Add PepsiCo to the growing number of companies that are buying in on Tesla’s new electric truck. The food and beverage giant has reserved 100 units of the electric semis, joining the likes of Wal-Mart, Anheuser-Busch, and Sysco as the first wave of companies that are buying into what the electric car maker is selling. The electric trucks are seen as affordable alternatives to diesel trucks with the range and cargo capacity to compete with its traditional counterparts.

PepsiCo’s order of 100 trucks is the biggest one to date for Tesla. It’s a big deal for the EV company to have a company as big as PepsiCo step in and show some confidence in its product. Other companies like Wal-Mart and Anheuser-Busch have placed orders. Fleet operator J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc and foodservice distribution company Sysco Corp. have done the same too. According to Reuters’ tally, the total number of reservations to date sits at 267 trucks. But that number could also be the tip of the iceberg. It’s possible that Tesla has also taken reservations from other companies and smaller truck operators without publicly announcing it. Other reports even suggest that Tesla has actually taken around 1,200 reservations for its trucks. Regardless of the number, the interest in the product is a good thing for Tesla.

In PepsiCo’s case, the F&B giant indicated that its order of 100 trucks is intended for shipments between manufacturing and distribution facilities and to retailers within the 500-mile range that Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised. There’s a possibility that PepsiCo orders more trucks in the future, but that’s contingent on how successful its trial runs are.

For now, PepsiCo and all the other companies that placed orders for the trucks still have some waiting to do before taking delivery of the haulers. Tesla doesn’t expect the electric big rigs to hit production until 2019, and that’s assuming that there are no delays on that front. That, in itself, is a tough ask from Tesla, a company that’s known for production delays.

Still, expect more companies to get in on Tesla’s new semi trucks. Demand is strong at this point, and if the trucks live up to the hype, they can be industry-changing. Reuters is even reporting that after initially asking $5,000 per truck for pre-orders, Tesla has bumped that figure up to around $20,000. That's a sign that there's a lot of activity happening on that front.

References

Tesla Semi

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