Video: PepsiCo sheds more light on Tesla Semi

PepsiCo has revealed more details on its fleet of 21 Tesla Semi electric trucks operating out of its bottling production and distribution facility in Sacramento, California. 

In a video produced by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE), the food and beverage giant provided fresh information on the model. 

PepsiCo says its operating the Semi fleet alongside electric yard tractors, Ford E-Transit service vans and electric forklifts. 

The distribution facility is powered by solar which means the electric trucks are running on 100% renewable energy. 

The Semis are powered by 750kW Megachargers which can power the trucks from 0% to 85% in 45 minutes.

Deliveries are mostly under 160 kilometres on a daily basis with around eight to 12 destination stops per day for the average driver, operating for up to 12 hours a day. 

Electrification program manager Dejan Antunović explains that out of the 21 Semi fleet, three of the trucks are being used for long-haul routes of between 250 miles to 450 miles (400km-700km). 

“We have been aggressive to push the limit and demonstrate that we are able to achieve a very high range with a fully-loaded tractor with that fleet,” he says. 

Efficiencies in performance through regenerative braking has seen PepsiCo get 1.7kWh/mile (1.1kWh/km) through operating the Tesla Semis based on several months of testing, Antunović says. 

In adopting the Semis and other electric trucks into the fleet, PepsiCo committed to a three-year process which involved adding 3MW of new service to its Sacramento facility. 

In November last year, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said the Semi had completed an 800-kilometre drive with more than 36 tonnes in gross vehicle weight. 

First official deliveries of the truck were announced in December. In 2017, PepsiCo placed the world’s largest pre-order for 100 Semis which were newly unveiled at the time.