This story was originally published by Canary Media and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Back in 2017, Tesla promised to bring an all-electric semitruck to market that would have a longer range and lower cost than its competitors. Then, the trucking industry waited—and waited. The initial production target of 2019 came and went, as did each newly announced date over the next three years.

But in 2022, Tesla finally unveiled its Tesla Semi and started to get pilot versions on the road for testing. The Class 8 battery-electric truck hit performance targets well beyond what Daimler, Volvo, Kenworth, Peterbilt, and other companies were delivering with their all-electric models. As of April 29, Tesla says it has finally started high-volume Semi production at its factory in Sparks, Nevada.

Now, the Semi’s combination of mileage and price appears set to transform an industry hungry for an affordable way to move freight without burning diesel—especially in California, the country’s top market for electric trucks.

“Heavy-duty trucks emit more than half the transportation sector’s harmful air pollution.”

So says Ray Minjares, heavy-duty vehicles program director at the International Council on Clean Transportation. The nonprofit research group has been tracking applications from truck purchasers seeking vouchers under California’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP), the country’s biggest state-administered program to incentivize the shift to heavy-duty clean vehicles.

Of the 1,067 requests for vouchers submitted during the latest application window, which launched in December 2025, 965 were for Tesla Semis, he said. That’s far more applications than for any other model of truck, he added—and more than the total number of HVIP applications for all heavy-duty trucks since 2021.

And if all those Tesla Semis are actually delivered by the end of this year, that could make up about a third of heavy-duty truck sales in the state, Minjares said. That’s far above the 10 percent target for zero-emissions Class 8 vehicles set under California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, he noted.

This would be an important environmental accomplishment. Heavy-duty trucks emit more than half the transportation sector’s harmful air pollution, with disproportionate health impacts for lower-income areas and communities of color.

“The Tesla Semi is twice the range, and half the charging time, of trucks from traditional manufacturers.”

It would be even more striking given that the Republicans in Congress passed legislation last year nullifying California’s power to set its own emissions reduction standards for trucks and cars under the federal Clean Air Act, he said. The Trump administration has also moved to weaken national fuel........

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