Best new movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Max (HBO), and more A year ago, he envisioned taking on the trucking industry with the revolutionary all-electric-powered semi-truck. Tesla’s newest truck wouldn’t only say goodbye to diesel, but would solve many of the trucking industry’s problems in a transformative manner. But doubt and skepticism set in quite early. Tesla Motors From an industry standpoint, the Semi seemed a little bit too distant from the reality of actual big-rig trucking, an industry particularly sentimental to simplicity. Although initial orders by PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch, Sysco, and UPS supposedly placed a total of 315 orders, with some from other companies establishing some confidence in the project, analysts still say it’s not enough. Feeding the fire of uncertainty, trouble at the famed Silicon Valley, California EV startup first surfaced around the same time the Tesla Semi was announced, amid quality control and manufacturing issues with the Tesla Model 3, after missing initial sales targets due to “production issues.” Rubbing salt in the wound, a recent lawsuit surfaced from another EV startup called Nikola Motor, who claims that Tesla violated a number of its patents with its Semi concept. Change, especially when geared toward full electrification over the tried, tested, and true traditional diesel motor, is incredibly hard to implement. This is extra difficult for the trucking industry, which is heavily dependent on simplicity and ease of maintenance and a highly developed fueling infrastructure. In comparison to traditional diesel-powered trucks of today, an EV truck would simply be too costly, too complex for maintenance, and charging infrastructure still pales significantly to diesel fueling infrastructure. Altogether, it may be that although the Tesla Semi succeeded in scoring some investment funds, it was too optimistic and out of touch with trucking reality. And as a result, for now, the Tesla Semi remains to be a pipe dream.