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Tevva Motors Ltd., headed by a former Israeli submariner who’s vying with Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. to develop electric-powered trucks, secured a major investment that will enable it to put the vehicles on the road this year.

Electric car maker Tesla Inc. is laying off about 3,600 workers mainly from its salaried ranks as it slashes costs in an effort to deliver on CEO Elon Musk’s promise to turn a profit in the second half of the year.

Major German carmakers are rolling out stylish, sporty electric vehicles in the mold of Tesla's Models S, X and 3. Unlike Tesla, they have roughly a century of experience launching models every few months and can spread development costs across a broad portfolio.

City Furniture preordered five Tesla Semis, the electric-powered Class 8 truck that has received orders from such firms as DHL Supply Chain, FedEx Corp., J.B. Hunt Transport Services, UPS Inc. and Walmart Inc.

Tesla Inc.’s Autopilot chief, Jim Keller, has left the company, the latest in a rash of executive departures at the electric-car maker led by CEO Elon Musk.

FedEx Corp has ordered 20 of the Tesla Semi electric trucks for its FedEx Freight less-than-truckload unit.

Logistics firms are joining trucking companies in checking out the potential for the Tesla Semi, with at least two testing prototypes of the electric truck.

On the evening of Nov. 16, Elon Musk unveiled the latest prop in his Tony Stark cosplay. Tesla Inc.’s all-electric semi rig met all the classic Musk product launch criteria: It looked stunning, had unprecedented performance numbers, included features straight out of science fiction, and would arrive at some unknown date at a too-good-to-be-true price from a still-to-be-built assembly line.

Tesla Inc. said the expected price for its all-electric Class 8 truck will range from $150,000 to $200,000.

Elon Musk knows how to make promises. Even by his own standards, the promises made last week while introducing two new Tesla vehicles—the heavy-duty Semi Truck and the speedy Roadster—are monuments of envelope pushing. To deliver, according to close observers of battery technology, Tesla would have to far exceed what is currently thought possible.