Tesla Semi to Undergo Independent Testing at Special Event, Pepsi Confirms

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One of the Tesla Semis in PepsiCo's fleet will be independently tested. The company is committed to sharing its practical knowledge of electric trucks that will revolutionize the trucking industry with incomparable performance.

PepsiCo confirmed on Wednesday that at least one of its Tesla Semis would take part in the Run On Less trucking event later this year, Automotive News reported. The company is committed to sharing its knowledge of the use of the electric truck in daily operations. During the event, the truck will operate with a maximum payload of around 81,000 tons. It will travel up to 500 miles round trip.

“We're really excited to participate in the run and allow the industry to have access to the insights and the learnings that we are getting from experiencing these vehicles,” said Amanda DeVoe, sustainability and technology director, fleet at PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division. “We're gonna run 'em hard.”

“We really want to demonstrate the capability of our team, the capability of the Semi and the capability of the Class 8 electric vehicle to compete with the (internal combustion) counterpart,” she said during a panel at the ACT Expo clean transportation conference Wednesday.

Showcasing achievements in trucking efficiency, Run On Less will monitor the Tesla Semi and publish independent performance data on the event website. This will be the first time the public has access to independent performance and characteristics data for the electric truck.

“Getting Tesla into this is a big deal,” said Mike Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE), a truck industry think tank.

During the event, trucking companies and fleet managers will review data on all trucks that will take part in it. Roeth said Tesla will draw particular attention because it is a new player in the trucking industry—a company that has already revolutionized the auto industry.

Hosted by NACFE in odd-numbered years, the event will focus on the operation of electric trucks from various manufacturers. It will last for three weeks, starting on September 11. Geotab, a telematics company based in Oakville, Canada, collects data from trucks for daily publication.

“Any data on a Class 8 electric vehicle that can be shared is a big deal because there are lots of questions about their performance,” said Charlotte Argue, Geotab's senior manager for sustainable mobility. She said she expects “a lot of buzz about Tesla specifically.”

According to Roeth and Argue, the event will only feature general comparisons between brands and the public should not count on a deeper comparison. That is because the trucks will carry different weights, travel different routes for different distances, and face different charging systems. According to Roeth, a direct comparison will be difficult due to the level of data that will be displayed in the results.

© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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