the chance to put out one of these press releases definitely factors into the purchasing decision for these companies. They're buying good PR almost as much as they're buying trucks.
At 3 billion miles driven per year, there's a lot of room for experimenting with a few hundred/thousand new vehicles.
Anyway, electric freight works well for this business assuming the range is decent. There are lots of lower range freight routes with well forecasted volume, and controlled environments at both ends allows for installing charging infrastructure.
It’s a smart move. Between passenger vehicles, stationary storage, and their semis, the Gigafactory should be fully utilized.