Walmart Canada has signed up for 30 additional Tesla Semis in addition to the ten that it ordered late last year.
The all-electric Semi, which recently made headlines for its cross-country fleet visits in the U.S., will help Walmart Canada reach its goal of having 20 percent of its vehicles powered by batteries by 2022.
The electric haulers will be taking the place of diesel trucks on routes where the EV’s shorter range (300 or 600-mile models available) won’t be an issue, Walmart told nationalnewswatch.com. Though EVs have been known to have shorter driving ranges in colder climates it wasn’t enough of an issue to deter the world’s largest retailer from tripling its Tesla order.
Walmart was among the first businesses to order the Tesla Semi when it debuted late last year. It committed early on to buying 15 total: five for use in the U.S. and 10 for Canada.
J.B. Hunt was also among a group of early Semi reservation holders that includes FedEx, UPS, PepsiCo, Anheuser Busch, Ruan Transportation Management and others. Late last year, UPS placed an order for 125 Tesla Semis, while PepsiCo reserved 100 and Anheuser Busch reserved 40.
Earlier this year, Tesla founder CEO Elon Musk told analysts he expects to sell 100,000 units or more annually by 2022. The truck is expected to enter production sometime next year.
