pepsi to receive first delivery of tesla ‘semi’ trucks in december 2022

first 100 tesla ‘semi’ trucks to be delivered to pepsi on dec 1st

 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter on October 9, announcing that the company is kickstarting production on its all-electric ‘Semi’ truck, revealed initially in November 2017 at a Space X event. He also shared that Pepsi will receive the first 100 models December 1, 2022.

 

Featuring enhanced autopilot technologies, the ‘Semi Truck’ will be built to aid avoidance of collisions, positioning the driver at the center to provide maximum visibility and control. The performance and efficiency deliver even more impressively than previously predicted. Tesla claims that the ‘Semi’ boasts a mile range between 300 and 500 miles, consuming less than 2 kWk/mile energy and saving over $200,000 USD in fuel. This is all attributed to its four independent motors on its rear axles, accelerating the truck from 0 to 60 mph with 80,000 lbs in 20 seconds. Read the full 2017 story on designboom here.

 

Excited to announce start of production of Tesla Semi Truck with deliveries to @Pepsi on Dec 1st! pic.twitter.com/gq0l73iGRW

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 6, 2022

 

 

big anticipation after a 5-year delay 

 

Presumably, the all-electric model can travel the low end of what transportation veterans consider to be ‘long-haul’ trucking. Centered on a big electric rig known as a ‘day cab’ with no sleeper berth, the autopilot-enhanced vehicle can travel the range of about 200 to 300 miles with a typical payload before recharging. ultimately, the company hopes that the ‘Semi’ could compete with conventional gas-guzzling diesel wheelers, which can travel up to 1,000 miles on a single fuel tank.

 

Besides Pepsi, the Tesla ‘Semi’ truck grabbed the interest of other global giants at its unveiling in 2017, including Walmart, UPS, and Anheuser-Busch — and the five-year lag in production has left them patiently waiting for their batch to land on their doorstep.

the ‘Semi’ truck was first unveiled in November 2017 | all images courtesy of Tesla

 

 

During that period, though, Tesla was actively prototyping and finalizing the design before road testing it for the first time in 2019. The production delays, Musks explained, were caused by a few bumps along the road — namely, not possessing enough battery cells to go into mass manufacturing. Luckily, production seems to have officially kickstarted this year, and Pepsi, having pre-ordered 100 trucks back in December 2017, will enjoy the first 100 deliveries of the ‘Semi’. The company also shared that its Nevada Gigafactory will house the first production batch.

truck interior offering rollover protectionall-electric transporation vehicle with auto-pilot enhanced features

 

 

 

project info:

 

name: Tesla ‘Semi’ truck

production launch: 2022

first batch delivery: December 1, 2022

first customer: Pepsi