PepsiCo plans to roll out 100 heavy-duty Tesla Semis in 2023, when it will start using the electric trucks to make deliveries to customers like Walmart and Kroger. Today Reuters published an interesting article about Pepsi's plans of using Tesla Semi, in which PepsiCo's Vice President made a strange comment about Tesla's electric truck's range.
The is the first time that PepsiCo is commenting on the company's integration of the electric truck in its fleet. Reuter's article is based on an interview with PepsiCo's Vice President Mike O'Connel but the article glosses over some very strange comments about the Tesla Semi’s range.
PepsiCo's VP Mike O'Connel said "PepsiCo’s new Semis can haul Frito-Lay food products for around 425 miles (684 km), but for heavier loads of sodas, the trucks will do shorter trips of around 100 miles (160 km), O’Connell said."
Electrek writes, "It’s true that a trailer filled with chips is going to be lighter than a trailer filled with sodas, but at the end of the day, they are both limited to 82,000 lbs in an electric truck as per regulations. Therefore, Tesla Semi should be able to travel 500 miles with a trailer of sodas at capacity."
I read a comment from someone who has years of experience with PepsiCo, who writes "I think Pepsi has many more bottling facilities than FritoLay production facilities in California. If they are using the Tesla Semis for intra-company product distribution, soda doesn't need to travel more than 100 miles. Frito-Lay products need to cover more mileage between facilities."
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.
