Tesla Semi receives order of 30 more electric trucks from Walmart

We learn that Walmart, who already ordered a few Tesla Semi trucks last year, added 30 more electric trucks to its order this week.

The retail giant was amongst the first to place a reservation for the electric truck after the unveiling in November 2017.

At the time, Walmart ordered 15 new Tesla trucks and it wrote in a statement that it planned on learning from the technology:

"We believe we can learn how this technology performs within our supply chain, as well as how it could help us meet some of our long-term sustainability goals, such as lowering emissions,"

Now Walmart announced today that it is adding 30 more Tesla Semi electric trucks to its order with the goal of accelerating the electrification of its fleet in Canada.

The US' biggest retailer wants to use the trucks in Canada with the first 20 units being used out of Mississauga, Ontario and the rest will operate from Walmart's new distribution center under development in Surrey, B.C.

It is set to open in 2022 and the company aims for it to be the first full-size distribution center to operate with an electric truck fleet.

John Bayliss, senior vice-president, logistics and supply chain for Walmart, told The Canadian Press about the announcement:

"We are always looking for innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment and lead the industry in the drive for sustainable change,"

This new order is a bigger commitment to Tesla Semi from Walmart since when they reserved their first trucks, Tesla was only charging $5,000 per reservation.

After demand started to pick up, Tesla changed the listed deposit price to $20,000 for a "base reservation" of the production version and the full $200,000 for the "Founders Series" truck.

It means that Walmart had to place a $600,000 deposit just to reserve the new trucks and the company's full order could be worth between $6.75 million and $8.1 million depending on the trucks that they decide to configure.

After Tesla revealed the pricing of its electric semi trucks last year, we learned that the regular production versions for the 300-mile and 500-mile range versions will be $150,000 and $180,000 respectively, while the company is also listing a 'Founders Series' version for $200,000.

Walmart Canada says that its trucks mostly operate on single-day routes between its distribution centers and stores. It expects that the Tesla Semi's range will easily be able to support most of its needs.

The company expects to be able to retire diesel trucks faster by adopting the Tesla Semi in its fleet, which it aims to be 20% electric by 2022.

Tesla aims to bring its electric truck to production as soon as next year and start deliveries to its early reservation holders soon after.