Pepsi Reveals Tesla Semi Operations Details With Real Mileage Numbers
To start, Pepsi Tesla Semi is 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.
One of the Frito-Lay executives, speaking in the video, says "the contents that the Frito-Lay Tesla Semi trailer can weigh about 45,000 pounds is really the accepted weight and potato chips are made of a lot of air.
He says when we look at soda cans, aluminum and liquids, these things weight a lot, and they will weight out." In that video, Pepsi didn't speak to the price of the Tesla Semi trucks, but according to CNBC it is estimated to cost around $180,000.
The cost benefit is still a bit of a question mark because One expert, speaking in CNBC's video, whose name I couldn't get, says the price of the new electric truck isn't quite settled yet. I think it's safe to assume that it'll be at least double the price of the equivalent diesel model.
"First generation and early development has additional research funding and all that. That's where the partnership and support comes in. But ongoing, we believe there is a positive economic business case for electrifying the fleet," says PepsiCo's VP Supply Chain Mike O'Connell.
But in general, experts are predicting that electric trucks will be cheaper to operate over time. In CNBC's rare inside look of Pepsi Tesla Semi operations, PepsiCo said it's working with Tesla to grow their Tesla Semi fleet from 37 to 100 trucks.
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.