At a recent Tesla event, the company unveiled their new lineup of electric vehicles which includes the new Roadster and also the Tesla Semi, which is the company’s first electric truck, which is clearly aimed at companies who make a lot of deliveries and who transport a lot of goods, such as Walmart.According to CNBC, Walmart has confirmed to the news outlet that they have pre-ordered 15 of Tesla’s Semi electric trucks. Ten of these trucks will be used for Walmart’s operations in the US, while five will be used in Canada. With about 6,000 or so trucks used by the company in their operations, clearly 15 trucks is but a fraction, but presumably if these tests go well, they could add more to their fleet in the future.
According to a statement made by Walmart, “We have a long history of testing new technology – including alternative-fuel trucks – and we are excited to be among the first to pilot this new heavy-duty electric vehicle. We believe we can learn how this technology performs within our supply chain, as well as how it could help us meet some of our long-term sustainability goals, such as lowering emissions.”
The Tesla Semi is boasting a range of 500 miles and will come with features like Enhanced Autopilot, jackknifing preventing, data-logging, and more. Walmart’s plans to start testing electric trucks also isn’t new as delivery company UPS has also announced plans to convert some of their diesel trucks into electric ones.
Filed in . Read more about Electric Cars, Tesla and Walmart.