Tesla Semi truck set for first deliveries to Pepsi
Tesla has announced the start of its Semi truck production with first deliveries set for food and beverage corporation PepsiCo on December 1.
That was confirmed in a tweet by Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on October 7 and was also confirmed by PepsiCo in a separate statement.
The Tesla Semi truck has faced a string of delays since its first unveiling in November 2017 and was originally expected to be in production by 2019.
However, the EV manufacturer pointed to battery cell constraints as the reason for pushing out the release date.
When launching the truck, Musk said it would “look like a bullet” as part of a design to reduce drag. The cabin is designed specifically around the driver, including a centred driver position for optimal visibility.
They are expected to reach zero to 100km/h in five seconds, have up to 800km range and pull a maximum allowable load of more than 36,000kgs.
Prices for the Semi, depending on range options, are expected to be US$150,000 and US$180,000.
PepsiCo said in a statement that the trucks would be used at its Frito-Lay plant in Modesto, California, and its PepsiCo beverages factory in Sacramento.
It was not confirmed how many Semi trucks would be going into production, but in 2017 PepsiCo placed the world’s largest pre-order for 100 of the newly unveiled electric trucks.
The company says it’s part of PepsiCo’s effort to reduce fuel costs and fleet emissions during the distribution of sodas and snacks to retailers. At the time the order was announced, PepsiCo estimated it had around 10,000 diesel trucks in its US fleet.
Walmart Canada is another firm that has placed a large reservation for the truck and last year more than tripled its order to 130 units.
One of the last official comments on the truck was in the Q4 earnings call in January last year. Musk said the Semi was on hold until Tesla can make a high volume of its new 4680 battery cells.
There have also been very few sightings of Tesla Semi protypes on the road. One of the first spotted was posted on YouTube in January 2018 showing the all-electric truck driving down a public street in Sunnyvale, California near Tesla’s headquarters in Palo Alto and its Fremont factory.
Another prototype was photographed in 2020 showing it delivering Model 3 and Model Y cars.
It was also reported last year that Tesla asked Australian law makers to change its heavy vehicle dimension rules which it warned were not suitable for the Semi truck.
This should not impact the New Zealand market which has allowed heavy freight vehicles to operate at 2.55m in width without restriction since 2017.
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