Tesla has handed over its first Semi electric trucks to customers, almost a decade after unveiling them in 2017. The event took place in Reno, Nevada, in front of customers, employees and influencers. Engineers and executives ran the stage. Elon Musk wasn't there - he appeared only in a pre-recorded clip.

The figures the company announced: a range of over 800 kilometres on one charge with a full load, a price approaching 300,000 dollars (around 263,000 euros) before subsidies, and shorter-range versions. The target is 50,000 trucks a year, around 1,000 a week, from a new factory right next to the Gigafactory in Reno. The new plant is supposed to create 3,000 jobs.

Production was originally announced for 2019. Then came the pandemic, the semiconductor shortage and a series of redesigns based on feedback from pilot customers. Some of them sound almost comical. The original side windows that opened outwards turned out to be impractical at toll booths and card readers, so Tesla went back to ordinary wind-down windows. The drive axle lubrication system needed three different oils - now it needs one. The truck has been slimmed down by around 450 kilograms. "Sometimes we go a bit too far," admitted Lars Moravy, Tesla's head of engineering.

Dan Priestley, head of the Semi programme, made the case for why this matters at all: heavy trucks are just 1 percent of vehicles on the road but produce 16 percent of emissions. That's a real argument - which is why it's odd that part of the evening was spent settling scores with critics.

The executives didn't miss the chance to answer Bill Gates, who in a 2020 blog post doubted that electric heavy trucks were practical. "We had some sceptics, we won't mention names," said Priestley. Moravy talked about how much it motivates them when someone tells them something is impossible. Seven years after the originally promised production date is a strange moment for a victory lap.

That leaves the question that doesn't get solved on stage - charging. According to sources familiar with the matter, charging infrastructure is still an obstacle for buyers, even though Tesla is expanding its network of megawatt chargers. From his video, Musk promised the Semi would be "the most fun truck to drive" and that partially automated driving would arrive "in the near future". What "the near future" is worth when Musk says it, the Semi has just demonstrated.