Tesla has invited guests to what it describes as the official opening of its Semi factory in Sparks, Nevada, on September 24, five months after the company said the first truck came off the plant’s production line.
The invitation was shared on X by Sawyer Merritt, a Tesla shareholder and content creator, who posted the email he received.
The email describes the event as “an invite-only celebration of our Semi Factory opening in Sparks, Nevada,” offering guided factory tours and ride-alongs in the truck.
Recipients may bring one additional guest. RSVPs close at midnight Pacific time on Wednesday, September 2.
The Word Opening
The company announced on April 29 that the first Semi had rolled off its high-volume production line, posting “First Semi off high volume line” from the official Semi account.
In its first-quarter shareholder update, weeks earlier, Tesla had still listed the Semi as being in pilot production.
The September event is 148 days after that announcement.
In its second-quarter update on July 22, Tesla wrote that the Semi remained on track for production this year at the Nevada factory. On the same day’s earnings call, chief executive Elon Musk said the company had started mass production of the Semi.
Nine Years From Unveiling
The Semi was unveiled in November 2017 with production targeted for 2019. The date slipped to 2020, then 2021, then 2022, before Tesla hand-built a small number of units on a pilot line and delivered them to PepsiCo in late 2022.
The dedicated Nevada plant covers 1.7 million square feet next to Gigafactory Nevada and is designed for 50,000 trucks a year.
Musk told the first-quarter earnings call that initial production of the Cybercab and Semi would be very slow before ramping up.
Two Events, Nine Days Apart
The rollout follows Tesla’s announcement last week that it will unveil European specifications and launch details for the Semi at IAA Transportation in Hanover.
The show runs from September 15 to 20, alternating biennially with the Munich passenger-car event. Tesla has not confirmed a date within the six-day window.
Tesla hired Usuf Schermo as Head of Business Development for the EMEA region in mid-2025, recruiting from the European commercial vehicle companies Volta Trucks and Evum Motors, and has added a business development manager for Semi sales in France this month.
The Order Book
Tesla disclosed a 500-truck order from Einride last week, its largest to date, with deployment beginning in September, phased over 24 months across five states and financed through third-party arrangements.
That followed WattEV’s 370-truck order in May, announced at the ACT Expo, and a 40-unit order from Big F Transport confirmed days earlier by Forum Mobility.
DHL has confirmed an order beyond what it called just a handful of trucks for delivery this year, after testing the truck in Livermore, California. Paper Transport began evaluating the Semi on Chicago dedicated runs in July, and ArcBest, King Fio Trucking and port drayage operators have run pilots. PepsiCo remains the longest-standing customer.
The clearest demand signal is regulatory. In California’s Clean Truck and Bus Voucher programme, the Semi accounted for 965 of 1,067 applications between January 2025 and February 2026.
Publicly announced orders total roughly 1,500 units. At the plant’s nameplate capacity, that is under four days of output.
Tesla quotes about $260,000 for the 325-mile Standard Range and about $290,000 for the 500-mile Long Range, against the $150,000 and $180,000 it advertised at the 2017 unveiling.
