As Tesla Semi Lags, Volvo Seizes Opportunity For Electric Trucks

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

Hindsight is 20-20, but it’s not too late to admit that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is the wrong person to be running the US government right now. In addition to the notable drop in sales of Tesla’s electric cars in key markets globally, Exhibits A and B are Musk’s swings and misses at the US market for electric trucks. Anticipated sales of the heavily promoted but widely mocked Cybertruck have gone ka-cyberput, and the long-delayed Class 8 Semi truck will face stiff competition once it goes into full production later this year.

Wait, isn’t the President of the United States supposed to be running the US government? He is, except he handed off the task to Elon Musk and his “DOGE” team. If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread. Better yet, find your representatives in Congress and tell them what you think.

Here’s What Forbes Thinks Of Elon Musk’s Electric Trucks

In theory the Cybertruck was supposed to be the futuristic electric pickup truck to rule all other electric trucks in the pickup universe. However, in reality the Cybertruck shares little if any of the functionality of an actual pickup truck, and that’s only part of the problem.

CleanTechnica has spilled plenty of ink on the Cybertruck saga, from its pre-launch hype on through to the magical disappearing reservation list to the super-secret battery recall and more. So, it’s little wonder that the almost-a-pickup-truck-but-not-quite will go down in history as the Edsel of its day.

One observation on that point comes from Forbes senior editor Alan Ohnsman, whose latest reporting on the Cybertruck begins with the lede, “Elon Musk’s polygonal pickup is a polarizing sales flop that’s missed the billionaire’s volume goal by a staggering 84%,” and then proceeds to go downhill from there.

“After a little over a year at market, sales of the 6,600-pound vehicle, priced from $82,000, are laughably below what Musk predicted,” Ohnsman observes.

“Its lousy reputation for quality–with eight recalls in the past 13 months, the latest for body panels that fall off–and polarizing look made it a punchline for comedians,” he adds. In a long, detailed account of the electric truck’s woes Ohnsman also compares  Musk to a carnival barker, although that’s probably not fair to carnival barkers (for the record, Tesla stock recorded a drop of almost 5.5% at the close of business on April 3, settling at $267.28 USD per share).

More #Failing On Electric Trucks: The Semi

Of course, pickup trucks are not the only electric trucks for an astute automaker to pursue. Electric delivery trucks, for example, are low hanging fruit partly because they are amenable to short-distance trips and overnight charging schedules.

However, Musk has never shown an interest in light- and medium-duty electric trucks aside from the Cybertruck, and perhaps it’s just as well. Competition in those areas has been heating up, the latest example being a newly announced partnership between Isuzu and the Accelera branch of Cummins, aimed at pumping up the domestic supply of zero emission trucks. For that matter, Tesla has also been a non-starter in the hot market for electric delivery vans, having been beaten to the punch by Ford, GM, and Rivian among others.

Electric trucks in the heavy-duty Class 8 category are much more challenging for the fleet electrification movement, but that’s where Tesla decided to stake its claim to fame and fortune. Musk unveiled the Semi class 8 truck to much fanfare back in 2017, with production to follow 2019.

Splashy as it was, the launch event was followed by much thumb-twiddling instead of actually producing electric trucks. That finally began happening in 2023, though only in a trickle.

As widely reported elsewhere, full production of the Semi is not expected until the end of this year, just in time to meet full-on competition from other electric truck makers that are not headed up by CEOs with a penchant for poisoning their own brand reputation.

Last year, for example, Toyota launched its TERN Class 8 electric trucks into the North American market. Daimler Truck North America has also joined with Accelera and PACCAR (owner of the Peterbilt and Kenworth brands, among others) to electrify their Class 8 lineups, partly through a joint venture to manufacture LFP batteries in the US.

Look Out, Here Comes Volvo Electric Trucks

In yet another sign of trouble looming ahead for Semi sales, Volvo Trucks has introduced its Volvo on Demand “Truck-as-a-Service” plan to the US. The subscription-based arrangement is aimed at accelerating uptake of electric trucks by zeroing out up-front capital investments.

“The service is designed to simplify the acquisition process for battery-electric trucks, reducing the upfront investment required and offering qualified customers flexible term options as short as 12 months,” Volvo explains.

Last week, Volvo announced that its first Volvo on Demand client in the US, the Michigan firm R&M, has begun executing local and regional deliveries at O’Hare International Airport with a Volvo VNR Electric heavy duty truck.

“This deployment helps R&M Trucking integrate electric trucks into its fleet in a way that makes business sense—minimizing upfront capital investment while providing predictable operational costs,” emphasized Volvo  eMobility territory finance manager Logan Andrew.

“Volvo on Demand made it easy to get started with battery-electric trucks, ensuring we have the support and flexibility needed to determine the next step of our electromobility transition,” added R&M safety director Mike Narvaez.

Would You Buy A New Truck From This Man?

Unstated in Volvo’s press release was the fact that Volvo on Demand also makes it easy to get started with electric trucks because the CEO of Volvo has not done anything remotely resembling the brand-tarnishing, ham-handed hash that Elon Musk has made of the Tesla brand through his position as right-hand man to the President of Cloud Cuckoo Land (formerly “United States of America”).

As described by Volvo, R&M Trucking has 300 class 6-8 trucks on its roster. It’s a safe bet that the Tesla Semi will not be high on R&M’s list of electric trucks to adopt, should they opt to search beyond Volvo in their fleet electrification journey. There are other electric truck fish in the sea whose CEOs prefer to not become associated with Nazi-adjacent sympathies.

Volvo further notes that “R&M Trucking has customers who want deliveries made with battery-electric trucks to meet supply chain sustainability goals.” To the extent that supply chain sustainability goals go hand-in-hand with other corporate measures of ethical behavior, that’s another reason for trucking companies to steer clear of the Tesla brand.

Photo: Volvo Trucks North America is introducing heavy duty Class 8 electric trucks to the US under a subscription plan that zeroes out up-front costs (courtesy of Volvo North America).