A Texas transportation company said on Tuesday that it recently tested the Tesla Semi truck, revealing that it beat the company’s own efficiency expectations.
Mone Transport, which runs cross-border freight routes between the US and Mexico, said on Tuesday the Semi recorded an average consumption of 1.64 kWh per mile across more than 4,700 miles of Texas operations.
“We’re thrilled with the results,” the company said, adding that it remains “committed to providing zero emission transportation” to its customers.
Mone Transports becomes the latest company to pilot the Tesla model, which is set to begin volume production of the new generation Semi later this year.
The transport firm tested the earlier version of the model, which has been integrated in several commercial fleets already, including PepsiCo and DHL.
Late last year, DHL in America revealed they have “more than just a handful” of trucks on order with Tesla, and they “can’t wait to put them into operation.”
Production Timeline
Tesla is preparing for volume production of the Semi at its Northern Nevada factory later this year after several delays.
Last October, VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy said the factory was “going on schedule. We’ve completed the building and are installing the equipment now.”
According to Moravy, Tesla was set to “have larger builds toward the end of this year [2025],” ramping in the first two quarters of 2026.
“Real volume [is] coming in the back half of the year,” he added.
A few weeks later, during the Annual Shareholder Meeting, Elon Musk reiterated that the company already had “a lot of prototype Tesla Semis in operation,” with PepsiCo as an example.
“We will start volume production at our Northern Nevada factory in 2026,” the CEO stated.
Gates’ Comments
In a 2020 blog post, Bill Gates praised the progress of passenger electric vehicles, while drawing a line at 18-wheelers.
“The problem is that batteries are big and heavy,” Gates wrote, adding that “even with big breakthroughs in battery technology, electric vehicles will probably never be a practical solution for things like 18-wheelers, cargo ships, and passenger jets.”
The billionaire argued that the energy needed to move a massive truck over long distances requires so many batteries that the weight of the batteries themselves becomes a “death spiral” for efficiency.
He proposed looking toward implementing biofuels and hydrogen instead.
By then, asked about the tech billionaire’s comments, Elon Musk wrote on X that “He has no clue.”
Gates’ comments resurfaced in late 2025, when the Tesla CEO revealed during an episode of the All In Podcast published last November that the two tech leaders had met in Austin.
“He was telling me that it’s impossible to have a long-range semi-truck. I told him to either drive the trucks himself or send someone he trusted to do so,” Musk said, adding, that Gates is “not strong in the sciences.”
Next-Gen Semi
The company did not provide a more concrete timeline in the latest earnings call, held in late January.
However, Tesla was spotted testing a redesigned Semi for the first time in February at its Fremont facility.
The updated truck features a Model Y-style light bar, improved efficiency, and increased payload capability.
The next-generation Semi achieves 1.7 kWh per mile, a 15% improvement over the original version, while maintaining a 500-mile range.
Tesla has stated that the majority of a Semi truck’s 500-mile range can be recovered in a 30-minute charge session.
The truck delivers 800 kW of drive power and supports peak charging speeds of 1.2 MW.
Over the weekend, Tesla shared several images on X showing that the model has undergone winter tests in Alaska.
Charging
Tesla has opened its first Semi charger outside of a factory over the weekend, in Los Angeles.
The charger reaches a maximum output of 750kW and is open to all Semi customers.
It is the company’s second Megacharger site — the other one being located in Nevada.
The charging map, available on Tesla‘s website, shows 48 upcoming locations for Semi chargers, including 18 in the West Coast (mostly in California) and 8 in Texas (mainly in the “Texas Triangle,” between Austin, Dallas and San Antonio).
Tesla has partnered with Pilot to install chargers at select travel center locations across major highway corridors.
The charging stations will be constructed along Interstate 5, Interstate 10, and other corridors where heavy-duty charging demand is highest, the company said.
The first sites are expected to open in summer 2026, with construction beginning in the first half of that year.
Initial locations are planned across California, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas.
