Tesla has expanded the Semi pilot program with three more testing partners in the United States, per the recent spy shots emerging on social media platform X.
Costco, Sysco, and US Foods join Tesla Semi pilot program
Tesla has apparently tapped three new major companies to test the Semi, including wholesale/retail giant Costco and two established food distributors, Sysco and US Foods.
Tesla fan @TeslaOtaku spotted a Costco-branded Tesla Semi on public roads on Tuesday.
In a separate sighting, Tesla owner @ricardgarciahoe shared a video of the Semi featuring a Sysco trailer. He further revealed that two more US Foods locations in Reno, Nevada, and Tracy, California, are also now testing the Tesla Semi.
The pilot program’s expansion comes as the Musk-led company strives to refine the Semi’s engineering ahead of planned mass production in late 2025.
“We’re finalizing the engineering of Semi to enable like a super cost-effective high-volume production with our learnings from our fleet and our pilot fleet and Pepsi fleet, which we are expanding this year marginally. In parallel, as we showed in the shareholders’ deck, we have started construction on the factory in Reno. Our first vehicles are planned for late 2025 with external customers starting in 2026.”
Lars Moravy, Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering
Delivery Progress
Tesla’s Semi program certainly struggled with major delays. In hindsight, Tesla unveiled the Class 8 semi-trailer truck in 2017 and announced plans to start production in 2019.
However, it only kicked off production in late 2022. Despite the delay, production remained extremely limited.
Pepsico was the first to test the Semi apart from Tesla for over a year now. It took delivery of about three dozen Semi units since late 2022, enabling it to test the vehicle extensively on routes across California and Nevada.
The American soft drink company was the only testing partner of the Tesla Semi program for one and a half years. In April, Martin Brower disclosed that it has also been testing Tesla Semi units in its operations. Most recently, a Walmart-branded Tesla Semi appeared in California.
The addition of Costco, Sysco, and US Foods boosts the Tesla Semi’s testing partners to five. Notably, Sysco was the only company among these three that announced orders of 50 Semi units in 2017.
Mass Production plans
Tesla recently kicked off the construction of its upcoming mass-production line for the Semi located beside the Gigafactory Nevada.
Tesla announced plans to finally begin the Semi’s mass production in late 2025. Meanwhile, initial external customer deliveries are set in the following year.
The Tesla Semi has a strong potential to revolutionize the trucking industry with its 500-mile driving range between charges even with a full load.
