NACFE's Run on Less to Gather Real-World Tesla Info

PepsiCo will finally give the North American trucking industry something it’s been clamoring for since 2017: A hard, data-driven look at a Tesla Semi out working in the wild.

The announcement was made by Amanda DeVoe, sustainability and technology director, fleet at PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division, during the North American Council for Freight Efficiency’s breakfast panel during the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo.

NACFE is hosting the Run on Less Electric-Depot commercial vehicle evaluation trials this fall, which will focus on fleets scaling the charging infrastructure to support larger fleets of battery-electric trucks.

Analyzing the Tesla Semi

Commenting on Pepsi’s participation in the event, DeVoe confirmed that PepsiCo would enter one of its new Tesla Semis. "We're excited to participate in the run and allow the industry to have access to the insights and the learnings we are getting from experiencing these vehicles," DeVoe told attendees.

Tesla has been notoriously tight-lipped about the performance of its Telsa Semi trucks. ROL-e Depot will be the first time an independent team of analysts will get an up-close look at how the truck performs in real-world fleet operations. The current plan is for NACFE to track the performance of two Tesla Semis operating out of Pepsi’s Sacramento, California, distribution center.

“We going to run the trucks hard,” DeVoe added. “We want to demonstrate the capability of our team, the capability of the Semi, and the Class 8 tractor to compete with conventional diesel trucks. We will operate our Semis with maximum payloads and run them up to 500 miles during the event.”

“This is great news,” added Mike Roeth, executive director, NACFE. “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to see the Tesla Semi and charging system in action. We have NACFE analysts working now with both Pepsi and Tesla to verify how we’re going to collect this data, which we will be sharing and streaming live during ROL-e Depot this September.”