The Pepsi bottling and distribution plant in South Sacramento is the first location in the country to put a fleet of electric Tesla semitrucks on the road.
Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) shipped the first truck at the end of last year, and the Sacramento Pepsi distribution plant now has 21 of the long-haul big rigs as part of its 100-truck fleet.
"I am incredibly proud of Pepsi to be the first company in the country to do this," said Kirk Tanner, CEO of PepsiCo Beverages North America, during an event at the bottling plant.
"The center of our strategy is we believe in sustainability," he said. "We want to be the most sustainable business in Sacramento."
PepsiCo. Inc. (Nasdaq: PEP), based in Purchase, New York, operates a bottling and distribution center off Gerber Road in the Florin area.
The Tesla trucks are only part of Pepsi's "broader sustainability agenda," said Erica Edwards, senior vice president of U.S. manufacturing and operations with Pepsi. "Our journey doesn't just start with these Tesla trucks."
She said the Sacramento location has been an innovator in water reduction and it uses other green electric vehicles in and around the plant. The plant has solar panels that generate about 1 megawatt of power on its roof, installed about four years ago. Edwards said Pepsi is also working on efforts to reduce its use of plastic.
The Tesla trucks will be charged using 100% renewable power supplied by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
Since the Tesla big rigs arrived, drivers have been stopped while making deliveries because people want to take pictures with them, said Johannes Evenblij, president of PepsiCo Beverages North America, West Division.
He said Sacramento is the first metropolitan area to have a commercial electric truck fleet on the road, part of a goal by Pepsi to meet its corporate net-zero emissions goal by 2040.
Trucks and cars are the largest source of emissions, said Alberto Ayala, executive director and air pollution control officer with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. The south area of Sacramento has the worst air pollution in the region.
Ayala said Pepsi's efforts are an example of an effective and constructive public/private partnership. The effort got some funding from the air quality management district.
Pepsi ordered 100 Tesla big rigs five years ago. The Pepsi trucks in Sacramento now are among the first ones to roll off the assembly line, said California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. The effort was supported with a $5 million state grant.
"This is no small task," Kounalakis said, adding that it's just a step toward the state's 2045 zero-carbon goal. "What is going to help us get there is the investment by the state."
In addition to helping to clean up diesel emissions, the electric trucks also benefit the area because they replace loud diesel semitrucks, said Heidi Sanborn, president of the SMUD board of directors.
The local Pepsi operation has 624 employees. It sells and distributes PepsiCo products throughout the greater Sacramento area, up to Redding, the Sierra Foothills and Vacaville.
