Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On January 25, Tesla, a US electric car maker, confirmed on Tuesday local time that it would build a new factory in northern Nevada specializing in the production of electric heavy truck Semi.

The investment, totaling $3.6 billion (currently about 24.408 billion yuan), also includes the construction of a new battery factory to produce the company's state-of-the-art batteries, Tesla said. Tesla's move will put pressure on traditional truckmakers such as Daimler and Volvo, which are just starting to sell electric trucks.

It is reported that Tesla will build two new plants at the existing Tesla plant east of Renault, Nevada, and is expected to add 3000 employees.

Tesla launched the Semi electric heavy truck in 2017, but so far the production capacity is limited. The construction of the new factory shows that Tesla is serious about this electric heavy truck. In December last year, Tesla delivered several trucks to Pepsi, the first customer of Semi Electric heavy trucks.

Traditional truck makers such as Daimler, Volvo and Volkswagen's Tratton all say they are also committed to producing zero-carbon trucks.

Diesel trucks still dominate the industry. If Tesla Semi electric heavy truck can succeed in the market, it may put more pressure on traditional truck manufacturers. Tesla's success has disrupted the industry by forcing GM, Ford, Volkswagen and other traditional automakers to launch their own electric vehicles.

But it is unclear how quickly many truck buyers will switch to electric heavy trucks. Truck owners tend to pay special attention to the cost of ownership of the vehicles they buy, carefully calculating the cost of fuel, maintenance and truck downtime. Tesla Semi electric heavy trucks, which may be more expensive than traditional heavy trucks, will be attractive only if customers think lower fuel and maintenance costs can make up for the price difference.

Tesla claims that the Semi electric heavy truck has a range of 800km, which may make it best suited for relatively short operating routes. At present, Tesla truck charging network has not been fully rolled out. Before that, Semi electric heavy trucks may be mainly aimed at truck customers who go directly from the warehouse to the warehouse, so that they can recharge overnight.

Daimler, which owns Freightliner Trucks, hopes that hydrogen fuel cells are the best way to eliminate emissions from long-distance trucks. Volvo, the world's second-largest truckmaker after Daimler, is adopting a similar strategy. But neither company has started mass production of hydrogen-fueled trucks, and hydrogen is currently much more expensive than diesel.

In a speech on Monday, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo mentioned Tesla's decision to build an electric truck factory there.

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