A Little Good News for Tesla's Big Forgotten Product

With all the hype surrounding Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) future ambitions that include humanoid robotics, driverless vehicles, and artificial intelligence, you can be forgiven for being sidetracked by Elon Musk's SpaceX IPO. It's easy to lose track of a product that was promised as early as 2019. Brushing aside the delayed debut, Tesla has a second chance to disrupt the truck market, and it's already going far, far better than the Cybertruck's attempt to crack the full-size truck market. Tesla's Semi has been stacking orders and, in even better news, is performing incredibly well, all while impressing truckers.

What's going on?

Let's preface this with a caveat: Ignore this specific sales figure and focus instead on the independently verified performance. That said, ArcBest (NASDAQ: ARCB), a multibillion-dollar logistics company, recently purchased two Tesla Semi EVs. We'll get to better sales news in a moment, but what led to this small purchase and the extension of testing was a wildly successful 2025 pilot program in which the company averaged 1.55 kWh per mile over nearly 4,500 miles.

Image source: Tesla.

The reason this is important is that it's a noticeable improvement over not only previous figures (lower numbers are more efficient), but what Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, claimed in its 2022 product version unveiling. That's right, Tesla actually underpromised and overdelivered, to the chagrin of many critics who fairly hound the company for frequently doing the opposite.

Back in 2022, Musk claimed the Semi would reach efficiency of 1.7 kWh per mile, and that was quickly backed up by DHL testing at 1.72 kWh per mile and Saia achieving a similar 1.73 kWh per mile.

The noticeable improvement in efficiency is enabling ArcBest to use its ABF Freight fleet to benchmark its Tesla Semi trucks against its incumbent diesel fleet using metrics for total cost of ownership, operational efficiency, safety, and employee experience -- all massive factors in large fleet purchases.

Growing fans and customers

In fact, there are growing numbers of both impressed truckers and orders. "The Tesla Semi has the potential to be a game changer," said John Boesel, the former CEO of CALSTART, a clean transportation nonprofit. "No other electric big rig on the market can say that," he said, according to Automotive News.

ArcBest noted that its operating truckers during last year's pilot reported excellent visibility and comfort in addition to its overall impressive performance metrics. Covenant Logistics recently tested a Tesla Semi in Southern California and walked away "amazed" by its performance on a tricky and steep road grade.

While Tesla has just entered high-volume production in April and continues to accelerate production, orders are coming in. WattEV placed an encouraging 370 Tesla Semi truck order worth roughly $100 million, and two port operators ordered another combined 60 Semi trucks. DHL, CEVA Logistics, and a handful of other large carriers have been extending and expanding their Tesla Semi testing as well, especially considering the macroeconomic environment that has seen gasoline prices surge due to the latest conflict in the Middle East, and that uncertainty continues.

What it all means

Perhaps we shouldn't be completely shocked at the Semi's early success, as Tesla remains the same automaker that essentially reenergized, perhaps even revolutionized, the global electric vehicle industry. And we knew ahead of time the Semi's specs were impressive. Remember, Tesla's Semi is equipped with an 822 kWh battery pack that delivers roughly 500 miles of range at efficiency levels ArcBest demonstrated. That compares favorably to Freightliner's eCascadia, which offers a more modest 550 kWh battery with a range of roughly 230 miles, or the Volvo VNR Electric, which boasts a similar 564 kWh battery with a range of about 275 miles.

These optimistic notes equal positive news for Tesla investors, but it's also important to temper expectations. Getting the performance results and highlights from drivers is needed to drive electrified trucking forward, but Tesla isn't going to instantly take over the Class 8 truck market, and it's still a niche in the broader automotive industry.

But what ArcBest's results emphasize is that Tesla's Semi could slowly but surely become a game changer in the industry, even if starting in the low thousands of vehicle sales annually, and it is nowhere near the commercial flop territory its last truck drove into. And that's excellent news.

Daniel Miller has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.