The North American Council for Freight Efficiency (abbreviated as NACFE) has conducted a series of tests within the framework of its Run on Less event to see how well different all-electric trucks would perform in various real-life scenarios. For 18 days straight, the test crew has delivered orders, collecting data on range, infrastructural availability, ownership costs and so on. The Tesla Semi has emerged on top.
The trucks have been driven 644 km (400 miles) per day on average and took 45 minutes to charge up to 80 percent. One of Tesla Semi units owned by PepsiCo – the company’s largest corporate customer so far – has averaged 574 miles (924 kilometers) per day.
The other tested semis included Nikola Tre, which averaged 410 km (255 miles) per day, Freightliner eCascadia with 291 km (181 miles) per day and Volvo VNR Electric with 282 km (175 miles) per day. While the details have not been released, the press release implies that greater mileage means better overall use experience.
One of the vehicles has been recharged three times in a 24-hour period using a 750-kW charging source, but only partially each time. This enabled the drivers to put an impressive 1,732 km (1,076 miles) on it within a single day. Commenting on the test, PepsiCo also pointed out that 60 percent of the mileage was covered by Tesla Semi trucks carrying at least 32.6 metric tons of useful load (71,900+ lbs). This is close to the nominal maximum load of 37.2 tons (82,000 lbs).