Pepsi was the first client to use the Tesla Semi, and now the beverage giant is touting its drivers’ experiences with heavy-duty electric vehicles.
PepsiCo electrification program manager Dejan Antunović said truckers have raved about the Semi, describing one longtime diesel semi-driver as “like a kid in a candy store” with the electric tractor-trailer. Antunović’s comments came during a conversation with Dan Priestley, senior manager of the Semi program at Tesla, at the IAA Transportation conference in Hannover, Germany, as Electrek reported.
“There has been this excitement plus just positive reaction,” Antunović said. “… To my surprise, to be honest, [it] has been a lot smoother and easier for drivers and has been really well received.”
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PepsiCo has 36 Semis at two California depots with another 50 on the way to a third. They are mostly used for regional long-haul routes, though 45 of the trucks destined for Fresno will be used locally. Pepsi Semis that haul FritoLay products use about 0.8 kilowatt-hours per kilometer, while transporting heavier beverages takes 1 kWh/km.
The more the company uses the trucks, Antunović said, the more it saves. The impressive vehicles have covered 2.36 million miles (3.8 million kilometers) so far.
In touting the Semis, Antunović mentioned the excited trucker but added that it’s a common response, saying: “The feedback is usually the same: ‘I don’t want to go back to diesel. This is the future. This is now. This is what I want to drive.'”
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So, Tesla is set to ramp up production of the Semi, which could debut in Europe soon. It’s great news for our health and the planet, as the Pepsi trucks already prevent 1,100 tons of planet-warming polluting gases from entering the atmosphere every year.
The next step in this journey is to go from depot charging to public and perhaps even mobile charging, which would further revolutionize the industry. Antunović mentioned that infrastructure, including utilities and grid capacity, is essential to the megawatt-scale projects needed to electrify a 24/7 fleet. He said their estimate of 18 months to get everything ready was way off and that it would take more like three years.
“I never thought of this benefit. As commercial drivers start driving EVs, they are going to understand the advantages of going electric,” one Electrek commenter wrote. “That will transfer to their buying habits at home as well.”
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