Guillen was once in charge of Freightliner's Cascadia Diesel-engine Class 8 semi, before joining Tesla to configure the Model S production line,[9][10] but left the Semi program a year later to lead one of the Model 3 general assembly lines[11] and subsequently became Tesla president of automotive in September 2018.

A concept prototype of the Semi was unveiled at a press conference on November 16, 2017, where Elon Musk provided additional specifics.

He claimed that the electric Semi would cost 20 ¢/mi (12 ¢/km) less to operate than a diesel truck if charged at a Megacharger, which Tesla said in 2017 they could guarantee a price of 7 ¢/kWh (in the United States).

[14] Musk said that the system could eventually allow several units to operate in an autopilot-based convoy, led by a truck with a driver, that would be a cheaper alternative to rail transport.

[16] At the time, platooning was legal in only eight U.S. states and all required a human driver in each truck, so changes in legislation would be necessary to achieve that technology capability.

[20] In 2018, Tesla announced that Semi prototypes were being tested with real cargo, hauling battery packs from Nevada to California.

[31] In November 2022, the company reported that a Tesla Semi had completed a 500 miles (800 km) drive while weighing 81,000 pounds (37,000 kg).

[32][33] On December 1, 2022, Tesla began customer deliveries at an evening event hosted at the manufacturing facility in Nevada.

PepsiCo received the first Semis of their large order for use with Pepsi beverage and Frito-Lay snack food transportation fleets.

[37][38] On August 19, 2024, a Tesla Semi caught fire in Placer County, California, which released toxic pollution and closed I-80 for sixteen hours.