PepsiCo plans to take delivery of 15 Tesla Semis soon, could it happen this year?

Will the long-awaited Tesla Semi be going into service soon? PepsiCo has announced that it expects to take delivery of 15 Semis by the end of this year. The soda and snack seller placed an order for 100 units shortly after the electric truck’s 2017 launch. Since then, Tesla moved the Semi program to the background as it concentrated on Model Y and Cybertruck. But could Tesla start Semi production and deliveries this year?

Above: A look at the Tesla Semi (Source: Tesla)

A few months ago, Elon Musk told employees, “it’s time to bring Tesla Semi to volume production.” More recently, Tesla has indicated that some deliveries to customers could take place this year. On the other hand, Mr. Musk has also implied that Semi deliveries are being held up by a lack of sufficient battery cells—most recently in a tweet in which he said Tesla was “cell-constrained right now.”

At the launch, Tesla said the Semi, a Class 8 truck with an 80,000-pound capacity, would have 300-mile and 500-mile range options, priced at $150,000 and $180,000, respectively. Few details have been offered since, but Tesla-watchers are expecting to see an updated spec sheet for the production version soon. The company recently released a video of the latest prototype on a test track.

The Tesla Semis are part of PepsiCo’s plans to turn its Frito-Lay Modesto, California, site into a zero-emission facility. “To date, the equipment and infrastructure in place at the site includes nearly 60 tractors, box trucks, yard trucks or forklifts powered by electric, lithium-ion technologies or natural gas with renewable attributes, with the remaining 15 electric tractors expected to deploy later this year,” says Pepsico. “Infrastructure to support the project incorporates an adjacent natural gas station with renewable attributes, as well as solar carports, battery storage, truck charging systems and employee electric vehicle charging stations.”

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This article originally appeared in Charged. Author: Charles Morris. Source: Electrek