PepsiCo, the only commercial customer of Tesla's supposedly game-changing Semi truck, has finally opened up about the truck's nuts-and-bolts performance stats, including all-important range and weights.
The news comes as part of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency's Run On Less program. PepsiCo's 21 Sacramento-based Tesla Semis, along with some BYD electric yard tractors and Ford E-Transit vans, have been reporting data back to NACFE at a slow trickle, but now the company has shed more light on its private fleet's adventures in e-trucking.
The Semis in Sacramento "run two different types of routes: long-haul routes that transport between 250 and 520 miles per run and with a gross vehicle weight plus load of up to 82,000 lbs," as well as other routes under 75 miles per day, "hauling a diminishing load that leaves nearly full and lightens throughout the day as deliveries are made." NACFE previously indicated that diminishing load is beverages.
The three specific Semis reporting data to the Run On Less program "are driving slip-seated long-haul transport routes" totaling 19,122 miles since the start of the program on Sept. 11.
Now for the most crucial, previously hidden detail: "Approximately 65% of miles driven during the first two weeks of Run on Less were loaded to a gross vehicle weight plus load of over 70,000 pounds," PepsiCo wrote.
The actual payload figures, how much the truck is hauling, remain a mystery, as does the Semi's tare weight.
