Tesla truck delayed again

Tesla boss Elon Musk has announced that the launch of the Tesla "Semi" prime mover has been postponed until November 16 as the company is: "Deep in production hell," with regard to its Tesla Model 3 sedan.

Bloomberg has reported that the company has offered few details about the problems it's having producing the car that starts at $US35,000, roughly half the cost of the least expensive Tesla Model S sedan.

With almost half a million reservation holders who started paying $US1000 deposits early last year for the Model 3, a delayed ramp-up of the vehicle risks the ire of potential customers.

Musk also said that he was prioritising aid to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico by delivering hundreds of the company's batteries to the area where power has been cut to around 90 per cent of homes and businesses.

Last week we reported that photos of the Tesla Semi were leaked ahead of the launch. The release of the much-anticipated truck was originally slated for September but the company moved that to October, and the date has now been reconfirmed as November 16.

It will rival the Nikola Motor Company's upcoming turbine-driven electric truck, the Nikola One.

However, in a message on Twitter on Friday, Elon Musk was talking up the Tesla Semi: "Semi specs are better than anything I've seen reported so far."

"Semi eng/design team work is aces, but other needs are greater right now," Musk tweeted.

The California-based company delivered just 220 Model 3 sedans and produced 260 in the third quarter. It had planned to produce more than 1500 in that time frame.

Tesla currently offers three vehicles, the Tesla Model 3 small sedan, Tesla Model S large sedan and Tesla Model X large SUV. There is also the Tesla Model S EGT race car but the fourth production model will be the Tesla Semi.

The next mainstream EV planned is a compact SUV, the Tesla Model Y, in 2020.