US procurement alliance orders 2,500 Tesla Semi trucks
A new shipping alliance called ZET SCALE has placed an order for 2,500 Tesla Semi trucks in the USA. The alliance is a purchasing coalition that aims to acquire electric trucks at lower prices through bulk purchasing power.
Image: Tesla
ZET SCALE stands for ‘Zero-Emission Truck Shipper-Carrier Alliance Leading Electrification’ and was launched by Catalyst Mobility (the non-profit freight organisation formerly known as CALSTART) and the Smart Freight Centre. The alliance’s aim is simple: to pool demand from major freight companies within ZET SCALE, enabling hauliers to purchase battery-electric trucks in bulk at lower prices.
A first major tender has now led to a contract award: Tesla secured the position as the primary supplier in the initial allocation, while Kenworth, Volvo, and RIDE were named as secondary suppliers. The scale is impressive: the tender covers 2,500 battery-electric Class 8 trucks – “a single deal that nearly doubles the US fleet of electric Class 8 fleet”, the partners state. They add: “After evaluating price, range, charging capability, and production capacity, the Alliance selected Tesla as its primary OEM for the initial 2,500-trucks.” Hauliers in the alliance could access “as secondary OEMs that carriers can utilize as additional options which may meet their specific operational needs.” These suppliers have agreed to honour the prices offered in the tender. However, it remains unclear whether utilising these alternative electric truck models will reduce Tesla’s share of the order or if the 2,500 units are in addition to Tesla’s portion.
According to the alliance, all truck manufacturers offering Class 8 electric trucks in North America were invited to participate in the tender. The initiators do not specify how many ultimately took part. What is clear, however, is that the 2,500 ordered electric trucks will be distributed across ten freight hubs in the coming years – namely Los Angeles, Stockton, Bakersfield, Seattle/Tacoma, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago, Atlanta, and the Newark/New York area. However, ZET SCALE does not provide a more detailed timeline for deliveries.
Founding members of ZET SCALE include Microsoft and PepsiCo, among others. Additional members are welcome, as the alliance states. The reason: pooling demand from hauliers leads to lower prices for electric trucks through large-volume orders. Manufacturers can improve their cost efficiency based on higher production volumes – a classic win-win. In the long term, the alliance aims to bring more than 10,000 electric vehicles onto US roads.
Another important detail: the alliance is supported by a financing company called ZET Financial, which places the orders and operates a so-called ‘ZET Lease’ programme. This programme is designed to remove residual value risk from fleet balance sheets. According to Michael Berube, President and CEO of Catalyst Mobility, this risk has been a major market barrier: “You can have good technology and still not have a market. What is different about ZET SCALE is that the demand was organized so manufacturers could price at scale. That is how costs move, and that is how clean trucks leave the pilot phase.”
Christoph Wolff, CEO of the Smart Freight Centre, added: “Every part of the freight industry wants cleaner trucks, but until now each company faced that transition — and its risks — alone. ZET SCALE aligns shippers, carriers, manufacturers and financiers around a single, real demand signal. When the risk is shared across the whole chain instead of resting on any one player, the industry can finally move at scale.”
Dan Priestley, Head of the Tesla Semi Programme, also commented: “ZET SCALE’s goals are exciting because they take the operational cost advantage and predictability that electricity provides and amplifies it at scale. We are proud to have been the primary selection in this RFP and look forward to giving shippers and carriers a new competitive edge.”
The new order eclipses Tesla’s recently announced major order from Einride. The Swedish company ordered 500 Semi trucks in August. In parallel with the ZET SCALE tender award, Tesla has also secured another order for 50 electric trucks from IMC Logistics. The order includes Standard Range Semi trucks for port transport and Long Range Semi trucks for routes between Southern California and inland warehouses.
Meanwhile, Tesla plans to expand with the Semi for the first time – starting in 2027 into Europe. Here’s everything you need to know about the European truck version and the corresponding charging network ambitions in five initial European markets, including Germany.