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Elon Musk announced that the Tesla Semi class 8 electric truck will be available worldwide, but they need to bring it to production.

Tesla Semi is getting some momentum lately.

Many people didn’t believe a 500-mile range class 8 truck would be feasible, and some still have issues believing it as Tesla is struggling with credibility issues on the autonomy front.

However, as we reported yesterday, Tesla’s claims regarding its semi-trucks are starting to be confirmed by third-party testing, as in a recent trial with DHL.

These trials come as the much-delayed vehicle program, which was first supposed to come to production in 2019, is finally about to enter volume production.

Tesla already has a low-volume production line in a building near its Gigafactory in Nevada outside of Reno, but it is now building another plant next to the factory to produce the Tesla Semi in volume starting next year. The plan is to start ramping up production in 2025 with the goal of eventually producing as many as 50,000 trucks per year.

The Tesla Semi program has always been focused on the North American market, but CEO Elon Musk did say earlier this year that it could also be produced in Europe at Gigafactory Berlin.

Last month, Tesla brought the vehicle to Europe to give a presentation at IAAand it showcased a slightly modified version to fit EU regulations.

Now, the Tesla Semi paid a visit to its possible future home at Gigafactory Berlin and Musk confirmed that the plan is to make the vehicle “available worldwide”:

It’s not clear what he means by that since Tesla’s current vehicle lineup is not really available worldwide, but it’s likely that he meant where Tesla currently operates.

Electrek’s Take

As I have often said, Tesla Semi is probably the program I’m most excited about at Tesla right now. Dan Priestley appears to be doing a great job with it and it’s one of the rare vehicle programs at Tesla where it doesn’t mention autonomous driving.

Even though it’s likely in the plans at some point, battery-powered semi trucks by themselves could have a major impact on reducing emissions from transportation and reducing costs even with a driver still behind the wheel.

The now-proven 1.7 kWh per mile of efficiency is great. You power that with renewable energy, and Tesla just needs to produce them in volume at a somewhat reasonable price and with a high level of reliability.

That’s far from easy, but Tesla is the leader in producing EVs in high volumes.

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Royal Enfield teases its upcoming electric motorcycle launch

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Royal Enfield teases its upcoming electric motorcycle launch

Legacy motorcycle maker Royal Enfield has released a teaser ahead of its expected electric motorcycle launch next month at the Milan Motorcycle Show (EICMA).

In the teaser video, seen below, the electric motorcycle is lowered down by a parachute as if being air-dropped. The video is accompanied by a caption teasing the unveiling on November 4th, the start of the Milan Motorcycle Show.

We got an early look at a prototype electric motorcycle from Royal Enfield at the show last year, but this year is expected to see the unveiling of a production version of the bike.

According to local media, the electric motorcycle will be the first of several developed on the same platform, allowing for multiple electric motorcycles to share the same basic structure.

The use of a structural battery pack is similar to other companies such as Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire, which also employs a structural battery pack as the basis of a platform that is used to produce several different electric motorcycle models.

The move is particularly important to the electric motorcycle industry, especially inside of India, due to the company’s major role in the motorcycle industry. Royal Enfield is one of India’s most iconic and oldest motorcycle manufacturers, with a rich history dating back over 120 years. Known for producing sturdy, classic, and retro-styled motorcycles, Royal Enfield has built a strong following both domestically and internationally.

In India, the brand is synonymous with rugged, reliable bikes, which are highly popular for both long-distance touring and everyday commuting. Royal Enfield holds a dominant position in the mid-size motorcycle segment (250-750cc) in India and has cultivated a loyal fan base due to its blend of vintage charm and modern engineering.

Despite Royal Enfield’s popularity for touring bikes, the upcoming electric motorcycle is more likely to focus on commuting roles due to the limited range offered by most affordably-priced electric motorcycles.

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Gogoro expands consumer sales of battery-swapping electric scooters in Singapore

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Gogoro expands consumer sales of battery-swapping electric scooters in Singapore

Gogoro announced today the expansion of consumer sales of three of its electric scooters in the Singapore market, marking a major expansion from the company’s commercial fleet-based entry into the market.

Known for its battery-swapping network that fuels its own electric scooters as well as those produced by other major motorbike manufacturers such as Yamaha and Aeon, Gogoro has become the de facto battery-swapping standard for two-wheeled EVs.

The company has expanded its battery-swapping network into several countries across Asia, often beginning with commercial operations. Last year, Gogoro partnered with Food Panda to outfit delivery riders with Gogoro scooters and batteries in Singapore.

Cycle & Carriage Singapore (C&C) served as the importer and distributor, and is now expanding operations to include consumer sales of three electric scooters. The models include the Gogoro VivaMix, Gogoro Premium, and Gogoro SuperSport.

“Together with Cycle & Carriage, we are introducing a new generation of two-wheel urban transportation and refueling in Singapore. Gogoro battery swapping provides a quick, easy and safe electric refueling experience that doesn’t require parking or time to charge,” said Henry Chiang, CEO of Gogoro. “Singapore has taken a proactive approach to accelerating EV adoption and the Singapore LTA’s TR25 electric vehicle charging standard has established a strong set of requirements for Southeast Asia to embrace.”

“Gogoro is Cycle & Carriage’s first foray into the two-wheeler electric mobility business here in Singapore and it highlights our commitment to support the Singapore Green Plan 2030,” said Wilfrid Foo, Managing Director of Cycle & Carriage Singapore. “While battery swapping technology is relatively new here, we believe in the products and our partnership with Gogoro will accelerate the growth.”

Gogoro’s battery-swapping standard has proven popular in its domestic market of Taiwan, where over 1.4 million batteries are in circulation. The company boasts hundreds of millions of battery swaps with hundreds of thousands occurring every day. Battery swap stations outnumber gasoline stations on the island and riders are rarely more than several hundred feet from the closest battery swap kiosk.

The company’s operations are smaller in other countries into which it has expanded, but represent an important launching pad in various regions as Gogoro hopes to replicate its local success on a global level.

Electrek’s Take

The expansion of consumer sales of Gogoro’s scooters in Singapore is particularly interesting to me for two reasons. First of all, EVs make up only around one percent of Singapore’s two-wheeler market, meaning there is a lot of room to replace combustion vehicles.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Singapore’s two-wheeler market is a much smaller portion of the total vehicle landscape than most countries that Gogoro has entered. By comparison, other markets that Gogoro has targeted, such as Taiwan, India, and Indonesia, all have more two-wheelers than cars. But compared to the several motorbike-majority countries that Gogoro has entered, scooters and motorcycles only make up around 15% of the Singapore transportation market, meaning Gogoro is working in areas with much smaller two-wheeler shares. That’s likely good news for Gogoro fans in other countries that hope to have the battery-swapping giant one day make landfall on their own shores. Of course, Singapore’s size and geography likely play a unique role in its selection as a point of expansion for Gogoro, but I still see it as a promising sign for a wider Gogoro rollout.

At the same time though, there’s also the issue of current financial troubles at Gogoro, evidenced by multiple successive quarters of net operating losses in the millions of dollars. But if Gogoro is to turn things around, success on a global level could be a major contributor. The thousands of swapping stations across Taiwan are evidence of the operational success of the system, and now the company needs to demonstrate that it can also be a financial success around the world.

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CNBC Daily Open: Bullish sentiment and broadening rally – markets are in a good place

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CNBC Daily Open: Bullish sentiment and broadening rally – markets are in a good place

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on April 5, 2024.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images

This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

What you need to know today

Breather from rally
U.S. markets fell Tuesday, weighed down by a
drop in semiconductor stocks and a 8.1% slide in UnitedHealth. Asia-Pacific stocks were mostly lower Wednesday. Asian chip stocks, like Tokyo Electron and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, retreated on news of ASML’s disappointing forecast and reports of the U.S. possibly imposing export controls on AI chips.

ASML slumps
Shares of semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML plunged 16% on a downbeat earnings report. For 2025, the Netherlands-based company thinks net sales will come in at the lower half of its previous projection. ASML missed expectations on net bookings by 3 billion euros for the September quarter, though net sales beat expectations.

Better than ChatGPT
Alibaba updated its artificial-intelligence translation tool, based on a model called Marco MT, on Wednesday. The Chinese e-commerce giant said its product performs better than those by Google and DeepL, according to an assessment by benchmarking tool FLoRes. Fifteen languages are supported by Alibaba’s AI-powered translation tool.

Banks beat expectations
Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Citigroup beat earnings and revenue estimates for their third quarter. Goldman was the standout performer: Its profit jumped 45% from a year earlier. Year on year, Bank of America experienced a 12% drop in net income and Citigroup’s net income fell 8.6%.

[PRO] Repositioning for slower rate cuts
September’s strong jobs report and higher-than-expected inflation reading mean that the U.S. Federal Reserve is unlikely to repeat its jumbo 50-basis-point rate cut at its November meeting. Here’s how strategists are repositioning in view of changing rate cut expectations.

The bottom line

Despite markets falling Tuesday, there’s still plenty to like about their current state.

Weighed down by ASML’s 16% dive and a report by Bloomberg on potential AI-chip export controls, semiconductor stocks like Nvidia and AMD fell 4.7% and 5.2% respectively. That gave the VanEck Semiconductor ETF its worst day since Sept. 3. As a result, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.01%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which just yesterday was basking in its accomplishment at closing above the 43,000 level for the first time, fell 0.75% to dip into the 42,000 territory again. UnitedHealth’s 8.1% drop dragged down the Dow.

Last, the S&P 500 retreated 0.76%.

Still, investors are the most bullish in four years, according to the October BofA Global Fund Manager Survey. They’re also optimistic about the economy: 74% investors believe the U.S. will avoid a recession.

Anticipation of more rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve and hopes that Beijing will unleash more stimulus to boost its economy are driving up investor sentiment, according to Michael Hartnett, an investment strategist at BofA.

Indeed, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, who’s a member of the Federal Open Market Committee this year, noted that the central bank is “a long way from where [rates are] likely to settle.” That means “the decisions that are really in front of us are ones about how quickly to adjust towards that level” – not whether to keep rates high in light of how strong recent economic data has been.

Another positive sign for markets is how the S&P and Dow hit all-time highs on Monday, but the Nasdaq was still a few percentage points away from its peak. “This subtle divergence is technical evidence that the market has been moving away from the Magnificent Seven mega-caps,” wrote Piper Sandler’s chief market technician Craig Johnson.

– CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Samantha Subin, Yun Li, Lisa Kailai Han and Alex Harring contributed to this story.    

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