“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,” Amanda DeVoe, sustainability and technology director, fleet at PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division, said\u00a0during a panel at the ACT Expo clean transportation conference on May 3.<\/p>\n
DeVoe added that the truck would operate with a maximum payload and travel up to 500 miles round trip during the event. “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 added.<\/p>\n
The fact the Tesla Semi<\/a> will participate in the event \u2013 most likely with Tesla’s blessing \u2013 is an exciting prospect seeing as the EV maker has previously released only basic information about its Class 8 truck, and PepsiCo has only provided minor details regarding its experience with the Semi fleet to date.<\/p>\n 10<\/span> Photos<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Run On Less event will follow all entrant trucks and post independent performance data on its website. This is why getting Tesla<\/a>\u00a0to participate is a big deal. Datasets that will be made public during the event include the distance traveled, the effect of speed and distance on the battery charge, and weather conditions, including wind speed, encountered by the vehicles.<\/p>\n Since the event will track the trucks’ performances in real-world operations, it is very relevant for the truck and freight industries. The trucks will be monitored as they operate from seven depots in California \u2013 including one in Sacramento for the Tesla Semi<\/a> \u2013 and one in New York.<\/p>\n Entrants at this year’s event will also include operators of electric trucks from Nikola<\/a>, Freightliner, Volvo and other brands. However, the event will provide only general comparisons between the brands, according to organizer North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and Geotab, a fleet telematics company that will collect data from the trucks.<\/p>\n That’s because the trucks will carry different payloads, will travel different routes of varying distances, and will use different charging systems, making head-to-head comparisons difficult.<\/p>\n![\"Tesla](\"https:\/\/cdn.motor1.com\/images\/static\/16x9-tr.png\")
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