Wisconsin-based carrier is the latest to begin a Tesla Semi pilot

It’s been a long road for the Tesla Semi. The company unveiled its electric Class 8 truck in 2017, and it finally went into volume production in April of this year. Now, however, things are starting to happen. Several fleets have the Semi in commercial operation, several are running pilots, and several more have placed orders.

The latest Semi sighting comes from Wisconsin-based carrier Paper Transport (PTI), which has begun a pilot of the Tesla Semi Long Range in the Chicago market. PTI is testing the truck within its “dedicated operating model, where predictable routes and consistent mileage provide an ideal environment for assessing battery-electric performance.”

“Our partnership with Tesla expands our portfolio alongside renewable natural gas and intermodal, giving customers more ways to reduce Scope 3 emissions without compromising service or economics,” said PTI CEO Tyler Ellison.

Bryan Ellen, PTI’s VP of Maintenance, said his company is “bullish in our estimation of the parallels available between our dedicated model and the efficiency of [Tesla’s] fully electric Class 8 tractor.”

Tesla is producing the Semi at a dedicated 1.7-million-square-foot building next to its Nevada Gigafactory. The facility reportedly has a capacity of 50,000 trucks per year.

The Semi is available in two trims: the Standard Range model has a range of 325 miles and the Long Range version boasts 500 miles. Both use three 800 kW electric motors with a total output of 1,072 hp, and support charging at up to 1.2 MW.

Tesla’s quoted prices—$260,000 for the Standard Range and $290,000 for the Long Range—are far lower than those offered by legacy truckmakers. In the latest round of California’s Clean Truck & Bus Voucher program, the Tesla Semi received 90% of the applications for Class 8 tractors (965 of 1,067), while Daimler, PACCAR (Peterbilt and Kenworth) and Volvo combined received fewer than 100 applications.

PepsiCo, the Semi’s first customer, is now running some 100 trucks from depots in Modesto, Sacramento and Fresno. Trucking-as-a-Service (TaaS) provider WattEV has ordered 370 units, and expects the first 50 trucks to enter service this year. Less-than-truckload carrier ArcBest has added two Semis to its fleet following a 2025 pilot. Tesla has reportedly booked reservations from Walmart, Sysco, Anheuser-Busch, UPS, DHL and J.B. Hunt.

Sources: Clean Trucking, Electrek