Tesla Wins Lead Role in 2,500-Truck Electric Class 8 Order

Tesla (TSLA) has been named lead supplier for a 2,500-truck battery-electric Class 8 order that organizers say will nearly double the U.S. electric Class 8 fleet, the largest such order to date. The order was announced Sept. 22 by Catalyst Mobility, formerly CALSTART, and the Smart Freight Centre through their ZET SCALE program, whose founding shippers include Microsoft and PepsiCo. Tesla plans to open its Semi factory in Sparks, Nev., on Sept. 24, designed for 50,000 trucks annually. Kenworth, RIDE and Volvo were named secondary OEMs. ZET Financial will issue the purchase order and place trucks with carriers via a fair-market-value lease that removes residual-value risk. Only 875 zero-emission heavy trucks were sold in the U.S. in 2025, 0.3% of the market, according to ICCT data cited by Electrive. First-round deployment targets 10 freight hubs including Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and Atlanta. No charging provider was named.