PepsiCo to take delivery of Tesla electric trucks in fourth quarter – CNBC

(Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc will get its first set of Tesla Inc electric trucks in the fourth quarter, the packaged food maker’s top boss Ramon Laguarta said in a interview to CNBC on Monday.

The maker of Mountain Dew soda and Doritos chips in December 2017 reserved 100 of Tesla’s electric semi trucks as it sought to reduce fuel costs and fleet emissions.

Transportation accounts for 10% of PepsiCo’s gas emissions, according to Laguarta. The company had previously said it aims to use the trucks to ship snack foods and beverages between manufacturing and distribution centers as well as to retailers.

PepsiCo and Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.

Walmart Inc, fleet operator J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc, and food distributor Sysco Corp have also placed orders for Tesla’s semi-trucks.

Last month, rental car firm Hertz said it would order 100,000 Tesla vehicles by the end of 2022.

(Reporting by Sabahatjahan Contractor and Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Arun Koyyur)