A few months after starting deliveries, the Tesla Semi seems to be making its first customer happy, the American company PepsiCo. The latter reveals some data in real conditions of the electric truck, including its consumption and its autonomy.
Although it was officially announced in Elon Musk’s Master Plan in 2016, it was only six years later that the Tesla Semi finally saw the light of day. Indeed, the electric truck was delivered to its first customers at the end of last year, during a grand key handover ceremony.
Precise data, but favorable conditions
It was then the occasion to know a little more about this new arrival in the range, followed then by the Cybertruck whose production has just started. The boss of the brand had notably unveiled a video showing the impressive capabilities of its electric truck and gave some more specific information about him.
We learned in particular that its autonomy was announced at around 800 kilometers, with a load of 37 tons in his trailer. All with a reasonable consumption of 1.7 kWh per mile, or the equivalent of 105 kWh/100 km. But in reality, what is it really? To find out, nothing better than asking those who really use it.
And precisely, the first customer of the electric truck, the American company PepsiCo, which notably owns Benenuts, Pepsi and Doritos, revealed some information. The company recently organized a big event called Run For Less over a period of 11 days, in order to communicate on the characteristics of the Semi. And the least we can say is that they are rather impressive.
In a video posted on Vimeo, the company explains that it rolled its fleet, currently made up of 21 units, around Sacramento for about 12 hours a day. The vehicles are responsible for making beverage deliveries over distances of less than 160 kilometers, although three of them are dedicated to long journeys, between 400 and 700 kilometers.
Positive results
Results: the company is delighted with this investment, even if the unit price of the truck has not been officially revealed. According to Dejan Antunovic, electrification program manager at PepsiCo, the truck would be almost neutral in certain situationsthanks to braking regeneration.
In the descent of Donner Pass, a pass located in the Sierra Nevada, the vehicle could indeed recover a large amount of electricity. This would allow it to display a reasonable average consumption and above all identical to Elon Musk’s predictions, with 105.7 kWh/100 km. Promise kept therefore, for the Semi, even if the conditions here seem relatively favorable.
Fast charging also appeals to the food industry, since only half an hour is needed to fill the battery up to 95%. This is thanks to Megachargers capable of delivering up to 750 kW. If these can in theory reach 1,000 kWit is here the electrical network that would be too limited.
If Elon Musk has not confirmed it, the battery of the electric truck would display a capacity of around 900 kWh and would be divided into nine modules. We do not know, however, if it uses 4680 cells. Regarding the driving position, employees say they are rather seduced, despite the rather special layout.
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