Semi Ready: Tesla launches its new ‘Heavy Duty Trucking’ department

The automotive world is anxiously anticipating the Tesla Semi. And it turns out the EV leader just got one step closer to production. To that end, Tesla recently created a new ‘Heavy Duty Trucking’ department which will oversee the development and production of the Tesla Semi and possibly other electric haulers in the future. 

Above: Tesla Semi being tested on the Fremont factory test track (Source: Tesla)

Tesla’s President of Automotive pre-March, Jerome Guillen, was announced as the new President of Heavy Duty Trucking by the automaker. Trucking has been a long-time passion of Mr. Guillen. In the past, he served as General Manager of the trucking company Freightliner.  And Jerome’s prior responsibilities at Tesla included being "overall leader for the Tesla Truck program" as a VP in the Trucks division of the company.

Tesla informed the SEC of Guillen’s new responsibilities in a recent 8K filing. The public document notes, "As Tesla prepares to enter the critical heavy trucks market for the first time, Mr. Guillen will now leverage his extensive background in this industry to focus on and lead all aspects of the Tesla Semi program, including the related charging and servicing networks."

In addition, Tesla recently released teaser video of the Tesla Semi zipping around the race track like a sports car. And other spy shots have surfaced via video snippets (see below) as well.

Twitter: Tesla / Twitter: The Kilowatts (via Teslarati)

In recent months, Tesla has made several changes to the design of the Semi Truck that showcase steady progress with the truck as it closes in on production. When that time comes, Elon Musk has noted that the Semi will be produced at the automaker’s Gigafactory Nevada.

Production was originally slated to start last year. However, due to the pandemic and battery supply constraints, it’s been pushed back to a date (TBD) later this year. Nevertheless, these delays are not stopping big clients from placing their orders for the class-8 electric hauler. Late last year Tesla received its biggest Tesla Semi order to date — placed by Canada-based Pride Group Enterprises.

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Written by: Iqtidar Ali. An earlier version of this article was originally published on Tesla Oracle.