One Of PepsiCo's Brand New Tesla Semi-Trucks May Have Already Broken Down
The Tesla Semi, the electric semi-truck that spent years in development before finally being delivered into the hands of a big-name customer, is the subject of snark and speculation following a Reddit post showing one of the vehicles being towed. Why does it matter if one of these trucks is being pulled by another truck? The vehicle in question is wrapped in Pepsi brand imagery, meaning it's one of the units that was recently delivered to PepsiCo.
In October 2022, PepsiCo confirmed that it would be part of the biggest moment for Tesla in recent history by receiving a batch of its electric semi trucks in early December (via Reuters). Despite some skepticism, that delivery happened on December 1 as promised, making PepsiCo the first company to get its hands on these futuristic trucks. It was a milestone moment for Tesla, but two images are now tarnishing the event by indicating one of the PepsiCo trucks may have already broken down. Is it fair to criticize Tesla so heavily if that is, in fact, what has happened?
Is it really a surprise if a Tesla Semi has broken down?
There's very little information to go on, as neither Tesla nor Pepsi have commented on the images at the time of writing. The photos each show the Pepsi-branded Tesla Semi truck being towed by a large tow truck ... and that's it. Some have taken these images as proof that the Semi model must be flawed, using it as a new weapon in the arsenal of ways to attack Tesla. That's really not surprising considering just how many people have been unhappy with Elon Musk lately.
That said, it's premature to use these images as proof of anything other than the fact that a Semi truck delivered to PepsiCo needed to be towed for some reason. Could the vehicle have a defect that spurred the moment immortalized by these photos? Quite possibly, but until either company speaks up, there's no way to know for sure. The bigger question is this: if one of these trucks did experience something particularly troublesome so soon after delivery, would that indicate an atypically bad job performed by Tesla in comparison to its competition?
With only ICE-powered alternatives to compare it to, it's hard to say. What ultimately matters is how PepsiCo feels about this turn of events. If the company shrugs off whatever happened, then it's all good. If, however, PepsiCo grows frustrated with this experimental move into electric big rigs, that could spook other potential buyers and would be quite unfortunate for Tesla and, perhaps, the commercial EV segment as a whole.