PepsiCo Confirms Tesla Semi Truck Deliveries Will Start in December

Oct. 7 (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc (PEP.O) confirmed Friday that it will take delivery of Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) Semi trucks on Dec. 1, becoming the first company to delay its orders from the much electric vehicle receives .

PepsiCo said in a statement that the trucks will be used at the Frito-Lay plant in Modesto, California, and the PepsiCo beverage plant in Sacramento. PepsiCo aims to reduce fuel costs and emissions and has reserved 100 of the trucks in 2017.

US companies have pledged to take action to reduce their impact on the environment, with PepsiCo aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2040.

Transportation accounts for about 10% of the Mountain Dew manufacturer’s greenhouse gas emissions, said PepsiCo’s CEO, Ramon Laguarta. The company’s fleet covered 1.2 billion miles last year.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk announced the start of production of the Semi-truck late on Twitter on Thursday. read more

Musk initially said the trucks would be in production in 2019, but the timeline has been delayed by years due to a shortage of parts.

Other companies, including United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N), Walmart Canada (WMT.N) and food service distributor Sysco Corp (SYY.N) had also placed pre-orders for Tesla’s Semi trucks.

Walmart, UPS and Sysco did not respond to requests for comment on the status of their orders or delivery times.

Neither Musk nor Pepsi disclosed the number of Semis that would arrive at the packaged food company in December. On its website, PepsiCo said it expects 15 of its trucks by the end of this year.

Tesla, on the other hand, is struggling to supply as many electric vehicles as it produces, which has hurt its stock price. Musk is also trying to complete his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc (TWTR.N), raising concerns among Tesla investors that the billionaire was spreading himself too thin. read more

Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru and Jessica DiNapoli in New York Editing by Arun Koyyur and Matthew Lewis

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