Tesla Semi Dominates
The Tesla Semi has finished its course of tests in the Run On Less event - and the results show-off the vehicle’s capabilities better than any advertisement could.
Organized by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, the Run On Less event is a challenge intended to gather data on the current efficacy of electric class 8 transport trucks, and compare them to each other - and of course, more traditional diesel-powered tractors.
PepsiCo entered three of their new Tesla Semis from their fleet in California, and over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been seeing the results of smaller parts of the challenge - but even those snapshots of the test have greatly impressed industry observers.
And now that the course is finished, the results are staggering.
During the most grueling day of the competition, a PepsiCo Tesla Semi started with a full charge, and moved a total of 1,076 miles - stopping for only three quick 750 kilowatt fast-charging sessions.
The first and last sessions were very short - only able to bring the Semi up to 47% and 52% charge respectively - but the charge at midday corresponded with the driver’s half-hour break, and so was able to charge the vehicle up to 89% of its total capacity. And all of this with a full load of about 70,000 lbs - more on that in a minute.
The Semi was able to keep up this marathon due largely to its Regenerative Braking capability. When letting off the accelerator, the Semi’s motor reverses, slowing the vehicle and using that resistance as extra electricity to extend the charge of the batteries.
During some of the hillier parts of its run during the event, the Semi was able to more or less keep the same charge it had from beginning to end. Coupled with its ability to fast charge - the only entrant to demonstrate that ability - and Tesla was the clear frontrunner for the Run On Less competition.
And we do mean “clear”. The closest competitor for the whole event was WattEV’s Nikola Tre BEV - which was able to travel about 255 miles per day - less than half of PepsiCo’s 574 miles per day. It only gets worse from there, with the entrants from more traditional companies like Frieghtliner’s eCascadia and Volvo’s VNR Electric only able to get to about 180 miles per day each.
Now let's talk about load, because the competition didn’t pull any punches there. Earlier we said the Tesla Semi pulled about 70,000 lbs the whole time - this is about the industry standard - the limit for class 8 vehicles being around 82,000 lbs of gross vehicle weight during operation.
Every entrant had to pull this type of load if they could manage it, and the Tesla Semi had zero issues with it. In order to stay efficient, tractor operators typically shuffle loads around as opposed to simply delivering. They start the day with a full trailer, deliver it to a location and swap loads - grabbing another product meant to be brought to the next location on the route.
This way, the fleet maximizes the amount of time spent with a load, which saves on both money and the driver’s mental health - ask any of your trucker friends if they enjoy hauling an empty trailer to see what we mean.
So just to sum it up, for this entire competition, PepsiCo’s Tesla Semis were the only trucks in the lineup that performed to industry standard. You can see why Pepsi is very happy with the results.
And like we said earlier: there’s really no better way to showcase a vehicle’s capabilities than a competition like this. Tesla can have their engineers or Elon himself stand on stage and say that the Semi is a match for any diesel truck on the market - but it can’t compare to the whole industry watching this bright blue, electric tractor do exactly what a diesel rig does - but with no fuel costs. Well, different fuel costs.
And with California’s government set to phase out internal combustion truck sales by 2036, this competition finished just in time. PepsiCo has already said they were looking to replace their whole delivery fleet with Tesla Semis - but after this event, you can bet Tesla’s going to have a hard time filling orders.