logo
Tesla's Semi factory in Nevada to have first trucks in production by end of 2025

Tesla's Semi factory in Nevada to have first trucks in production by end of 2025

Yahoo28-04-2025
(Reuters) -Tesla (TSLA), in an update on Semi, said that the first units of the electric trucks will be on the production line by the end of 2025 at its Nevada gigafactory campus.
Dan Priestley, who leads the Semi program at Tesla, said in a video posted to YouTube on Monday, that the factory has an annual capacity of 50,000 units, adding that the company will prepare for high volume production over the next few quarters.
"First units are set to be on the line by the end of this year, and we'll be ramping the factory throughout 2026," Priestley said.
Tesla, which has been looking to build a truck-making business for years, had said it would have the Semi in production by 2019. In October 2022, CEO Elon Musk told investors that his goal was to make 50,000 Semis in 2024.
Tesla's plans to ship components from China for the Cybercab and the Semi in the United States were suspended after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods amid a trade war, Reuters exclusively reported earlier this month.
The EV maker was ready to absorb the additional costs when Trump imposed the 34% tariff on Chinese goods, but could not do so when the tariff went beyond that, leaving shipping plans suspended.
Trump raised additional tariffs to 84% on April 9 and has since increased that to 125%, bringing the total tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the U.S. to 145%.
Tesla last week said that it would reassess its growth forecast in three months because it was "difficult to measure the impacts of shifting global trade policy on the automotive and energy supply chains" and that "changing political sentiment could have a meaningful impact on demand for our products in the near-term."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Are stimulus checks coming? What to know after Trump proposed tariff rebate
Are stimulus checks coming? What to know after Trump proposed tariff rebate

USA Today

time5 minutes ago

  • USA Today

Are stimulus checks coming? What to know after Trump proposed tariff rebate

Last month, President Donald Trump teased that a potential rebate could be attached to the worldwide tariffs he announced earlier this year. 'We have so much money coming in, we're thinking about a little rebate,' Trump said on July 25 ahead of his trip to Scotland, where he planned to iron out the details of a United Kingdom trade agreement. The White House has announced that some of the tariffs, which were disclosed on April 2, have raised $100 billion in revenue. Trump didn't provide further details on the potential rebates, which are unlikely to pass in Congress, except to say they would only be available to people from certain income levels. The president would need congressional approval to authorize the rebates. While details are scarce, here's what you need to know about a potential tariff rebate. Previous story: Trump considers 'rebates' to US taxpayers from tariff income Sen. Josh Hawley introduces rebate bill Shortly after Trump's July comments, Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, introduced the American Worker Rebate Act of 2025. The proposed legislation would send rebate checks of at least $600 per individual to U.S. residents. A family of four could receive up to $2,400. The legislation allows the credit to increase if tariff revenues exceed 2025 projections. 'My legislation would allow hard-working Americans to benefit from the wealth that Trump's tariffs are returning to this country,' said Hawley in a news release announcing the bill. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said tariff revenue is expected to reach $300 billion annually. Yet, economists have said the policies could increase inflation and cost taxpayers thousands of dollars per year, especially if Trump doesn't reach trade deals with key partners like Canada and Mexico. For joint filers with an adjusted gross income of over $150,000 and people filing single who earn more than $75,000, the benefit would be reduced by 5%. The legislation has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee. It would need to pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives to become law. What are some of the hurdles facing the rebate? Republican lawmakers are unlikely to be excited about increasing federal spending. The stimulus checks issued during the COVID-19 pandemic cost the government about $164 billion. If checks were issued, it would mean a significant percentage of tariff revenue would be going back to taxpayers at a time when Trump himself has said his priority is paying down $37 trillion in debt. "The big thing we want to do is pay down debt,' Trump said in July. 'But we're thinking about rebates.' In an interview with Semafor, one conservative lawmaker shot down the idea. "People love spending money and granting new tax cuts when we can't afford it," Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, told the outlet. 'We're $37 trillion in debt and running $2 trillion a year deficits – some time, this madness just has to end.' How is a tax rebate different from a stimulus check? A tax rebate is a reimbursement made to a taxpayer for an excess amount paid in taxes during the year, while a stimulus check is a direct payment from the federal government to households. Tax rebates can be issued at any point during the year. Hawley's news release states that the parameters for the tax rebate would be similar to the stimulus checks issued in 2020 during the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic. When could a tax rebate be implemented? Hawley's bill has until the end of the current congressional calendar to pass through both chambers of Congress, or it will be considered dead and would need to be introduced again if lawmakers want to move forward with it. Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at mdelrey@

Tested: Is the 2025 Volvo EX30 the Tesla alternative we were promised?
Tested: Is the 2025 Volvo EX30 the Tesla alternative we were promised?

USA Today

time5 minutes ago

  • USA Today

Tested: Is the 2025 Volvo EX30 the Tesla alternative we were promised?

Tesla's influence shows up everywhere in the 2025 Volvo EX30. You see it in the speedometer relegated to a corner of the infotainment touchscreen. You see it in the gear selector stalk that doubles as the cruise control switchgear. And you see it in the credit-card-style key that's meant to be a backup to using your phone for unlocking and starting the vehicle. All of this is cost-saving minimalism cleverly passed off as modernism, an art that Tesla — and now Volvo — has nearly perfected in its pursuit of making attainable (and profitable) EVs. Of all the parallels between the EX30 and a Tesla, the strongest similarity is one that no automaker should imitate: the mile-wide gap between what the automaker originally promised and the car it eventually delivered. Just two years ago, Volvo introduced the EX30 as the cheap and cheerful cure for too-expensive EVs with a $36,245 starting price and 275 miles of range. Yet the only EX30 you can buy in the U.S. right now and for the foreseeable future costs nearly $10,000 more than that and landed well short of 200 miles in MotorTrend's Road-Trip Range test. Volvo set out to build the $35K EV that Tesla has long teased and appears to have come to the same conclusion: It can't be done. (Chevy has proven otherwise.) Revisiting vintage automakers: What if AMC Motors had survived? How it could've changed the auto industry Trading value for performance It's a shame that the launch turned into a bait and switch because the $46,195 Volvo EX30 Twin Motor Performance is awesome in its own right. Imagine an electric Volkswagen GTI with 422 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what it's like to drive. Presented with a gap in traffic or an empty roundabout, the EX30 rockets through with an exuberance that matches its Moss Yellow paint. It is not, however, a rowdy little hooligan of a hatchback as the specs suggest. Exercising characteristic restraint, Volvo delivers all that oomph as a shove rather than a gut punch. The EX30 launches with the faintest scrape of spinning tires, and power builds linearly over the first 20 or so mph. Hitting 60 mph in 3.2 seconds has never felt so civilized. When the EX30 zips past the quarter-mile mark in 11.8 seconds, it does so up against the 112-mph speed limiter that Volvo rolled out across its lineup five years ago in the name of safety. Similarly, the EX30 steers and turns and tackles bumps capably without ever feeling overtly aggressive. Its 110-foot stop from 60 mph and 0.87 g of cornering grip are decent for a 4,190-pound vehicle on all-season tires but hardly the makings of a four-door sports car. For a Volvo, that's perfect. The EX30 Twin Motor Performance is fun to hustle and pleasant to commute in, making it a great daily driver. How to make a cheap car feel expensive The danger of buying the expensive version of a cheap car is that so much of a car is designed and engineered for the lowest-priced model. That's the story of the Ford Maverick. At $33,000, it feels like a value. In a $43,000 model, you can't ignore the flashing and exposed edges on many of the injection-molded plastic parts. Like the Maverick, the EX30 uses texture and color to turn cheap interior materials into eye candy. Unlike Ford, Volvo has engineered the fit and finish so that those materials also look and — where it matters — feel expensive. The sense of quality is furthered by the cabin's thoughtful and innovative design. The glove box drops from the center of the dash to give the front passenger more kneeroom. Instead of a conventional center console, a bin slides out from below the fixed center armrest with a clever, independently sliding top plate that allows you to allocate the space for cupholders or catchall storage. As noted at the beginning of this story, it's not hard to find where Volvo has cut cost from the bill of materials. Look at how simple the climate vents are. The front doors have been stripped of nearly all electronics, with the driver and passenger sharing two window switches in the center console to control all four windows. The front speakers all live in a soundbar running across the top of the dash, which unfortunately takes a toll on the audio system's sound quality. Lamborghini unveils the Temerario GT3: Introducing the successor to Lambo's most decorated race car What would have been easily justified trade-offs in a $36,245 EX30 are tougher to swallow at our test car's $48,395 sticker price, but the cabin is ultimately an industrial design masterpiece. Funky and original, the EX30 feels like the spiritual successor of the quirky 2008–2013 Volvo C30. The EX30's petite size reinforces the connection with that decade-old Volvo. The four-door EX30 measures about an inch shorter than the two-door C30 (and 5 inches shorter than the Toyota Corolla hatchback). As a result, the rear seats are only functional if your kids have the anatomy of a Squishmallow, and emptying a full Costco cart into the EX30's 12.4-cubic-foot cargo hold will test your Tetris skills. Volvo EX30 real-world range and charging The most consequential cost-cutting measure naturally shows up in what's the most expensive part of any EV, the battery. The EX30's lithium-ion pack stores 64.0 kWh of electricity, less than the late (but soon-to-be-resurrected) Chevrolet Bolt EV. Officially, the Volvo EX30 Twin Motor Performance is rated for a reasonable 253 miles on a full charge. At a steady 70 mph in the real world, though, we achieved an impractical 180 miles. That 29 percent gap between the window sticker and our measurement (which admittedly only looks at 95 percent of a full charge) makes the EX30 one of the worst performers in the MotorTrend Road-Trip Range test. Its fast-charging performance is similarly underwhelming. Power peaks at 153 kW and quickly tapers off, delivering enough juice in 15 minutes to cover just 87 miles at 70 mph. Given the EX30's size, limited range and mediocre charging, there are far better options at this price point — pretty much any EV at this price point — for anyone planning on road-tripping their electric vehicle. Getting techy Tesla's influence is palpable in the nearly button-free dashboard. The EX30 runs nearly all its major controls through a scaled-down version of the Android Automotive–based infotainment system found in the larger EX90. Thankfully the EX30 hasn't been plagued by the litany of software quality complaints owners have logged against Volvo's new flagship EV, and our reviewers took to the user interface quickly. We like that you can download apps such as Spotify and Waze directly to the 12.3-inch touchscreen and that it offers the familiar comfort of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for those who aren't ready for such newfangled ideas. The EX30 comes in two versions, the standard Plus trim and the $1,700 Ultra upgrade that adds a 360-degree camera system, automated parking, ambient cabin lighting, a cabin air filter, LED headlights and Pilot Assist, Volvo's conservative take on Tesla's Full Self-Driving. It can center the EX30 in its lane, slow or accelerate with traffic, and even guide the vehicle through a lane change, but all of this requires the driver to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. We appreciate a cautious, safety-first approach, but the value of Pilot Assist seems marginal compared to Ford's BlueCruise or GM's Super Cruise. Given its limited capabilities, we'd be inclined to pass on the Ultra trim to try to keep the price in check. A lesson learned? The Volvo EX30 Twin Motor Performance's straight-line speed, polished driving dynamics, and fetching design tug at our emotions, but it's hard not to feel jilted once you climb out of the driver's seat and look at the vehicle in the larger context. Volvo originally pitched the EX30 as a value play that would get more Americans into EVs. Instead, we got a tiny hot rod of a luxury car for a niche buyer. For now, the work of pushing EVs into the mainstream will have to be carried out by larger, cheaper, longer-range alternatives such as the Tesla Model Y, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Ford Mustang Mach-E and Chevy Equinox EV. Should Volvo someday figure out how to bring the entry, single-motor EX30 to America (specs for which are included on the U.S. media site), we hope it's learned an important lesson: Wait until you're shipping the cars to the U.S. to announce the price. Photos by Jim Fets

Brazil's Lula announces $5.5 billion in credits for exporters hit by US tariffs

time6 minutes ago

Brazil's Lula announces $5.5 billion in credits for exporters hit by US tariffs

SAO PAULO -- The Brazilian government on Wednesday unveiled a plan to support local exporters affected by a 50% tariff imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on several products from the South American nation. Dubbed 'Sovereign Brazil," the plan provides for a credit lifeline of 30 billion reais ($5.5 billion), among other measures. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described the plan, which includes a bill to be sent to Congress, as a first step to help local exporters. Congressional leaders attended Wednesday's ceremony, a first in months, in a sign of growing political support for the leftist leader in response to Trump's tariffs. Other measures announced by the Brazilian government include postponing tax charges for companies affected by U.S. tariffs, providing 5 billion reais ($930,000) in tax credits to small and medium-sized companies until the end of 2026 and expanding access to insurance against cancelled orders. The plan also incentivizes public purchases of items that could not be exported to the U.S. 'We cannot be scared, nervous and anxious when there is a crisis. A crisis is for us to create new things,' Lula said. 'In this case, what is unpleasant is that the reasons given to impose sanctions against Brazil do not exist.' Trump has directly tied the 50% tariff on many imported Brazilian goods to the judicial situation of his embattled ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store