Electric long-haul trucks could hit the road later this year after Tesla confirmed its Semi was on track to delivered in December, five years after appearing as a concept vehicle.

And the company’s futuristic Cybertruck, once promised to “serve briefly as a boat,” would go into production next year.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk revealed details of the trucks during an earnings call on Thursday, also making a bold prediction the car maker could “far exceed” Apple’s value of $US2.3 trillion ($3.7) trillion with what he called “the most exciting product portfolio of any company on Earth”.

The car manufacturer also revealed it had produced and delivered a record number of electric vehicles between July and September, but shares fell on the news after it failed to reach revenue expectations.

Tesla’s latest financial update featured new details of its Cybertruck and Semi plans, with Mr Musk telling investors its Cybertruck had reached “tooling” stage and was “on track to enter early production in the middle of next year”.

Mr Musk also said the first Tesla Semi – an electric truck designed to travel up to 800 kilometres on a single charge – would be delivered to Pepsi in the United States on December 1.

“It’s a long-range truck even with heavy cargo,” he said.

“A number of times people have told me it’s impossible to make a long-range heavy duty, classic truck. You obviously don’t need hydrogen for heavy trucking.”

The company aims to produce 50,000 electric semitrailers by 2024.

Tesla statements also revealed its factories in the US, China and Germany had “produced a record number of vehicles” during the third quarter of 2022 at more than 365,000 vehicles, and delivered more than 343,000 electric cars.

But its revenue, at $US21.5 billion ($34.3 billion), missed Wall Street expectations by about $US500,000 ($798,123).

Despite the miss, Mr Musk was ambitious for the company’s future, telling investors “for the first time” he could see a way that Tesla would one day be worth more than Apple and an oil giant combined.

“Several years ago I said on an earnings call I thought it was possible for Tesla to be worth more than Apple which was then the highest cap company… at around $US700 billion ($1.1 trillion),” he said.

“Now I’m of the opinion that we can far exceed Apple’s current market cap. I see a potential path which has it worth more than (Apple and) Saudi Aramco combined.

“We have an incredible product portfolio – I think we’ve got the most exciting product portfolio of any company on Earth – some which you’ve heard about, some which you haven’t.”

Mr Musk also commented on his controversial Twitter investment, saying he might be “overpaying” for the social network but was enthusiastic about its long-term potential.

Tesla’s financial announcement follows rising sales figures for its electric vehicles in Australia, with the Tesla Model Y, released in August, becoming Australia’s third highest selling vehicle in September behind the Toyota Hi-Lux and Ford Ranger, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

The company ranked as the seventh most popular car brand in Australia, with Toyota, Kia and Mazda in the lead.

– AAP