Frito-Lay has been implementing alternative fuel vehicles, renewable energy generation and storage, and employee electric vehicle charging stations at its Modesto, California facility for the past few years. With the recent delivery of the first Tesla Semi, the company has nearly finished transforming the 500,000 sq. ft., 80-acre site, employing 1,100 associates, into a showcase for sustainability. The project, supported by the California Climate Investments initiative, has cut fleet greenhouse gas emissions by more than 90%.
Greening the Frito-Lay Fleet
PepsiCo and Frito-Lay are the first company to feature a commercial fleet of battery-electric Tesla Semis, with four 750kW charging stations providing up to 400 miles of range per hour. The facility also operates six Peterbilt 220EV battery-electric box trucks, 38 Volvo VNL CNG tractors fueled by CNG with RNG attributes, three BYD 8Y electric yard tractors, and 12 Crown Li-ion forklifts. Each yard tractor operates 20 hours per day, moving more than 150 trailers with only two hours of charging.
Renewable Electricity
In 2021, the Frito-Lay Modesto site achieved 100% renewable electricity sourcing, with up to 20% daily from on-site solar, plus 1MW rooftop solar and a 1MW solar carport with energy storage. There are four Tesla 750kW charging stations providing up to 400 miles of range in 1 hour, and 2.7MWh battery storage to reduce electricity costs and support grid capacity. – Photo: Frito-Lay
Zero-Emissions Commitment
“The transformation at Modesto is in direct support of our PepsiCo Positive (pep+) commitment to net zero emissions by 2040,” said Steven Williams, CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America, resulting in a 91% reduction in GHG emissions (equivalent to removing 1,000 standard compact SUVs from the road). The transformation was supported by a $15.4 million grant from the California Climate Investments and other project participants, including Café Coop, CALSTART, Project Clean Air, University of California and Riverside CE-CERT, and equipment and technology suppliers BYD Motors, ChargePoint, Crown, Meritor, Peterbilt, Tesla, and Volvo.
Sources:
https://www.truckinginfo.com/10175806/benefits-and-challenges-in-electrifying-medium-duty-box-trucks
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