The Tesla Semi is building fleet interest in the heavy-duty freight sector, as the Elon Musk-led company announced last week that the first unit has rolled off the high-volume production line in Nevada.
California-based Forum Mobility confirmed over the weekend that its customer Big F Transport is expanding its electric fleet with an order for 40 additional Tesla Semi units, following a successful demonstration of the vehicle.
The new order builds on the company’s existing electric operations, which include nine Daimler Truck North America eCascadia trucks running at Forum Mobility’s FM Harbor facility at the Port of Long Beach.
Big F Transport’s new Tesla Semi fleet is expected to operate from Forum Mobility’s FM Santa Fe depot in Rancho Dominguez, California.
The site is currently under development and is scheduled to become operational in the first quarter of 2027.
Forum Mobility is an infrastructure and fleet electrification provider offering vehicle leasing, depot-based charging infrastructure, and energy management services for heavy-duty transport operators.
The company’s model is focused on reducing barriers to electrification by combining vehicle access with dedicated charging infrastructure.
Additional depots are also planned as part of the company’s ongoing expansion strategy.
Feedback from Trials
In a LinkedIn post, Forum Mobility noted positive operational feedback from existing electric truck deployments.
Drivers reported a smoother and quieter driving experience, while shippers benefit from emissions reductions.
The company also stated that total cost of ownership for electric trucking is becoming increasingly competitive with diesel.
“Right now we can offer a Tesla Semi lease, plus ultra fast MCS charging, at a significant discount to diesel,” Forum Mobility wrote.
The expansion by Big F Transport reflects a broader trend of early-stage fleet adoption of the Tesla Semi, as operators begin to test its performance in real-world logistics environments.
While production volumes remain limited, incremental deployments continue to provide data on operational viability across regional and port-adjacent freight routes.
Last week, California-based freight brokerage and asset-based carrier AiLO Logistics also launched a three-week operational pilot using the Tesla Semi truck.
The vehicle was deployed on active freight lanes serving three customers to evaluate real-world performance in energy efficiency, route reliability, and driver experience.
DHL, which first included a Semi in its fleet in 2024, confirmed an order beyond “just a handful” of Tesla Semi trucks for 2026 delivery late last year.
The firm revealed that the trial was “successful” and the truck is now circulating in Central California, as part of its fleet.
According to the company, the truck is travelling approximately 100 miles per day, requires charging about once per week, and offers a range of up to 500 miles fully loaded.
DHL Supply Chain reported energy consumption of 1.72 kWh per mile on a fully loaded 390-mile (628 km) route, while ArcBest — another company that tested the vehicle — logged 4,494 miles (7,232 km) over three weeks at 1.55 kWh per mile.
Both cited reduced fuel costs and emissions compared to diesel trucks.
Those figures are broadly consistent with a prior cross-country test in which a first-generation Tesla Semi clocked 1.64 kWh per mile across 4,700 miles.
Road to Volume Production
In its first-quarter shareholder update, Tesla still listed the Semi as being in “Pilot Production” at its Nevada facility — a status that has now changed with last week’s announcement.
Musk warned in January that production of its new products would follow a stretched-out S curve. During the latest call, he reiterated the point.
“You should expect that initial production of Cybercab and Semi will be very slow, but then ramping up, and going exponential towards the end of the year and certainly next year,” Musk said.
The Tesla Semi was first unveiled in 2017 and originally promised for production in 2019 — a target that slipped repeatedly before Tesla finally delivered a handful of units to PepsiCo in late 2022.
Those early trucks were essentially hand-built on a pilot line.
As of March, Tesla had a few hundred Semis on the road with 13.5 million miles logged across commercial operations, with one truck reaching 440,000 miles.
Second-Gen Semi
The Tesla Semi is rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lb. (37,195 kg) and a range of up to 500 miles (805 km) on a single charge.
The redesigned model was first spotted testing at its Fremont facility in February, featuring a Model Y-style light bar, improved efficiency, and increased payload.
In a recent episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Semi Program Head Dan Priestley said that the truck has undergone “a lot of engineering improvements” since 2023, driven primarily by the need to prepare for high-volume manufacturing.
The second-generation truck sheds roughly 1,000 pounds compared to its predecessor and achieves 1.7 kWh per mile, a 15% efficiency improvement, while maintaining a 500-mile range.
The truck delivers 800 kW of drive power and supports peak charging speeds of 1.2 MW.
The updated version incorporates several elements from the Cybertruck platform, including a 48-volt low-voltage system and the same type of lithium-ion battery cells used in its batteries.
It also replaces the previous hydraulic-assisted steering with a fully electric steering system derived from the pick-up truck model.
Charging
The truck can recover up to 70% of its range in about 30 minutes using Tesla‘s Megachargers — currently being publicly deployed by the company, as it prepares to ramp production of the model.
Tesla announced in its first-quarter shareholder deck that it has recently deployed its first public Megacharger in Southern California.
Gigafactory New York is now producing V4 Supercharging cabinets, which Tesla says offer three times the power density and twice the number of stalls per cabinet compared to V3.
US fuel retailer Pilot Travel Centers previously announced plans to install Tesla Semi chargers at travel centers along major US highways, further building out the long-haul charging corridor.
