The anticipated electric truck Tesla Semi is finally getting delivered for the first time this quarter. What is interesting is that this particular piece of news came from the CEO of Pepsi, instead of Musk who recently changed his Twitter name.
Pepsi CEO Ramon Laguarta accidentally revealed the latest update of Tesla Semi during an interview with CNBC.
“We’re already starting to buy electric trucks actually from Tesla. I don’t want to promote anybody, but that’s the brand that we’re using so far, and we’re getting our first deliveries this Q4,” commented Laguarta. This means that Pepsi may just be the first company to receive this electric truck.
It is intriguing since Musk had previously commented that the delivery for Semi will be postponed to 2023 due to supply chain issues and the trailing capacity for the 4680 battery.
According to Laguarta, Pepsi had started pushing for the transaction with Tesla years ago, and everyone is beyond excited now that delivery is on the horizon.
Laguarta did not indicate the quantity of Semi that will be delivered, though Pepsi tweeted earlier this year that the company expects to initiate 15 battery electric trucks in delivering commodities at the end of the year.
This figure would make more sense, since the sole reason for Musk’s postponement in Semi and Cybertruck lies on the insufficient production capacity for the 4680 battery. Thus, it is not entirely impossible for a small batch of 4680 batteries to be produced exclusively for the Semi by the end of this year.
Tesla Semi is a Class-8 electric truck, with a longest driving range of 800km, and it is able to accelerate to 100km/h within 20 seconds with a full load onboard, as well as maintain an approximate speed of 100km/h when climbing a 5° slope. What is more important is that the Semi is also configured with the Autopilot technology that Tesla is very proud of, and it is possible to attain Level 4 self-driving in certain road sections according to the routes of long-distance trucks.
For businesses, Semi is advantageous because of its low energy consumption, low taxation, and low maintenance requirements, and it features an advanced assisted driving system that is able to reduce possibilities of driving hazards. Including the first batch ordered by Pepsi, there are more than ten businesses who have ordered roughly 800 units of Semi. Tesla will continue to thrive in revenue next year, if it is able to begin delivery starting from this year.
(Cover photo source: Tesla)