"2026 Yangsan Target: Nevada Factory Under Construction"
Annual Production Goal of 50,000 Units
"Additional Delivery of 50 Semi Trucks to PepsiCo"
U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla saw its stock price surge more than 6% after announcing plans to expand production of its electric truck, the Semi.
On the 21st (local time), Tesla's stock closed at $186.60, up 6.66% from the previous session, on the New York Stock Exchange. This marked the highest level in about three weeks since April 29 ($194.05). Tesla's stock, which had fallen about 30% year-to-date until the day before, reduced its annual decline to around 25% thanks to the rise on this day.
The stock price increase was interpreted as a positive reaction to Tesla's detailed disclosure of plans to ramp up Semi production. According to Yahoo Finance, Tesla executive Dan Priestley stated at the 'ACT Expo 2024' clean transportation exhibition held in Las Vegas the day before, "We are building a (Semi) factory in Nevada and aim to increase annual production to 50,000 units with customer deliveries targeted for 2026."
Earlier, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had originally pledged to begin mass production of the Semi truck starting in 2019. However, due to technical limitations of the batteries used in large trucks, the schedule was repeatedly delayed, and the first Semi truck was delivered to U.S. food and beverage company PepsiCo only in December 2022. Since then, Tesla has reportedly continued to face difficulties in mass production due to battery issues and other challenges.
Priestley said, "Currently, Tesla is conducting performance tests with about 35 Semis together with PepsiCo, and has decided to deliver an additional 50 trucks to PepsiCo." He also spoke about the detailed performance specifications of the Semi. He explained, "The Semi will be able to carry a load of 23,000 pounds (about 10 tons) and travel up to 500 miles (805 km). In tests, the Semi was able to run over 1,000 miles (about 1,600 km) in 24 hours, made possible by high-speed charging."
Meanwhile, with Tesla's shareholder meeting scheduled for June 13, tensions are heating up between Tesla's board of directors and institutional investors over CEO Musk's '77 trillion won compensation package.' The Tesla board, which has put the reapproval of the compensation plan on the shareholder meeting agenda, is persuading shareholders to vote in favor, while institutional investors appear to be trying to block it. Previously, the Tesla board approved a $56 billion stock option package for CEO Musk in 2018 based on his performance, but it faces the risk of being invalidated due to a lawsuit filed by minority shareholders. The final ruling is expected in July.
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