Photo: Tesla
An electric truck is not your average electric car. By definition, a truck is supposed to be able to travel for long distances, on certain roads and, in some cases, at certain times. All this makes the task of creating a charging infrastructure more challenging.
Supposedly, Tesla's Semi will be capable of traveling 300 to 500 miles on a single charge, depending on the battery. The challenge is to make charging stations available for future electric truck drivers at critical locations so that any merchandise would eventually reach its destination.
According to Teslarati, the EV manufacturer is currently in talks with several possible partner companies to make charging stations for trucks available: Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo and United Parcel Service.
For now, PepsiCo is Tesla largest customer when it comes to the electric trucks. In December last year, it announced it has made a 100 trucks pre-order, in its attempt to reduce both fuel cost and fleet emissions.
Reuters reports that PepsiCo is considering sharing its charging facilities with other truck operators as well. Sharing of the infrastructure would be done, of course, at a cost for third-party partners.
“We have a lot of in-house capability around energy and engineering, and certainly, Tesla brings their expertise to the table on energy and charging,” PepsiCo executive Mike O‘Connell told Reuters.
Tesla says its Semi will be able to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in 20 seconds when fully loaded. A class 8 truck as the Semi can carry up to 80.000 lbs (36 tons) of cargo and can accelerate to 60 mph in about a minute.
Interested companies can pre-order Tesla's Semi either by paying upfront $200,000 for the Founder Series or by making a $20.000 reservation.
The 4 independent motors mounted on the rear axle are supposed to be able to allow the truck climb up a 5% grade (or 2.86 degrees slope) at a maximum of 60 mph.
According to Teslarati, the EV manufacturer is currently in talks with several possible partner companies to make charging stations for trucks available: Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo and United Parcel Service.
For now, PepsiCo is Tesla largest customer when it comes to the electric trucks. In December last year, it announced it has made a 100 trucks pre-order, in its attempt to reduce both fuel cost and fleet emissions.
Reuters reports that PepsiCo is considering sharing its charging facilities with other truck operators as well. Sharing of the infrastructure would be done, of course, at a cost for third-party partners.
“We have a lot of in-house capability around energy and engineering, and certainly, Tesla brings their expertise to the table on energy and charging,” PepsiCo executive Mike O‘Connell told Reuters.
Tesla says its Semi will be able to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in 20 seconds when fully loaded. A class 8 truck as the Semi can carry up to 80.000 lbs (36 tons) of cargo and can accelerate to 60 mph in about a minute.
Interested companies can pre-order Tesla's Semi either by paying upfront $200,000 for the Founder Series or by making a $20.000 reservation.
The 4 independent motors mounted on the rear axle are supposed to be able to allow the truck climb up a 5% grade (or 2.86 degrees slope) at a maximum of 60 mph.
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