019, the vehicle is still in the pilot production phase.

During Tesla’s third-quarter earnings call last week, the company said it is preparing its Semi factory in Nevada where production is expected to start by the end of 2025.

Tesla executive Lars Moravy then explained that it is on track to start pilot builds in the second half of 2025 with production starting in the first half of 2026. Production will be ramped through the year, he added.

Demand Expectations: “Semi growth will largely depend on our customers’ adoption of the product,” Moravy said, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk adding that he doesn’t expect demand to be limited.

“Fundamentally, if you’ve got a semi where the fully considered cost per mile or per ton of transport, is better than, say, diesel truck, any company that doesn’t adopt an electric semi will lose. It’s not a subjective thing,” Moravy said while adding that all the Semis that the company has made to date in the pilot production phase have all the hardware and cameras necessary to deploy its autonomous driving technology called full self-driving on the vehicle in the future.

Unlike the company’s other products, the Tesla Semi is aimed at heavy goods transportation companies. All of Tesla’s vehicles currently in production are aimed at individual buyers. Tesla, on its website, says the vehicle will have an estimated range of up to 500 miles, 70 percent of which can be recovered in 30 minutes using Tesla’s Semi chargers.

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