Electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is working in full swing to deliver its much-awaited fully-electric Semi Class 8 trucks on December 1. The automaker will host an event at its Nevada Gigafactory, from where the deliveries will begin. Remarkably, Tesla expects to produce about 50,000 Tesla Semis in 2024.
To ensure the efficiency and capability of the Tesla Semis, CEO Elon Musk noted that the Tesla team undertook a 500-mile test drive with the semitrailer truck weighing nearly 81,000 pounds. The estimated charge-up time for up to 70% power is roughly 30 minutes, while the Semi Class 8 trucks are expected to consume less than 2 kWh per mile.
Beverage king PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) will be one of the first customers to receive deliveries of the Semis. Further, Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) has also been said to have placed a deposit for Tesla Semis. Several EV makers are entering the Class 8 market, which has very few players currently. Freightliner, a unit of Daimler Truck Holding AG (OTCMKTS:DTRUY) (DE:DTG1) is by far the largest player in the Class 8 market, with an annual unit sale of between 70,000 to 100,000 trucks.
As economies reopen in the aftermath of COVID-19, demand for transportation and heavy-duty commercial vehicles is set to witness a solid surge. Despite the short-term limitations arising from supply chain concerns, labor shortages, China’s COVID-19 resurgence, and the Ukraine war, the Class 8 market will eventually move past the obstacles and flourish in the long run. Tesla is bracing itself to be a major beneficiary of this upward trend.
Is Tesla Stock Likely to Go Up?
On TipRanks, the average Tesla price forecast of $307.72 implies an impressive 68.3% upside potential from current levels. Also, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on TSLA stock with 18 Buys, eight Holds, and two Sells. Meanwhile, the stock has lost 54.3% so far this year.
Tesla stock has witnessed huge volatility in the past couple of months owing to Musk’s Twitter takeover ordeal. Even now, shareholders are dissatisfied with Musk’s constant distraction from Twitter, and some have abandoned their shares out of concern for further disruption.
