Pepsi gives update on how it runs its Tesla Semi truck fleet

In News1 MinutesBy NZ Trucking magazineAugust 11, 2023

PepsiCo has released a new video detailing how it runs its fleet of 21 Tesla Semi Trucks out of its Sacremento depot.

The video, produced by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, showed how the electric trucks run about 12 hours each day, delivering beverages predominantly under 160km on a daily basis.

Pepsi said it is operating the Semi fleet alongside electric yard tractors, Ford E-Transit service vans and electric forklifts. The distribution facility is powered by solar, means the electric trucks are running on 100% renewable energy.

Dejan Antunovic, electrification program manager at Pepsico, said that three of the Tesla Semi trucks are dedicated to long-haul trucking, with routes that vary between 400-720km.

To support that, Tesla has been installing 750kW Megachargers at Pepsico facilities. They enable charging to 80% capacity in less than 45 minutes.

Antunovic said that they have been able to achieve an efficiency of 1.7kWh per mile on average with the Tesla Semi.

He added that Pepsi has been pushing the trucks to their limits.

“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.”