Tesla has started production of the Tesla Semi electric truck and plans to start delivering the model to customers as early as December 1, announced Elon Musk on Twitter, breaking away from his “expert” reflections on the war in Ukraine. When the automaker introduced the Tesla Semi in 2017, it expected to be able to begin production of large electric trucks by 2019. As is often the case with Tesla’s plans lately, that didn’t happen, with Musk telling employees in an email back in early 2020 that the vehicle was already in limited production and that it was “time to go all out and bring the Tesla Semi to volume production.” However, in April of that year, the automaker announced in its earnings report that it was once again delaying deliveries until 2021.

But 2021 was not the year of the Semi either. Tesla told shareholders in another earnings call that deliveries would be delayed until 2022 due to global component shortages affecting the technology and automotive industries, as well as limited production capacity for the 4680 type of vehicle batteries at the time. Musk did not directly say that the truck’s component shortages have been resolved. But if the company has started producing the vehicles and already has an expected delivery date, then Tesla should at least have enough parts for the first customers.

The first batch of electric trucks will be delivered to Pepsi, which ordered 100 Tesla Semis back in December 2017. Other major companies have also ordered electric trucks from the automaker, including Walmart and UPS. And in May of this year, Tesla opened reservations to more customers with a $20,000 deposit. The Tesla Semi costs $150,000 to $180,000, depending on range, and the truck can travel up to 800 km on a single charge.