Pepsi Discloses Tesla Semi Autonomy Capabilities and Future Plans

Last week, CNBC reporters went to Pepsi's Frito-Lay facility in Modesto, California to check out the new electric trucks from Tesla called Semi. They wanted to see if the trucks were as good as people say they are. After watching the report, I found out some fascinating information about how Pepsi uses the Tesla Semis, and I thought I'd share it with you.

I have already filed one report at Torque News Youtube channel about some of the interesting Tesla Semi secrets Pepsi shared with CNBC, such as Pepsi Tesla Semi delivering Frito-lay products around 425 miles per charge. It also delivers Pepsi out of its Sacramento warehouse on 100 mile daily routes, going directly to stores, and 300 to 400 mile runs to other warehouses. But in this report I want to tell you what Pepsi told CNBC about Tesla Semi autonomous driving and whether they use it.

Pepsi told CNBC that the Tesla Semi trucks, they have received, don't have autonomous features activated yet. "The autonomous functionality of Tesla is not specked for these vehicles. They have the hardware capability. We'll get to that down the road as an additional capability," said PepsiCo's VP Supply Chain Mike O'Connell to CNBC.

This means that the Tesla Semi trucks owned by Pepsi currently do not have the ability to operate autonomously or without a human driver. Although the trucks have the necessary equipment installed, the autonomous functionality is not activated or enabled. Pepsi's VP Supply Chain, Mike O'Connell, explained that while the trucks have the potential for autonomous capabilities, it is not currently being utilized. However, there is a possibility that autonomous features may be added to the trucks in the future as an additional capability.

Why is this important? At the unveiling of the production version of the Tesla Semi, the carmaker said a lot of things about its revolutionary Semi truck, but didn't say a word about it being equipped with Autopilot or FSD. 

Now PepsiCo sheds light on the question many Tesla enthusiasts and industry observers have, saying their trucks, received from Tesla, have the necessary hardware installed for autonomous driving. This could be the beginning of the end of the truck driving profession. Perhaps in the next 10-15 years Tesla Semi trucks will drive by themselves. Do you agree with this view or concerned about the industry going all full self-driving?

Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.