Mere months after Elon Musk declared that production of the Tesla Semi wouldn’t begin in 2021, PepsiCo has announced that they expect deliveries by the end of the year.
Companies like PepsiCo, Walmart, and UPS have been lining up to get their hands on the Tesla Semi for years. However, the vehicle has seen plenty of delays.
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The Tesla Semi timeline
The Semi has quite the storied history, dating back to 2016 when it first came up in the “Master Plan.”
In 2017, Tesla predicted their Semi to hit the market in 2019.
In 2019, it was estimated that the Semi would start production by the end of 2020. During the course of the year, though, Tesla clarified the main obstacle remaining as the lack of battery production capability. The company subsequently pushed the Semi’s production forward.
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Earlier this year, there was optimism that the company’s class 8 semi-truck would begin production by the end of 2021. Electrek reported that Tesla was building a Semi production line near its Gigafactory Nevada plant, where they would be able to produce five trucks a week.
During their Q2 earnings report, Tesla addressed the Semi again. This time, they mentioned having to shift the Semi’s launch until 2022. Amidst “limited battery cell availability” and “global supply chain challenges,” this wasn’t unexpected.
That’s What I Like
Today, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta spoke to the media at COP26: the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. In a discussion with CNBC, the topic of their Tesla Semi order came up:
“Transportation is about 10% of our overall gas emissions so it’s important and we’re working on different solutions. We replace our fleet regularly, every ten years more or less…and we’re already starting to buy electric trucks actually from Tesla. I mean I don’t want to promote anybody but that’s the brand we’re using so far and we’re getting our first deliveries this Q4.”
— Ramon Laguarta, Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo
As of Tesla’s most recent earnings update, the Semi remains listed as “in development.”
Nowhere is Nevada mentioned, either, as the Semi’s manufacturing location is also noted as “TBD.”